 | Help Empower the Next Generation of Voters!
As the school year wraps up, the League of Women Voters of Orange County is reaching out for certified volunteers (League members only) to help local high school seniors register to vote before graduation. Many of these students are eligible to vote for the first time — and with your help, they can start their civic journey informed and empowered. (Click here to take the Voter Registration quiz to be eligible to volunteer for future Voter Registration events. This link also includes a resource for training for the quiz.)
We’re looking for friendly, nonpartisan volunteers to visit schools, answer questions, and guide students through the registration process. If you're passionate about democracy and ready to make a direct impact, we need you!
Time commitment: Just a few hours can make a huge difference.
Training provided: No experience necessary — we’ll prepare you.
📅 Volunteer shifts available through early June
📍 Various high schools across Orange County
Join us and help build a stronger future — one new voter at a time.
WHAT? You want to help but you're NOT a League member? Quickly, jump to this JOIN HERE page to help us lead the charge to empower voters!
High School voter services volunteers shown below (l) Apopka HS, Betty Saulpaugh-Victor Collazo-Linda Dalton; Jones HS, Kathy Schmitz, Betty Saulpaugh, Shan Rose, Saudi Ellis, SOE rep Marbri Pereira
| A garden party ‘thank you’ to LWVOC donors! Our Fund Development Committee celebrated LWVOC’s generous donors with a reception April 29, in the idyllic lakeside garden of hosts Laurie and Richard Wack.
Fiscal year 24-25 donations set records, said Fund Development Chair Lee Rambeau Kemp. The new Giving Society has also contributed to this year’s success.
Local members’ dues also support state and national League operations, so donors’ gifts enabled the LWVOC to strengthen operations, support student membership, and launch other special projects to empower voters and defend democracy.
Their donations are paying big dividends, Kemp said, such as amplifying the League’s impact through expanded communications and outreach. One example: support for this newsletter, which had 85,800+ readers last year.
Honored guests included sponsors, annual donors, and members of the LWVOC’s Giving Society, a new donor category whose members pledge yearly donations for 5 years. The program showcased LWVOC’s work last year, with action committee leaders and student members from Rollins College and the University of Central Florida
Make a difference as an LWVOC donor supporter and click Donate HERE
Shown above (l-r, top ): Presidents Kathy Schmitz & Jane Hursh, hosts Laurie and Rick Wack, LWVUCF chapter & mentors: (front row) - President Alayna Kennedy, LWVOC co-liaison Margo Hamel, Vice President Chloe Scott (back row) LWVOC Co-liaison Victoria Shinker, Treasurer (incoming) Rachel Chambless, and Treasurer (outgoing) Izzy McKenzie
Shown below (l-r, bottom) Kathy Schmitz, Sue Foreman, Lee Rambeau Kemp, Ann Patton, Gloria Pickar; Bobby Sena, Victoria Shinker, Susan Sussman
| Check the calendar for all upcoming Committee meetings (most on Zoom) and become an active Leaguer!
MAY 1, 5pm, Thurs
NPV, What exactly is the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact?
MAY 3 & 10, 3-5pm, Sat
Young Professional Member Gathering
Details below
MAY 14, Hot Topics
Unkindest Cuts: The Cost of Government Downsizing
MAY 20, 12pm
Education Committee Mtg.
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*We table and sometimes provide power points to provide voter registration and civic information at the following opportunities. You must have taken and passed the League voter registration test HERE
MAY 12, 7:30am w/ shifts thru 2:30pm
Student registration
MAY 12, 7:30AM w/shifts thru 2:30pm
Student registration
MAY 12, 7:30AM w/shifts thru 2:30pm
Student Registration
And MANY MORE dates for high school senior voter registration!
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Florida public schools and public media, food banks, health services and assistance to vulnerable populations are facing steep reductions this year in government funding. The League of Women Voters of Orange County hosts a May 14 Hot Topics panel — “Unkindest Cuts: The Cost of Government Downsizing” — that will focus on local needs, efforts to soften the blow and how Florida responds to the current economic uncertainty.
Unkindest Cuts: The Cost of Government Downsizing, MAY 14, Doors open 10:30am
PANELISTS include:
Kelly Astro, Senior Vice President, Community Impact
Derrick Chubbs, President-CEO, Second Harvest Food Bank of Central FL
Skylar Swisher, Orlando Sentinel journalist
Dr. Maria F. Vazquez, Superintendent, Orange County Public Schools
Moderator, Steve Mort; Host and Executive Producer, NewsNight on WUCF-TV |  | | LWVOC Homelessness Study 2025
Members of the Orange County League are expressing increased interest in being part of the conversation surrounding homelessness in our community, particularly with regard to the options available to our unsheltered neighbors. The conversation intensified following the March 12 Hot Topics, Unsheltered: Criminalized and Cast Aside, and the subsequent public meetings about shelter proposals in SoDo (South of Downtown) and East Orlando.
