JULY 2026
Volume 52, No. 6
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From the Grand President...
Dear Members,
Have you heard? The order is now open to anyone who would like to join.
I want to thank the Native Sons for sharing their Program about the three R's, retain, recruit, and re-envision. The future is in our hands, and we need to be reaching out to friends, family and other social groups and do things that keep people interested. We need to share what we do, leave those brochures behind in your doctor’s office or the visitor Center or even your local coffee shop on their community boards. We need to become intentional to connect with people and share the good we do. It is one conversation at a time that can lead to wonderful things.
Thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to serving you this next year.
In Sisterly love,
Grand President Renee Rianda
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Semi-Annual Audits due to the Grand Parlor Office by July 31st
Be sure to invite your Deputy Grand President to your audit. You will need the officer's books, minutes, warrants and the bank statement, along with the check book. Don't forget to send a roster with all four pages of the audit form!
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CONTRATULATIONS TO OUR THREE CHARITIES!
Submitted by Sherry Farley, PGP
We’re excited to share some news! The NDGW Charitable Foundation and the NDGW Home have been evaluated by Charity Navigator, the world’s largest and most trusted nonprofit evaluator, and earned a Three-Star Rating!
Plus, the NDGW Childrens Foundation earned a Four-Star Rating!
Charity Navigator’s third-party accreditation validates our organization’s operational excellence.
This milestone achievement couldn’t have happened without you and your support. Thank you for being part of our family as contributors, funders, and volunteers. Your trust and support helps us make a difference for the communities we serve.
| | | | PARLORS & COMMITTEES IN ACTION... | |
MEMBERSHIP MILESTONES
Submitted by Jeanne Meil, Oakdale No. 125
I have always referred to Oakdale Parlor No. 125 as “small but mighty”, but I’m afraid that that description is growing outdated!
We were delighted to add two new members resulting from an offer to join at a reduced cost at our Table Setting Luncheon. That put us at 25, and we knew that new members had a new group of friends that we could interest! But, as in all Parlors, sadly, we continued to have resignations and deaths making our membership count go down as fast as it had gone up.
Our journey took a change of course following an awesome summer social and GP’s incentive to increase our membership by 10%, by GPAM 2026 . In December, we added 2 new members and officially started our membership explosion.
At final count, as of June 2026, we have 33 members, with our final addition being a familiar face to Parlors across the state due to his travels with his mom, Jr.PGP Heidi Dillion. Yes, we indeed were the Parlor fortunate to add MARCO ALTIMIRANO to our roster.
Oakdale happily became the FIRST Parlor to have a member NOT born in the state of California but one who qualifies based on our new legislation passed at GPAM 2026! Marco will be a great asset to our Parlor and to the organization as a wholel, We hope he is just one of many that will be able to join our ranks now!!!
Marco was supposed to be born in California, but when Heidi was at her company headquarters in Logan, Utah, Marco decided to come early due to the altitude! He, who like many can now join NDGW, has lived the majority of his life in California-Patterson, to be exact!
He thoroughly enjoyed meeting ND members and seeing California as he hit the “Official Visit Road” while he accompanied his mom as she served as Grand President. He enjoys hiking, video games, cooking, and snowmobiling. He also likes working on cars and is interested in being a mechanic.
We are going to truly enjoy having him as a contributing member. We feel honored to have him join Josh, Hannah Rose and Jr.PGP Heidi. I now would say we are “mighty and on the move”!!
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DreamPower Horsemanship receives grant from Native Daughters of the Golden West Children’s Foundation.
Submitted by Shawna Freels, San Juan Bautista No. 179
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Pictured: Martha McNiel, Shawna Freels, Jean Koehl and Ann Fritch (seated). Photo by Robert Eliason.
Working together, the San Juan Bautista and Gilroy parlors of the Native Daughters of the Golden West (NDGW) supported the area’s first-ever charitable grant from the Native Daughters of the Golden West Children’s Foundation, which awarded $3,000 to DreamPower Horsemanship, a local equine therapy ranch.
The money will go toward supporting the Gilroy organization’s “Winnie’s Friends,” a June camp hosted for children aged 4 to 17 who currently have or have had cancer, as well as their siblings.
DreamPower director Martha McNiel said it’s a chance for the children to be outdoors, work with the horses and for a short time forget that they have cancer.
“They get to be around others who understand what they’re going through,” she said, “and it gives them a real sense of community and a peer group that they often are missing.”
Shawna Freels, the president of San Juan’s NDGW Parlor No. 179, said she got the idea when she attended the organization’s Children’s Foundation annual fundraiser at Sutter Creek in February and noticed a list of causes throughout California receiving funds did not include any from this region.
“Historically,” she said, “these grants have routinely gone to other areas of the state. I felt strongly that we needed representation here to ensure some of that money reached the children in our local community.”
According to Jean Koehl, Hollister resident, NDGW Past Grand President and recording secretary for Gilroy’s NDGW Parlor No. 312, when the Native Daughters and the affiliated Native Sons were first founded, they ran an adoption agency in San Francisco.
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Pictured Above: Martha McNiel, Shawna Freels, Jean Koehl and Ann Fritch (seated) with DreamPower volunteers. Photo by Robert Eliason.
The Native Sons now focus their money on cleft palate research and treatment, she said, while the Native Daughters decided to diversify into helping middle-income California parents with medical expenses for their children.
“It provides for things like van lifts, orthodonture, hearing aids, or even surgeries for burn victims,” she said. “At the end of the year, they pick different children’s camps throughout the state to give to where children can just be children for a week.”
Freels said she became aware of DreamPower through friends who are on the board and have volunteered for the organization. She praised it for the feeling of success it instills in children, veterans and other groups that receive support.
“They really give the opportunity,” she said, “for people who need a different type of connection to grow and to learn and to be a little more of who they are as people. Being around horses and that beauty helps them to better themselves.”
McNiel said that DreamPower currently manages around 15 different programs which primarily focus on mental, emotional and behavioral health for those with special mental, emotional, physical and medical needs, as well as law enforcement officers and military veterans and their families.
The ultimate goal of being in the program, she said, depends on which option is the best fit for an individual, with the goal of guiding them toward a happier, healthier and more fulfilling life.
“If it’s a child with autism,” McNiel said, “it’s going to look different than if it’s a military veteran with moral injury or post-traumatic stress disorder. So, it just depends on what problem or issue is bringing them in. We’re trying to help them solve the problem, whatever they have.”
For more information on DreamPower Horsemanship and its programs, visit the website or email dphgilroy@gmail.com.
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