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which, through its adaptive accomplishments, has earned the respect o f the Ukrainian community and has etched a shining place in the history o f this commu nity. On the other hand, however, the U N W L A , as almost all other organizations in the U .S. (and this means not only Ukrainian organizations), is facing great challenges. These challenges range from a drop in society’s involvement in charitable organizations to a lack o f funds in groups such as ours. Harvard Profes sor Robert Putnam, a leading contemporary sociolo gist, has completed an important study and authored a book entitled Bowling Alone. His survey shows that bowling is no longer a league sport. Rather, if people do bowl, they bowl alone. This is sym bolic o f today’ s society in that today’s generation is more insular and does not see itself as part o f a larger community. T o d ay’ s society does not typically volunteer or belong to neighborhood, church, or civic organizations. For in stance, membership in traditional wom en’ s groups has declined more or less steadily since the m id-1960s, i.e. membership in the National Federation o f W om en’ s Clubs is down by 59 % since 1964. After expanding steadily throughout most o f this century, many major civic organizations have experienced a sudden and substantial decline in membership over the last decade or two. M eanwhile, feminist groups have grown rap idly and membership in professional associations has risen over the years, given the rising educational and occupational levels o f today’s women. Professor Put nam states that community bonds and interpersonal connections are just as important for the public good as is its economic well being. A ll these findings o f Dr. Putnam reflect the state o f the Ukrainian community as well; our younger, professional couples tend not to belong to our organizations, nor do they volunteer. The U N W L A ’s challenge, therefore, is to re invent w ays for Ukrainian wom en to connect with each other through the U N W L A . The w ay to accom plish this is to bring wom en o f similar interests and career levels together. There is a large base o f young Ukrainian professional wom en in our society and the majority does not belong to our community organiza tions for one or more o f several reasons: either they were never approached or, perhaps, they have been somehow “ turned o f f ’ or alienated by a past experi ence, etc. W e should not and cannot, however, forget about them. Branch 95 o f Poughkeepsie/Kerhonkson, N Y is planning a wom en’ s conference for April 2003 for just this reason. And, when one o f the conference coordinators sent an email to her 30-40-ish profes sional friends living in N ew York City and invited them to participate, the response was quite surprising. Within one day, she had about eight women answering with interest, excitement and suggestions. These ladies need to be approached and brought together to work for the good o f the U N W L A and our community. Their strengths and talents are priceless! Since statistics show that membership has grown in professional organizations, w hy cannot the U N W L A initiate committees for the networking o f wom en o f a particular profession? W e need to modify the image o f the U N W L A as being an organization for “ older” Ukrainian wom en to one o f being an organiza tion for Ukrainian wom en o f all ages - including the young professional. And we need to nurture this poten tial member in our community by tailoring our meet ings (i.e. length o f meeting, topics covered) to her needs and by offering her a potential leadership role. W e must welcom e and respect all women o f Ukrainian descent, regardless o f their fluency in the Ukrainian language. Although the argument that language identi fies a people is true, we must realize that we are in Am erica where intermarriage plays a large role and where the number o f people fluent in our language is also steadily diminishing. I cite a personal example from our Branch 95. W e have several members who work beyond what can be almost reasonably expected o f them, and not one o f them speaks Ukrainian! M y point here is that, as we adapt our projects to the needs o f the times, we must also be open-minded and innovative enough to adapt the framework and the inner workings o f our organization to the needs o f the times. I researched other wom en’s organizations on the internet, organizations whose goals and mission statements are similar to ours, and I found one that comes very close - Hadassah! This is a Jewish wom en’s organization that is extremely successful and presently has 300,000 members throughout the U S. It is similar in structure to ours, with a headquarters and chapters throughout the U S. Its goals and mission are also similar to ours. Hadassah offers a tangible w ay to connect with Israel, act as goodwill ambassador for the Jewish State, and focus on public services. Just substi tute Ukraine for Israel: we certainly wish to connect with Ukraine, act as good will ambassadors for Ukraine and focus on public services for our commu nity. But let us review a few steps Hadassah has taken from which we can take example. Hadassah includes all women o f Jew ish background - whether or not they speak Hebrew. For example, the organization em braces Russian speaking Jew s. Their membership statement is “ Hadassah strives to make itself and the Jewish community welcom ing to and comfortable for A L L Jewish women in the United States.” W e could certainly learn something from this statement. Som e o f us are guilty o f frowning on the English-speaking Ukrainian woman, or even the Ukrainian-speaking wom an if her Ukrainian does not НАШЕ ЖИТТЯ”, ВЕРЕСЕНЬ 2002 17
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