Dear Ginni and other ILCA Members,

The full name of the Canadian Delegate who resigned in 1989 because her nursing
school load, newborn, and ILCA BOD position became overwhelming was Michelle
Martins. Additionally Linda Smith, who finished her first tenure on the ILCA BOD
in July 1988, and who went on to be the Membership Coordinator also resigned in
the Fall of 1988.

Resignations are always "another story". In any business, agency, organization
or group, they have traditionally meant anything from, being asked to leave by
the leadership to actual dibilitating health reasons. Often in volunteer
organizations (or those compensating with less-than-standard-pay-scale
honorariums) you will see a mass exodus with: unresponsive leadership or
leadership that has made the volunteer position so uncomfortable that it is no
longer worth affiliating with the management group of the organization. I have
worked with volunteer organizations, both as that volunteer and in a leadership
capacity for over 25 years, most recently as President of the ILCA BOD,
1988-1990 (when one includes the year as President-Elect and immediate Past
President it becomes 1987-1991). I have seen several such mass resignations in
different groups over the years, and personally believe in the old adage: "where
there is smoke, there is fire". But who started the fire is always the
million-dollar question!!

Jeanine Klaus, MS, IBCLC
Oakville, Ontario