While members can support or oppose proposals as individuals, when we speak as a League, we base our advocacy on positions developed through a study and consensus process. To give the League more grounding going forward, we will be conducting a short and intense study.
This will begin with the assembling of a task force to gather information and create summaries and study guides. We expect this first phase to be completed in August. In September and October, during Phase 2, information will be available to all League members to review and discuss, with the goal of coming to some common understanding on what the League will and will not support.
Anyone interested in being part of Phase I, in small ways or large, can contact one of the co-presidents, Jane Hursh (co-president@lwvoc.org) or Kathy Schmitz (president@lwvoc.org).
Visit the Hot Topics RECAP here to find out more about how the LWVOC is highlighting the issue. | Invitation to Community Conversations on Homelessness
In related news, one of Hot Topics panelists from March, Martha Are, CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, has shared an invitation to be part of community conversations. The Network’s intent is to “identify people across the three counties who already know they are willing to support shelter or affordable housing in their neighborhood - or that they are at least willing to participate in civil conversations if the opportunity arises.”
You can self-identify at yes2shelterandhousing.com. | | Drop off donations at May 14 Hot Topics
Local food banks are on the frontlines of $$ shortfalls.
You can help by bringing non-perishable, non-glass container FOOD donations to our May 14th Hot Topics.
Start adding those extra shopping items to your cart the next few weeks and let's help out the Hope CommUnity Center.
| | | SPECIAL "Take Action" Alerts Now Available from Pres. Kathy Schmitz
“Alert lists” are open to both LWVOC members and non-members. They are a way to share timely opportunities, for example, upcoming rallies, volunteer needs, or urgent legislative actions. To keep email volume down, only I, or someone I specify, will be posting to this list.
“Sharing lists” are an additional option for LWVOC members. Within guidelines that will be posted, anyone who joins one of these lists will be able to post. Guidelines will focus on posting actionable information, avoiding debate, and maintaining a respectful tone.
Current topics are Immigration, Housing & Poverty, Women’s Issues & Health Care, and Defending Democracy
To sign up for any of the lists, fill out this simple form HERE.
|  | MEMBERS: The 40th Biennial State Convention of the League of Women Voters of Florida will occur June 6 - June 7 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in Downtown Orlando, Florida. Click HERE for registration details.
Want to Serve as a LWVOC Delegate?
LWVOC is allowed up to 30 delegates to the state convention and has funds to pay the registration fee for 25 of them. Priority in serving goes to Board Members and Committee Chairs first and then is open to the general membership. If you are interested in attending as a delegate, please email Kathy Schmitz at president@lwvoc.org and indicate whether or not you would be seeking reimbursement. To be reimbursed for the $285 registrations fee, you will need to attend the full event and afterwards, submit a brief report.
Delegates will have the opportunity to participate in our Convention Plenary and vote on our 2025–2027 Program, 2025–2026 budget, 2025–2027 LWVFL Board of Directors and Nominating Committee, and submitted bylaws amendments.
ORANGE COUNTY LEAGUERS: Those of us in LWVOC won't need a place to stay but those coming from around the state will. If you are able to offer housing to someone attending convention, please click HERE to fill out a "hospitality form" and we will do our best to match you as LWV of Orange County Welcomes the State!
(FYI: There is a block of rooms at the convention hotel, DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, in Downtown Orlando, at 60 S Ivanhoe Blvd, Orlando, FL 32804. For those who don't know, this is adjacent to the Florida LWV offices in the Conduit.) |  | |
James Raffenaud
Christene Repass
Cathleen Craft
Not a member yet? Visit JOIN HERE and learn about becoming a Leaguer! |  |
Interested in optional ways to support LWVOC?
REMEMBER, if you're joining or renewing on the national site, COME BACK and
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Sponsors are vital to our work to empower voters by providing timely information for the benefit of non-partisan civic engagement in our community.
To further explore how becoming a Hot Topics Sponsor can align with your business goals, please contact LWVOC Vice President, Lee Rambeau Kemp HERE
A range of sponsorship levels are available. |  |  |  | | Statewide call to action: The League of Women Voters supports the Florida Right to Clean Water campaign, a citizens' initiative to amend the Florida Constitution with the right to clean and healthy waters. If our current laws were working, then we wouldn’t have manatees dying in record numbers, 80% of our 1000 springs impaired, and harmful blue-green algae and red tide in greater frequency and duration. A constitutional right takes precedence over legislation that permits pollution, restricts fertilizer bans, and allows radioactive materials to be used in our roads. Create a legacy for the future of our waters!
The Right to Clean Water! In support of establishing our basic right to clean and healthy water, LWVOC has committed to helping get this citizen initiative on the 2026 ballot. Please sign your own petition. Those who signed prior to 2024 will need to sign the new petition.
Learn how YOU can become an active volunteer here: https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/resources | |