WIT fundraiser to help end period poverty will be an exciting morning of music and tributes to women who have been a positive and loving influence in the lives of girls
Alabama State Representative Rolanda Hollis, Chairwoman of Women In Training, Inc., announced that Women in Training will hold its Third Annual WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch to help end period poverty on Saturday, March 2, 2024, at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center. This year's theme is The Crown: Passing a Legacy to Our Daughters.
"We invite all women and girls – mothers and daughters, grandmothers and granddaughters, godmothers and goddaughters, aunties and nieces, sisters and friends, mentors and mentees, boss ladies and colleagues, sorority sisters and spiritual sisters – to join us in celebration of the power of womanhood and the special bond between mothers and daughters,"said Rep. Hollis, the WIT Board Chairwoman. "Our male allies are also welcome!"
There will be two keynote speakers for the WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch. The first confirmed speaker, Dr. Celeste Reese-Willis, is a board-certified, Birmingham, Alabama, family physician and a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. She is the author of Vitality: Your Body Loves You, Love it Back, providing expert health recommendations on living a life of vigor and well-being. Dr. Reese-Willis appears every Monday on WIAT CBS-42's House Calls to give tips for families to stay healthy. She volunteers as Medical Chairwoman on the WIT Board of Directors.
The emcee is Clarissa Kenty, owner of ICU Media News in Birmingham.
“We are honored and excited to welcome the distinguished Dr. Celeste Reese-Willis as our speaker at the Third Annual WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch," Rep. Hollis said. "Through her living example as a family medical practitioner and her soul-stirring words, she will encourage girls and young women to live their lives to the fullest even as she inspires all of us to donate our time, talents and resources to fighting period poverty."
“I cannot express how extremely proud I am of the WIT mission and their goal to end period poverty,” said Dr. Willis. “At such a young age the founders, Breanna and Brooke Bennett, are doing outstanding work and inspiring young girls around our nation. With this brunch we will acknowledge and offer tribute to women who are making a difference and helping move the goals forward. It is delightful at a time such as this to have teenagers LEADING the vision to help other girls their age, and inspiring not just teenagers but adults around the country.”
Breanna and Brooke, and other WIT leaders and volunteers, like Akiesha Anderson, Esq., worked alongside Rep. Hollis for three years to pass House Bill 50, the "Period Poverty Bill." Signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey in April 2022, the law provides $200,000 annually to the Alabama Department of Education to fund the Feminine Hygiene Grant program that provides menstrual supplies to girls in Title I schools from Grades 5 through 12. Alabama is only the seventh state in the nation with a law that funds menstrual supplies for underserved students.
Proceeds raised from the Third Annual WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch will support the WITKITS Campaign to provide menstrual, hygiene and dental items to young, low-income people who menstruate.
"If you want to help us make an even greater impact, please find event sponsorship opportunities HERE," Rep. Hollis said. "Your generosity helps WIT continue our work to end period poverty and cultivate young women into culturally competent and compassionate global leaders who care about themselves and the world around them."
Here are specific ways you can support the Third Annual WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch:
Sponsorships range from $750 for a Southern Pearly Eye Butterfly level to $25,000 for the Monarch Butterfly Presenting Sponsor level.
You may also advertise in the WIT Mother-Daughter Souvenir Journal at a rate of $300 for a full-page ad, or $150 for a half-page.
Ads highlighting a Monarch, or WIT Young Leader, are at a special rate of $200 for a full-page ad and includes a free pair of tickets to the event, or $100 for a half-page ad and includes one event ticket.
Event tickets are $75 per person.
Tables of 10 are $750 for individuals and organizations and come with a half-page ad in the souvenir journal.
Corporations may purchase tables at the $1,000 rate; those tables come with a full page ad in the souvenir journal.
Women in Training, Inc. is seeking special donations to provide two tables for the 20 current WIT Monarchs, or WIT Young Leaders, and their Moms. The Monarchs are middle and high school students in the WIT Leadership Development Academy.
The following volunteer leaders are working diligently to bring you the Third Annual WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch:
Women in Training Board Member Liaisons to the WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch Committee are Rep. Hollis, Board Chairwoman; Ms. Tania Johns, Member-at-Large; and Ms. Sandra Whatley-Washington, Development Chairwoman.
WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch Chairwomen are Aigner Kolom, Esq., and Doshie Holston Rankins, MSN, RN.
The WIT Mother-Daughter Brunch Committee Members are Valorie Lawson, Kandace Besteder, Shelicia Robinson and Latonda Cunningham.
For more information about supporting Women in Training, Inc., please contact Adeyela Albury Bennett, WIT President and CEO, at 305-713-9200, or email her at bennett@womenintraining.org.