Author: SMayuga

GFWC Woman’s League of Lowcountry (South Carolina)

GFWC Woman’s League of the Lowcountry (South Carolina) sponsored a walk to benefit GFWC Affiliate Organization St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital the morning of March 13. Even though the walk was outside, the walk times were still staggered due to COVID-19. Masks were also worn and distancing was encouraged to ensure the safety of everyone participating. Donations were made at the pavilion the day of the walk or made online through the St. Jude event website. Live music, light snacks, coffee, and water were available throughout the morning. Local businesses also donated prizes and gift certificates, which were used as door prizes for all the registered donors.

Many club members helped plan and prepare for this wonderful project, and clubwomen said they are so grateful for the generosity and support of this event. As a result of this event, more than $9,000 will be sent to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to benefit the children.

GFWC Woman’s Citizenship Club of Alamosa (Colorado)

GFWC Woman’s Citizenship Club of Alamosa (Colorado) wanted to show their appreciation to the staff of the Alamosa School District. Club member Linda Cozart, who spearheaded this project, commented, “For a year now, things have been uncertain as to how we should continue to live our lives during a pandemic. Nowhere has that been more agonizingly so than with the schools.”

It was with that sentiment in mind that club members put together large bowls of goodies and snacks and took them to the different school buildings to be placed in staff break rooms. This was a small way to say “thank you” for their dedication and doing their best in a bewildering year. A special note was placed in each snack bowl which read, “Take a minute to reflect and consider how truly awesome you are.”

GFWC Millville Woman’s Club (New Jersey)

GFWC Millville Woman’s Club (New Jersey) members make it their goal to honor military veterans and strive to demonstrate their appreciation for the service they provide. While the club has an on-going drive year round to receive articles of clothing for veterans, Louise Jones, the club’s Civic Engagement and Outreach Chairperson, came up with a special project during the holidays. It was called “Undies Under the Tree” and involved contributions of socks, undershirts, and underwear being generously donated for men and women for men an women. Various other items were contributed as well, including boxes of CDs featuring different types of music. On Friday, March 12, Louise Jones and Barbara Westog delivered this collection to the New Jersey Veterans Memorial Home in Vineland.

GFWC Agawam Junior Women’s Club (Massachusetts)

Members of GFWC Agawam Junior Women’s Club (Massachusetts) gathered at the Agawam Public Library for a pre-arranged work night recently to assemble five tied blankets to be donated to the YWCA of Western Massachusetts. The material was purchased more than a year ago, but the work could not be completed as a group due to COVID-19 restrictions on gathering. The YWCA provides safe places for women and children in crisis, and offers women counseling, job training, childcare, and health and fitness opportunities.

Club members Donna Shibley, Lizzie Demerski, Ashley Moore, Regina Sibilia, Julie LaBarre, and Jen Nowak, from GFWC Wilbraham Junior Women’s Club, helped make the blankets.

Library staff members were pleased to hear chatter and laughter as the work progressed, and the club offered its thanks to Nancy Siegel, Agawam Public Library Director, for her help with scheduling.

GFWC Junto Woman’s Club (Virginia)

Last October, nineteen GFWC Junto Woman’s Club (Virginia) members and several of their spouses partnered with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Nansemond River Preservation Alliance (NRPA) in Suffolk, Virginia, to construct Oyster Reef Baskets. These baskets are scheduled to be placed in the Nansemond River in late March and early April. According to the NRPA, establishing an oyster garden can be beneficial to the environment because these shellfish help filter bacteria, nutrients, and suspended solids from water. After the success of the club working with the NRPA for the first phase of the Oyster Reef Project, several more members will be joining the second part of the project by putting together oyster shell mesh bags that will be used as substrates and installed along the river.

In addition to the Oyster Reef Project, several GFWC Junto Woman’s Club members serve on the NRPA Board of Directors and the Water Quality Committee and have participated in trips down the Nansemond River to take water samples for testing. The club first became a community partner with the NRPA in 2018, as many members live along the river, and have continued to work with them on projects since.

GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club (Alabama)

Clubwomen with GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club (Alabama) put on their masks and went shopping for a variety of outfits for infants and toddlers who may need an emergency change of clothes during clinic visits with GFWC Affiliate Organization St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Affiliate Clinic of Huntsville, Alabama. A total of 131 sets of new infant and toddler clothing outfits, along with 42 pairs of underwear and 33 pairs of socks valued at more than $2,000 was donated during the club’s monthly drop off. The Juniors’ Special Program: Advocates for Children Chairperson washed, dried, ironed, sorted, and packaged each outfit for safety before they were delivered. Club members support a variety of projects for St. Jude, including keeping the clinic’s “Treasure Chest” filled with books, craft kits, and gift cards for ages one to 18.

GFWC Anchorage Woman’s Club (Alaska)

GFWC Anchorage Woman’s Club (Alaska) clubwomen decided to “Give from the Heart” during the month of February. Club members donated $1,000 that was matched by ISE Logistics. The $2,000 check was presented to the Alaska Food Bank at the historic Pioneer School House. The club offered their thanks to all members who participated, and a special thanks to Ken Gitter.

GFWC Illinois Morris Woman’s Club (Illinois)

GFWC Illinois Morris Woman’s Club (Illinois) prepared 50 “kindness bags” for the adults and children being housed by Guardian Angels of Will and Grundy Counties for Valentine’s Day. Since many of survivors of domestic abuse leave their situation with only the clothes on their backs, they have little to entertain themselves and their children while sheltering. The adult bags contained personal hygiene and pampering items as well as things to occupy their time, such as cards, puzzle books, and more. The kids’ bags contained age-appropriate toys, books, and pampering items for teens. All of the bags also contained snacks.

