CAN Spotlight:

Amber Kirchhoff of University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign NOW reports...

"My name is Amber Kirchhoff and as president of the NOW Campus Action Network at the University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign, I can tell you that it has been a busy year for us, working hard to re-establish our CAN as well as provide a strong feminist presence. Through the work of a highly dedicated core group of young women, we were able to coordinate several great events this year and I am proud to highlight a few for you here. Our most recent endeavor was the 2nd Annual Women's Herstory Trivia Fundraiser which combined March, Women's History Month, with April, Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Through the fundraiser we were able to bring together campus organizations to participate in a night of trivia which allowed us to make a donation to a local organization which offers support to survivors of sexual assault. UIUC NOW was also a co-sponsor of Sex Out Loud, an annual sexual health and awareness fair, where we took the opportunity to further educate students about parental notification laws and the current status of such laws in Illinois. Other notable events from this year include our financial planning workshop which featured guests from the State Treasurer's office during Domestic Assault Awareness Month, our sponsorship of a guest presentation from former human trafficking victim, Beatrice Fernanco, as well as our 2nd annual yoga and info session where UIUC NOW along with UIUC Hillel presented ways to take better care of yourself in honor of Love Your Body Day. We are consistently asked to co-sponsor by a variety of student organizations which lets me know that we are making ourselves known and I look forward to continuing our work next year! For more information about UIUC NOW, please contact me at akirchh2@uiuc.edu."