Women for The Inn
Established in October 2018, the Women for The Inn (WINN) is a fundraising initiative that provides a unique opportunity for women to directly support Inn families. Under the leadership of co-chairs Lois Alperstein and Julie McPherson, WINN brings together women who embrace The Inn’s mission and want to maximize their ingenuity, personal philanthropy and professional networks to benefit Inn families.
The impressive FY20 WINN keynote speakers included the following nationally recognized NIH leaders:
Patti Brennan, R.N., Ph.D., Director, National Library of Medicine
Nirali Shah, M.D., Head of the Hematologic Malignancies Section of the Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute
Lori Wiener, Ph.D., Co-Director, Behavioral Health Core Head, Psychosocial Support and Research Program, Senior Associate Scientist, National Cancer Institute
In addition to educational, informative and interactive meetings, WINN hosted a tour of The Inn for women interested in joining the group. WINN members also joined The Inn’s Congressional Reception on Capitol Hill and our SnowedINN event.
Members asked for opportunities to engage their children in supporting The Inn’s mission. Special engagement opportunities were created such as making Thoughtful Treasures for children’s mailboxes during one of our summer concert series events, reading to our younger residents during our popular WINN-sponsored Pets and Pajamas programs and attending a Winter Wonderland tree lighting ceremony on our playground.
WINN co-chair Julie McPherson makes Thoughtful Treasures with an Inn resident during a concert in summer 2019
Each September, in consultation with Inn leadership, WINN members decide how the combined membership donations will be allocated for the year. In FY20, members voted to fund comfort items for new families such as tote bags filled with warm blankets and water bottles to bring to Clinical Center medical visits. The committee also funded new luxury pillows and linens for resident rooms to promote rest and healing. Finally, WINN made a generous contribution towards our summer meal program when the pandemic necessitated critical changes to The Inn’s meal offerings.