The Gift of Sustaining Membership

By Mary Johnson, Ontario Psi, North Central Membership Chairman

Chapters are the heart and home for A∆K members. Members support and encourage one another in their chapter roles and responsibilities and in their professional and personal lives. When a chapter disbands or a member moves away from their beloved chapter, there are options. One is to transfer membership to another chapter nearby. Sometimes, there isn’t a chapter close enough to join, so becoming a sustaining member is the answer.

Sustaining members have all the rights, privileges and obligations of a member affiliated with a chapter. The missing piece in their membership is the connection to a home chapter and the close connections with chapter sisters.

The Membership Analysis for February 2022 recorded 549 sustaining members. Limited members without affiliation to a home chapter were also recorded on the International sustaining list. An International Membership Committee (IMC) work group was formed to take a closer look at services across the regions in support of sustaining members. For obvious reasons, the numbers fluctuate from month to month. An important step in supporting our sustaining sisters is monitoring contact information for accuracy. As sisters age and move away from their home area, they sometimes forget to send their new addresses to International Headquarters or to their state, province or nation.

The usual monitoring procedure is for treasurers to keep track of sustaining members when collecting dues. Many groups have a designated person, often the VP for Membership/Consultant or Corresponding Secretary, who is responsible for communicating with these members through newsletters, telephone calls, greeting cards and invitations to Founders’ Day celebrations and chapter events. A suggestion is that the names and contact information be shared with chapter presidents so they can invite these members to meetings and events. They might even consider adopting a sustaining sister. Many organizations invite sustaining members to join them at their conventions, regional conferences and international conventions. How wonderful for a sustaining sister to receive a call and be invited to join her sisters on a road trip.

Several “actively engaged” sustaining members contributed to this article by phone, Zoom or email. I also heard from officers responsible for contacting these members. Let’s hear some of their voices and hopefully, they will encourage others to become more involved.

Julie Ditton said, “As an International sustaining member living Down Under so ‘far from the madding crowd,’ I feel a close liaison with A∆K sisters in various S/P/Ns. I have been invited to attend many Zoom meetings, been actively involved on the World Understanding Committee for C.H.E.A.R., adjudicated applications for chapter projects and hosted a holiday celebration Aussie-style on Zoom with my SW sisters. I have also been invited to write articles for the KAPPAN. I have been an A∆K member for over 40 years and have attended regional conferences and International conventions where I have met and made special friends in our sisterhood. I hope to continue to kindle these wonderful friendships for many years. We are all kindred spirits although thousands of miles apart.”

Ev Kemp has been a member of two chapters in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Both, unfortunately disbanded. Her sustaining membership has allowed her to keep in touch with other educators. Ev loved the altruistic projects of her chapter and also loved working with younger members and hearing their ideas and suggestions. She enjoys being invited to A∆K events, including Founders’ Day and fundraisers. She loves reading her KAPPAN and receiving the Ontario newsletters by mail. Ev says that this communication keeps her current on what’s going on in A∆K.

Judith Gilberti is a NJ sustaining member, currently serving as the Northeast Region Altruistic Chair. She is presenting a learning session in Atlantic City in July with two other sisters from New Jersey.

Virginia Seymour was an A∆K member for over 70 years and served as KS state president. She became a sustaining member when her chapter disbanded. At 97 years old, she joined Omega chapter. She had written this lovely reply note to KS IPP Barbara Corder, who was responsible for contacting and keeping in touch with the KS sustaining members. “Barbara, you have been so faithful to send A∆K state letters, get well cards and wishing me well notes on a regular basis and how I have enjoyed each one. Thanks so much for your special kindness.” Virginia

Retabess Ling, also a KS A∆K member for 70 years, wrote the following note to Barbara Corder. “Barbara, thank you for the neat St. Patrick’s Day card. Knowing that others are thinking about you makes the long journey with the pandemic a little easier to cope with.” Retabess

Jennie Tomas, WA State Treasurer, was contacting her sustaining members regarding state dues and invited Bev Winther

to join her Alpha Upsilon chapter’s next Zoom call. Bev has now been enthusiastically attending those meetings. She was thrilled to be invited and plans to stay connected through Zoom.

Phyllis Robinette, CO VPM, wrote, “When I was contacting a sustaining sister this month, I was welcomed with happy greetings. She shared with me the news of her health and told me an old story of when she attended state events. She asked me about one of my chapter sisters and updated me on other sustaining sisters. This contact was to update our CO roster but turned out to be such a great visit. She even took down my name and information. I encourage officers at all levels to make an effort to keep your sustaining sisters informed and share the chance for a nice conversation.”

Mollie Acosta wrote, “Glad Loreen’s chapter folded while she was NW IVP. She became a sustaining sister until she had time to visit other neighboring chapters and found a home chapter again. The sustaining membership served a good purpose for her.”

We can all do better at keeping in touch and reaching out to our sisters. Officers and Headquarters need to be vigilant in keeping contact information updated. Sustaining members need to do their part and keep their contact information current. You have read many ways that connections are already being accomplished. I challenge all of you to continue to think of innovative ways in which to stay connected and to share your skills and talents. Where technology is not an option, the traditional methods of communication through telephone calls, newsletters, notes and in-person visits are always welcomed. Zoom has been a wonderful gift in helping us all to stay close over these past two years. I encourage chapters to invite sustaining members to join your meetings and events, either in person or by Zoom.

We should always remember how lucky we are to have a home chapter with sisters who are always there to encourage and support us. Let’s all “share the love of membership” with our sustaining sisters. There’s more than enough to go around.

A∆K CONNECT is a wonderful platform for members to meet across all regions, to find answers to their questions and to read what’s new in A∆K. Marg Nieradka, ON President-Elect, Membership Consultant and member of the A∆K CONNECT Committee, provided these ideas... • Explore interest communities on various topics such as gardening, travel and books. • Find opportunities for online training and join in. • Share an area of expertise and join the directory being developed. • Looking for leadership opportunities? Sign up to mentor a new member. • Share innovative ideas with sisters. Your ideas have value. • Access or contribute to an online library which is constantly evolving.

Ways to Improve Member Engagement Ways to Improve Member Engagement

Chapter Archives Preserve the Past

By Susan Pelchat, CT Mu, KAPPAN Staff

What’s your chapter’s story, and how will you remember it in twenty years? How will it be revisited when today’s members are no longer here to recount it? With preparation, your chapter archives will do the job. Do you know where they are?

“Our chapter’s history and charter are in one location. I have the original archives with the first meeting’s minutes,” Sarah Perkins, MS Alpha Delta, reported proudly.

“SC Iota has its well-organized history information in a quality tub, which passes to the chapter president for safekeeping,” reported Catherine Mayfield, SC Iota. Phyllis Robinette, CO Eta, reflects on the storage tubs bestowed on presidents as they begin their biennium. “We need to think about this,” she suggested. “I just attended CO Alpha Iota’s 50th anniversary where they presented a wonderful Power Point that could be saved to the cloud along with the script they used.”

Elizabeth Robinson, GA Beta Phi, reports that her chapter has partnered with their local historical society to use storage boxes for important items like minutes, newsletters and scrapbooks. The boxes are stored in a protected environment.

“Our historian collects documents and memorabilia for a scrapbook, photo book, or DVD for the president to keep. She also creates a written history that goes into a notebook to be passed to the next historian. Written histories are maintained by the historians, and past presidents bring their books to special gatherings for all to review,” wrote Pamela Carrier, NH Lambda.

Sara Cooper, CA Beta Iota, says that her chapter stores past scrapbooks with the Yucaipa Historical Society. If members wish to see the materials, they simply ask the docent or receptionist.”