Day 8 of Giving Thanks

By Cathy Smith

This is a tough day for many to give thanks.  In an election, there is always a winner and sometimes it's not who we would prefer.  I would like to give thanks that we as women have the right to vote. Without the 19th amendment, I would not have been able to vote.  I am thankful our foremothers worked so hard to give us that right.  I am working for my generation and future generations in Illinois to have the right to have a  CPM attend their home birth.  It is currently illegal in our state.

We may not have the final say in who leads our country, but we can always work hard to make changes in our world, large or small.  I am thankful for the strong women in my life, and thankful that we have a democracy in our country.  We can always do something.  We can instill in our daughters strength and dreams. We do this with the women we serve at births.  I choose to raise up my daughters to be strong.  After all, "little girls with dreams, become women with vision."-Unknown

Fundraisers

It's been a wild, crazy couple months at A Joyful Journey.  We have been busy with school, fundraisers, clients, and of course lots of beautiful babies.  Andrea and I have been super busy at Joliet Junior College and Midwives College of Utah.   Andrea is working tirelessly full time and making excellent grades.  I too have been enjoying immersing myself into school.  I'm proud to say that halfway through my first trimester and I've got straight A's! We are enjoying our studies and have been getting quite a few new, amazing clients.

We recently hosted our 2nd Annual Parenting Fair in New Lenox.  We were able to raise $1000 for Guardian Angels in Joliet!!  The money will go to Groundworks programs to help women and children who are victims of domestic violence.  This program is near and dear to our heart. Andrea herself, has benefited from these programs as a child.  Sadly, it was a rainy day on the day of our event but the limited amount of people who came out, really surprised us with their generosity.  We are so grateful to all the volunteers and participants who helped make this fundraiser a success!  A special shout out to my Mom, Donna who has volunteered many hours both years to help us.

In addition to our Guardian Angels fundraiser, I hosted an online fundraiser for the Coalition for Illinois Midwifery.  We had our "party" on Facebook and it was a HUGE success. I never realized how much fun an online party could be!  You can play hostess in your jammies, ooh and aah over fun clothes with friends, and raise a lot of money and awareness! We sold $2700 worth of LuLaRoe and our fun party was able to donate about $500.  I am so proud of this.  I could not have done it without all my wonderful friends and fellow birth professionals who shared the event, and bought some adorable leggings.  I even got my sister-in-law from Singapore to donate. (Love you Becky) In case you were wondering about how to donate or for more information:  The Coalition for Illinois Midwifery is an umbrella organization.  This includes the Illinois Friends of Midwives consumer group and the Illinois Council of Certified Professional Midwives. We are trying to raise funds/awareness for a Bill to be passed that would legalize Certified Professional Midwives in Illinois.

Check back on A Joyful Journey's blog in a couple days for more information about our Fall/Winter classes we will be offering!