March is Not the Month for Women Only

By: Veronica Leighton

 

As us women are being honored for our accomplishments, roles and impacts in this wonderful world we live in for this month of March, there are other remarkable celebrations that are not highly celebrated but which we must recognize as it impacts many everyday people like us.

These are the following:

*Red Cross month, as proclaimed by the City of Chicago on March 13, urging Chicagoans to recognize the work the Red Cross does every day in communities in Chicago and to encourage residents to lend a hand to their fellow humans in time of need.

*Thank a Journalist Day March 13), (love this, too) acknowledges the role journalists play in keeping communities informed and safe. This is a nationwide campaign initiated by a team of Ball State University advertising and public relations students, to recognize the work that journalists do to empower their communities around the world.

*National Doctors’ Day (March 30). It is a day to celebrate the contribution of physicians who serve our country by caring for its citizens.

*National Nutrition Month, a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association (ADA). The March campaign is designed to focus attention on making informed food choices and developing sound eating and exercise habits.

Of course, the most, exciting, most visible, most talked-about, and most celebrated topic is the Women’s History Month, as we have come a long way and we have arrived!

Many of your favorite columnists have touched on the exciting topic about women in this issue…

Victoria Smith, columnist of the Notes from the Sound, page 20, titled “Women, Their Anger, and the Me Too Movement.” Vicki’s intriguing mind starts out, “It’s both a celebration of our gains and a reminder of how much more needs to be done in the fight for women’s rights and freedoms.”; Notebook columnist Elsie Sy-Niebar, pages 12-13, touches on “the first two Black Women vying to be our Mayor for Chicago, Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot.”; Objectively Harsh columnist Joe Mauricio, page 22, interestingly names some women of honor whom he lovingly labels “Alpha Women” in our midst; Dear Tita Eza’s advice column on page 17, will really take you to the sad plight and story of a woman who told the story of a young girl molested and abused due to family’s poverty but happily rose to a life of decency and happiness.

Some of your favorite columnists write about features and stories, favorite topics that they are presenting and focusing every month to educate, excite and entertain their readers. Enjoy them! Remember, we always present fresh and alive stories, not picked or stolen articles from the Internet. You read fresh stories first in VT then on to the Internet, not the other way around, unlike the other local publications’.

Our cover feature this month of March, of course, is a woman, and a very interesting woman. Ms. Jennifer S. Roan is an accomplished C.P.A., one of the founding partners of Adelfia, LLC, a very successful public accounting firm owned by Filipino women in Chicago. There you go, women! She was inducted into the Hall of Fame (Chicago Filipino Asian American Hall of Faem 2019) in the field of Excellence in Finance/Accounting last November 10, 2019.

Happy birthday to our March girl, Melody Dizon (March 3), columnist of Unchained Melody, page 27. Another woman who’s making an impact in our community, she is a successful nurse entrepreneur and a loving mother of three children. Congratulations to new Grandma Maria Girlie Pascual, (G-Mail, page 25) a commuting lola (Chicago to California and back) to grandson Kenzo, first born baby of her son Kristoffer and his wife Svienna. New Mom Louella Cabalona, columnist of Arts/Tech, page 35, has been juggling her time these days taking care of baby Reign Malaya, working full time, and as a newscaster on CPRTV.

To all our readers, men and women, young and adults, enjoy reading Via Times for inspirational stories about our community. ###