In 2020-21, we distributed $50,000 from the Wildflower Fund (Wildflower Run registrations, corporate sponsorships, and individual donations) in support of education and equity for women and girls. Due to the Covid-19 virus, some of our programming (such as Tech Trek and the National Conference for Women College Leaders (NCCWSL) were turned into virtual programs. The reduced expense associated with these virtual  events enabled us to redirect $5,000 of or funds to the Student Emergency Fund at Gavilan College. Funds raised were directed to the following:

Provide scholarships to high school girls graduating from Morgan Hill Unified School District (MHUSD) schools.

NEWLY EXPANDED: Provide “Re-Entry Scholarships” to local women reentering college after a gap in their education. We now also offer these redefined “Re-Entry/Deferred Entry Scholarships” to women who have taken a break after high school before entering college and to women completing their GED and entering college.

Re-Entry and Healthcare scholarship recipients at AAUW fall membership lunch with scholarship committee chairs

Provide “Lauren Jenkins Healthcare Profession Scholarships” to college students from the Morgan Hill area who are pursuing a degree in a healthcare profession.

NEW: Provide a “Fritts Family STEM Scholarship” to college women from Morgan Hill or Gilroy who are already in college and planning to graduate from a 4-year school with a STEM (science, technology, engineering or math) degree.

This is an endowed scholarship providing a $1000 scholarship  each year for 10 years.

Provide supplemental Keeping In Touch (KIT) grants to previous scholarship recipients to support them as they continue in their field of study.

Provide funding and mentorship for “Young Women Leaders”.

Typically, these local teens host an annual, all-day leadership conference. Due to Covid-19, the 2021 conference was cancelled. Instead, the young women, under AAUW’s mentorship, offered a Zoom Speaker Series with topics related to equity for young women as well as topics related to climate change. Funding for various other YWL expenses throughout the year was covered by a previous grant from Santa Clara County.

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Provide Community Action Grants to local non-profit organizations for projects whose goals are consistent with AAUW’s mission.

Sponsor a local speech competition as part of Speech Trek, a state-wide AAUW program.

Our 2021 competition was held over Zoom. The topic was “Has social media helped or hindered the breaking down of barriers for women and girls?” First, second, and third place winners each received cash prizes. Our first place winner also went on to place fourth in the state contest.

2021 Speech Trek winners with program facilitator Joanne Rooney

Provide scholarships to send MHUSD Middle School students to Tech Trek, an AAUW-sponsored one week math and science summer camp at Stanford University for middle school girls.

This year, Tech Tech was a virtual event; reduced costs enabled us to have 12 girls participate (instead of our usual 8). Each camper remotely assembled and programmed a robotic devices from a box of parts. They each verified their design via upload of an invention video.

2021 Tech Trek campers presenting at AAUW’s fall membership lunch

Underwrite national AAUW priorities. These include graduate fellowships for women, community action grants, pioneering research, public policy advocacy, legal advocacy, and leadership programs.

The $75,000 “Morgan Hill Wildflower Run Research and Projects Grant Endowment” (#4403) was established in 2014 and funding was completed with proceeds from the Wildflower Run in 2019. It now provides funding annually for community action and career development grants.

Another branch endowment, the $100,000 “Blaine/Cate Endowment for Graduate Fellowships” (#1802) was completed in 2001. It funds an annual graduate or postgraduate fellowship.

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