The Gail Miller Women’s Leadership Group welcomed Kristin Andrus and Emily Bell McCormick for a worthwhile discussion with Gail Miller focused on making the journey the destination. The women discussed their involvement in taking the Period Project to the Utah State Legislature and the lessons they learned along the way. With private donations of $1 million each from the Miller Family Foundation and the Andrus Foundation to purchase period product dispensers for Utah’s K-12 public and charter schools, the team asked lawmakers to appropriate money to cover the cost of dispenser installation and period products.
Naja Pham Lockwood and Asha Parekh from Refugee Services and Utah Afghan Community Fund joined Gail Miller for an important discussion about their efforts to help settle hundreds of Afghan refugees in Utah.
Utah will resettle 885 Afghans by mid-February 2022, and an additional 1,200 refugees from around the world will arrive in 2022. The panel, which included recent refugees, discussed how individuals can assist these organizations and learn about ways to volunteer. In December 2021, the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation donated $100,000 to the Utah Afghan Community Fund to help support refugee resettlement efforts. This donation will help purchase food, clothing, household items, and medical supplies for newly arrived refugees.