Hello all,

BWC and others have certainly said it all, from thinking along the lines of JFK - think  not of what your organisation can do for you, but what YOU can do for your organisation. I know it may seem like a lot of money for many of us, but once again, lets think of it as a way of strengthening our own base. Not all of us can be proactive in making change or be members of the board or holding other instrumental positions in the organisation. But by being a paid member we enable others to do it for us. Strength comes in numbers, and the more we join together, the more we empower our organisation to work for us. If the organisation is not to our liking than it is up to us to initiate change or even apply to those who are able to do this. By standing back, and waiting for others to take up the slack, pay their dues, and then reap the benefits (benefits are sometimes just being heard, recognized, having an organisation to react  to situations and being there to advance OUR profession) seems to me so very typical. I always say, it is a matter of priorities. 

When I worked with the underprivileged population, some never had any money to "donate" to any cause. They were too poor, but for that "BARGAIN" watch, they never hesitated. After all, it was a bargain which they were never too shy to brag about. Those who cannot afford food on the table somehow always find cigarette money. It wasn't then, and isn't now my business to change people's priorities. so I hope no one on this list will be offended,  but we all give to various causes, whether it be the church, synagogue, cancer research, the heart fund, the soldiers fund, etc....etc.....  Who is going to donate funds for the promotion of Breastfeeding research and programs.????  (aside from the formula companies- and then we are all up in arms??)  Only those of us who are already giving of our time, energy and  money and who are so very committed to this cause.  None of us are raking it in, but we have to think Global, we have to think of the future. We have to band together to encourage action, and again, if each and everyone of us cannot perform on a global level, then we all should do our bit on an individual level and  encourage OUR organisation to speak out for us.
Unfortunately, no organisation can exist without funding, a budget and in short -  MONEY. And it is really hard to find funding for something considered by most of the "establishment" as bottom of the priority list. When I saw that figure of 11,000 IBCLC's I could only think of how strong we could be if each and everyone would pay their dues.!!! or at least a donation.

How many of us are listed in the new ILCA website's roster of IBCLC's? Are only paid members listed there? If no, then there you go. Something for nothing. And if YES, then there you go again, a reason for joining!!
we should try striking a balance to ensure that all our names appear in the global list. Who knows, just one referral might just help us cover the annual membership fees.

sincerely,
Ellen Shein, IBCLC, LLLL 
Tel Aviv






             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html