Strong and successful women dedicated to changing our world. As a social venture, we provide opportunities and services for women to engage their individual and collective power to help others.

Inspiration can come from many different places and take on many different forms. It is what motivates us, strengthens us, gives us insight and keeps us moving forward.

“Just don’t give up on what you’re really trying to do.
Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong.”
Ella Fitzgerald, Musician

If you are lucky like me, you have had several hundred sources of inspiration throughout your life. Most of mine have come in the form of individuals that I have met along the way. My sister, my parents, grandparents, teachers, aunts, colleagues, fellow travelers, friends.. kindred spirits. Most probably don’t even realize how much of an impact they have had on my life.

More recently, working with Great Dames, I have had opportunity to meet some very amazing women and men, who have dedicated their lives to social causes that they care deeply about. I have listened to their stories and empathized with their struggles and triumphs. In them, I have found new sources of inspiration.

For these people, I want to say, Thank You.

This week, during Women’s History Month, Great Dames is launching its very first line of Inspirational Note Cards. These cards are a perfect excuse to write someone who inspires you a personal, handwritten note. A Thank You. Wouldn’t it be wonderful, that for every aha! moment inspired by someone special, you could reach out to that individual and thank them? What an inspiring exchange. If there is one thing great women in history have in common, it is their support of each other. So, during this month and always, we encourage you to send personal notes to those people that inspire you.

For more information on Great Dames Inspirational Note Cards, please visit our Store. All net proceeds will go to the Great Dames Fund, to support the dreams of aspiring Great Dames.

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames, Inc.

I grew up in Delaware. And, although I have had the great opportunity to travel to and live in several different countries in my short life and currently reside in the city of Philadelphia, I still have a special place in my heart for Delaware. And I love saying that I am a Delawarian.

Yesterday, that fact was affirmed when I attended the Delaware Conference on Volunteerism in Dover. It was such an inspiring day, in the company of hundreds of volunteers, nonprofit administrators, politicians, corporate civic allies and people that just cared about community. We talked about Delaware being a state of neighbors and how, in Delaware, it’s personal.

We also discussed the idea of being able to give back, on any capacity, in any small way that you can. From a seven year old, who helped the families of sick children at the Ronald McDonald House by baking them cookies in her home to the 35 year old who had court ordered community service and, in the end, decided to stay on with his organization, because the ability to give back was that important to him.

A Can Do attitude is so central to the American spirit, and we need to continually ask what we can do for our communities, and for each other. After being so inspired yesterday, I am committing to joining two new volunteer-based initiatives in my own neighborhood, and I am feeling really empowered by the idea. There are so many ways to give back. What will you commit to?

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames, Inc.

Resources

Delaware:

State Office of Volunteerism of Delaware

Volunteer Delaware

United Way of Delaware

Greater Philadelphia:

Greater Philadelphia Cares

Volunteers of America, Pennsylvania

United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania

Elsewhere:

1-800-Volunteer

Volunteers of America

Or, just call your favorite local organization and say, “What can I do to help?”

If anyone asked me what the one thing in my life that I was most grateful for, I would (without giving it a second thought) say, my Education. Very early in life, surrounded by the remarkable accomplishments of my parents, grandparents and family, I became well aware of the significance of a good education. My grandfather used to say Education is the greatest equalizer. How true. How inspiring. That, with a decent education, one can achieve almost anything and overcome almost any odds.

During the past few years, I have had the opportunity to travel to some pretty amazing places. I have also had the opportunity to teach some pretty amazing kids. I educated and was educated. Through teaching, I had the opportunity to see the world through a child’s eyes. What a brilliant exchange. I could never have asked for a more meaningful education.

I am grateful every day for these experiences. As I discussed this fact with a friend the other day she said, dubiously, “Really? You are grateful every day?” And, the more I think about it… the answer is yes, I am grateful every single day.

Here are two of my favorite literacy initiatives that help kids get access to books, when they otherwise would not.

Big Brother Mouse

Better World Books

Happy Thanksgiving,

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames, Inc.

I was inspired by a speech I read the other day one given by, then Senator, Barack Obama and loved this quote about community..

“Yes, our greatness as a nation has depended on individual initiative, on a belief in the free market. But it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, of mutual responsibility… [We] know that there are some things we can’t do on our own. We know that there are some things we do better together.”

Barack Obama
AFSCME National Convention, Chicago, Illinois, August 7, 2006

There are some things we do better together… Yes, there is no doubt that we need one another, that we need a community. Our community supports us, inspires us and creates in us a feeling of acceptance. But our community also requires us to embrace it, to make a commitment to it, and to be fully present in it, in order for it to really advocate for us. It is a choice we make, to do better together.

As we go forward with this social venture, Great Dames, I continue to be intrigued by this idea of community and the role it plays in people’s lives. How many of us feel a sense of community today? Do we make a daily effort to be an integral part of our communities? Are we making the choice every day to truly support each other?

Heather Hake
Director of Operations
Great Dames