Dear GWP Friends,
One of the most inspiring women to me was my mom. I’ve been missing her a lot lately. I actually got to know Global Women’s Project through her. She was on the steering committee about 15 years ago, and that’s when I learned so much more about GWP. In particular, I really got behind the idea of the luxury tax.
In case you haven’t heard it, but luxury tax is an idea that the founders of GWP had – to “tax” ourselves for luxuries, to bring our awareness to people in the world who are not as privileged as we are, and to use that money to bring about change and improve the lives of women around the world. It’s our way of educating ourselves and others about wealth and privilege, and at the same time empowering women.
The day I first heard about the luxury tax, I remember others in the room talking about what they did. One woman taxed herself a dime for every time she used her garage door opener. One woman taxed herself a dollar for every bag of cat food she bought. Clearly, the luxuries people were aware of ran the spectrum. So that day I decided to tax myself a quarter for every shower I took. (I had recently been camping and had to pay 25 cents for a shower, which made me realize that it was, indeed, a luxury, to have warm, running water to shower in.) I collected all those quarters and turned it into regular donations to GWP. I did that for about 12 years until I, in turn, joined the steering committee, and then decided that my time serving on the committee would take the place of the monetary donation.
Who are the inspiring women in your life? And what luxuries are you grateful for? Is there something you could tax yourself for? Can you imagine the good that can come of that donation?
Your luxury tax donation to GWP could provide shelter for a victim of domestic violence in India, provide rent money and emotional support to a woman recently released from jail here in the US, help a Rwandan woman grow her own food, purchase a sewing machine for a women in South Sudan, or many other things. Just imagine all the good that money can do.
Thank you for the many ways you support GWP – your time, your money, your hosting, your writing, your sharing with your friends and women’s groups and churches. And thank you for being a source of inspiration to the people around you. The world certainly needs it right now!
If you have any luxury tax stories, we’d love to hear them. Feel free to reply to this email with your stories. And if you’re too humble or shy to share, thank you anyway. 🙂
For anyone inspired to send a donation, make checks out to Global Women’s Project and send them to:
Global Women’s Project
Church of the Brethren
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
Church of the Brethren
1451 Dundee Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120
And, as of today, you can donate online! Click here: www.brethren.org/globalwomensproject.
Thanks again and blessings to you all,
Tina Rieman
GWP Steering Committee Member
Global Women's Project 