It is with great pleasure that Veuve Clicquot announces that Janne Ritskes of the Tabitha Foundation* will be the recipient of a 2012 Veuve Clicquot Initiative for Economic Development Award.  She will be presented this award during the American Women Group in Paris gala dinner on February 11, 2012. Janne is recognized for her successful efforts to transform the health and economic lives of impoverished populations in Cambodia by helping them gain access to clean water, become self-sufficient and invest in their futures. This award is particularly exciting for the American Women’s Group in Paris who nominated Janne for this award and recently raised $15,000 for the FAWCO Target Water Project - Tabitha, Wells for Clean Water in Cambodia.  AWG Paris invites FAWCO members to attend the AWG gala in Paris, meet this amazing woman and congratulate her.  Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you would like to attend the February 11, 2012 event. 

Dear Members of FAWCO: Over the past year, FAWCO has brought peace to more than 2500 people in Cambodia through your gifts of wells for the very poorest. Let me share one story:

On January 9, the IRS announced that it was yet again reviving its program inviting those with undeclared accounts abroad to declare them, facing heavy penalties for not having filed previously but, in some cases, avoiding even higher penalties.  Click here for the Bloomberg News article on this from the New York Times.  Note that, as reported by the Associated Press, the IRS says it could "end the new program at any time or change its terms, such as stiffening the penalties. The new program's maximum 27.5% fine is slightly higher than the 25% penalties people faced during the 2011 program."

FAWCO has reported regularly in the past on the IRS initiatives to encourage non-filers to “come in from the cold” (click here for the most recent from August 2011, with some information on who should file and what must be reported), and has consistently recommended consulting a tax professional.  The voluntary disclosure programs do not apply equally to everyone, but everyone should know that it will become increasingly difficult and onerous to ignore tax and foreign account filing requirements.  We can only strongly recommend reading, consulting and making an informed decision.

The Deadline is January 20th and we need applications for the 2012 FAWCO Foundation Education Awards and Development Grants.

Education Awards applications must be submitted electronically no later than Friday, January 20.  Signed hard copies of the applications must be postmarked no later than Monday, January 24.  Please advise you Club´s members that no exceptions to these deadlines can be made.  For questions or additional information, please contact Suzanne at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Development Grant Proposals are also due no later than Friday, January 20, and signed hard copies must be postmarked no later than Monday, January 24.  For questions and additional information, please contact Kelly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

It’s up and running!  The 2012 FAWCO-OVF website for user-friendly voter registration…

Once again this year, we are proud to announce that, thanks to our long-standing partner Overseas Vote Foundation, military and overseas voters can register to vote and request their ballots directly from the FAWCO website, using the latest secure technology and benefiting from access to continuously updated state-specific information. It is now easier than ever before to register and request your ballot.  That makes it all the more inexcusable not to!