LWV WCGA — Actively Serving the Woodbury-Cottage Grove Area for 53 years.
The LWV WCGA League is part of League of Women Voters US and LWV Minnesota, founded in 1920 and 1919 respectively. The League is a nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) organization, neither supporting nor opposing candidates or political parties at any level of government. The League works on issues of vital concern to members and the public.
The Woodbury League formed when the city was incorporated in 1967. The Woodbury and Cottage Grove area Leagues merged in 1980 forming LWV WCGA. The League serves Cottage Grove, Grey Cloud Island Township, Newport, St. Paul Park, and Woodbury.
We are holding our Annual Fundraising Drive to support our programs offered to the community. Our mission is to Inform Voters and Defend Democracy. Here’s how we do our work.
You are likely to see us at community events such as Woodbury Community EXPO, Juneteenth, Woodbury Days, Newport Pioneer Day, and Cottage Grove Strawberry Fest. At these events you may see us registering voters, providing information on redistricting, and soliciting information from residents on important issues. We also hold Voter Registration Drives in local schools, farmer’s markets, and libraries throughout the communities we serve.
In addition to our community outreach, LWV WCGA provides a direct link to Legislators for the State of Minnesota during its legislative interviews (view most recent). This is a great way to get to know your legislators. During this annual event, held the first week of the legislative session, legislators share their goals for the upcoming session and respond to questions from LWVMN, LWV WCGA, and the audience.
During election season, the League holds candidate forums. These forums allow the community to learn more about candidates and their position on specific issues. Legislators respond to questions and share how they will solve problems facing residents in each community. These forums are viewed by thousands of residents through the support of South Washington County Telecommunications Commission, our website, and our YouTube channel.
The LWV WCGA works to educate voters on key topics of interest through webinars and in-person programs. Many times, we have questions about how our government and school systems work. We may have a concern and are not sure who to go to for the answer. LWV WCGA has developed programs to answer those questions and many more. Past educational programs have included:
and many more. They can be found on our website and You Tube channel.
The Local Observer Corps (link) is focused on ensuring local government transparency. Corps members are trained to observe local government meetings in the communities we serve and report back to LWVWCGA Members and the community. Items of interest are posted on our blog and are available to everyone.
None of these programs could be offered without the support of our members. League dues are shared with LWVUS and LWVMN to support programming at the national and state level. LWV WCGA retains $11 for each adult member and $6.50 for each student member. For example, a booth at Woodbury Days cost $515, Strawberry Fest is $125, Woodbury Community EXPO is $295, and all of these outreach events require additional expenses such as printing. Our Zoom and website expenses are $200 annually, and we also incur expenses for venues for events, moderator fees, convention registration, training, dues to Inter-League Organizations. and auditing fees. You can view our budget that was approved by members at the 2022 Annual Meeting (fiscal year: April 2022 to March 2023). Our costs exceed our income from membership dues. The programs we offer require more funding than we generate in dues.
We have not had a fundraiser in six years and are hopeful that if we are successful this year we will not have to raise as much next year.
During the month of February, we are actively fundraising to ensure we can provide long-term sustainable programs to the communities we serve. If we are to continue providing programs at the level the community has become accustomed to, then we need to increase our funding. The only way to do that is through donations. Learn how you can donate to LWV WCGA here (Link to ways to donate).
Click here if you would like to donate to our Annual Fundraising Campaign. If you would like to donate to a specific team, scroll down and click on this button to find the name of your team lead:
If you are unable to donate this year, please forward this post to your family and friends.
Learn about other wasy to donate to LWV WCGA here.
Thank you for considering LWV Woodbury-Cottage Grove Area.