Yesterday marked the 24th annual National Girls and Women in Sports Day. This event has been a true showcase and celebration of how far female athletes of all ages have come in the past 2.5 decades.
But there was quieter news in Minnesota last week regarding women and girls in sport. In a newsletter dated January 29, 2010, Melpomene announced a partnership with Pillsbury United Communites.
I've been unable to locate the news directly on Melpomene's website, nor have I found mention of it yet on Pillsbury United Community's website. Therefore, without a hotlink to post, I offer the following, pulled directly from the electronic newsletter I received from Melpomene last Friday.
The Board of Directors of Melpomene has made a decision to perpetuate our mission through merger with a far larger organization, Pillsbury United Communities. The official announcement will come on February 1.
The merger gives Melpomene the chance to apply its 27 years of research in women's health for the benefit of thousands of underserved women. Our new name will be "Melpomene, a program of Pillsbury United Communities".
Melpomene's legacy will be preserved by donating issues of the Melpomene Journal, books, and other publications to nationally respected libraries. Sets of the Melpomene Journal, published from 1982 - 2002, have already been acquired by the Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard and by St. Catherine University School of Health.
Founded in 1906 by the Pillsbury family, Pillsbury United Communities is a descendent of the Settlement House Movement. Today, Pillsbury United Communities (PUC) reaches more than 35,000 people each year through multiple locations in the inner city neighborhoods of Minneapolis. With an annual budget of over $8 million, PUC offers programs in housing, employment readiness, early childhood development, immigrant services, and wellness. Please visit the website at www.puc-mn.org
We will thrive as a program of Pillsbury United Communities. Our emerging community model to build basic health habits with underserved women will grow in our new environment. Student interns studying in health fields will remain the backbone of the program. PUC has such a wide range that several of our projects will continue in the same location.
This is a very important and very positive change for Melpomene. We hope you will join us in celebrating the future!
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