GFWC Hopkinton Women’s Club (Massachusetts)

GFWC Hopkinton Women’s Club (Massachusetts) did their part to participate in the GFWC Signature Program: Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness and Prevention by assembling and donating 30 “care bags” to Compassion New England Crisis Center in Milford, Massachusetts. The bags were filled with various personal care items. Compassion New England is a nonprofit organization which works to develop programs and services that meet the needs of families in the community.

March is National Reading Month – a month used to inspire people of all ages to read every day. Projects in the Education and Libraries Community Service Program are designed to foster schools, as well as other educational institutions and opportunities. These projects promote libraries, literacy, and the love of a good book. Through these efforts, we encourage the growth of individuals and communities at home and around the world. GFWC clubwomen have been working tirelessly to help the people in their cities and towns find their own love of reading.

One of the clubs that has been working on an Education and Libraries Community Service Program project is GFWC Big Rapids, Inc. (Michigan). Although the club could not host its usual Dr. Seuss Birthday Party at the Big Rapids Community Library, it decided to have its own community party where members donated 58 Dr. Seuss books. Twenty of the books were left at a local gas station to be given away to children when they came into the station. Some of the books, along with cupcakes, were taken to a local homeless shelter and Women’s Information Services Inc., a crisis intervention and support services center for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. Members also brought the books to a local hospital for newborns and an area dentist office.

GFWC Lilburn Woman’s Club (Georgia) donated a Dr. Seuss-themed chair to the media center at Lilburn Elementary School. Nancy Chilcoat donated the chair for the project and Pat Shaver and Gloria Sill designed and painted the chair. Vaccinated members from the club also volunteered to read to students during Dr. Seuss Week the first week of March.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions members of GFWC Woman’s Club of Parsippany-Troy (New Jersey) were unable to read to children this year. However, the club’s Education Chairman Betty Lagitch and her committee worked with the Parsippany Library, Morris County Head Start, and the Parsippany Child Day Care Center to come up with another way for the children to celebrate Dr. Seuss’ birthday this year. A donation was made to each organization to purchase a craft for the children to make. Although the members said they missed reading to the children this year, they hope the kids have fun with crafts and are looking forward to hopefully visiting next year.

Members of GFWC Madison Heights Women’s Club (Michigan) created a remote guest reader project for local schools in March. Since schools are limiting visitors due to COVID-19, clubwomen created a daily virtual option for members, elected officials, the police and fire chiefs, city manager, judges, city librarians, and more to reach to children. Club members said as of March 1, the online videos reached more than 1,500 people.

In continuing GFWC’s longstanding support of public libraries, GFWC Women’s Club of South County (Rhode Island) started “One Book at a Time.” As part of this project, libraries from five local towns created a wish list of 20 books featuring diversity and strong role models for young girls and women. Club members then went to a local, independent bookstore to purchase these books. The books will be distributed to the libraries during National Library Week from April 4-10.

Last year, GFWC Manchester Women’s Club (Connecticut) partnered with the town’s recreation department to establish eight Little Free Libraries in places where children would have access to them. While many facilities were shut down, clubwomen kept boxes of books in their cars to regularly refill the libraries, and a virtual book sale was held with the proceeds going toward more books. Although the premise of the libraries is to leave a book when you take one, members understand many children do not have books at home. As businesses have started to reopen this year, book drop-off locations have been established once again.

Finally, members of GFWC Wilbraham Junior Women’s Club (Massachusetts) recognized Read Across America Day on March 2 by hosting a remote story time with kindergarten and first-grade students from Edward P. Boland Elementary School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Six classrooms and about 190 students were included, with each reader being assigned a different classroom. A Google Slide presentation was also created so students could follow along on screen and a scavenger hunt activity was planned for after the story was read.

After this event, the club reached out to Links-to-Libraries, an area nonprofit that encourages reading as a lifelong skill, and was able to get a book donated for each child that day.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Raleigh (North Carolina)

Members of GFWC Woman’s Club of Raleigh (North Carolina) partnered with REACH (Resilience, Empowerment, Access for Children Experiencing Homelessness) to provide children with 130 fabric “HeART Bags” with the goal of giving children living in motels, doubled up with families, or in other modes of transition, arts and crafts supplies to encourage them to create “Art from the Heart.” REACH is a Passage Home program, which is an organization devoted to helping families transition from homelessness to housing, break the cycle of poverty, and create multi-generational self-sufficiency for individuals and families.

Members of the club’s Arts and Culture Community Service Program used a basic pattern for the bags, and many added personal touches through their fabric choices and by lining and trimming the bags. Clubwomen and other community friends also participated by donating an abundance of art supplies, including coloring books, crayons, sketch pads, markers, construction paper, glue sticks, and more. Bags for teenagers also included items such as ideas for art projects, note pads, and tissue packs, to name a few. Each bag included a tag which read, “A bunch of us put this bag together because we love to make art. We thought you might like to make art as well! Pull out the goodies. Express your heart and have fun! From our HeARTS to Yours!”

The Health and Wellness Community Service Program partners with REACH and a local food bank to deliver weekly food boxes to families living in motels, as well. These volunteers delivered 45 children’s bags and 17 bags for parents to families in motels, and another 25 bags will be used for future families residing in motels. Thirty of the bags were given to Passage Home to be distributed by case managers to children living in other transitional housing.

Club members said they are trying to make a difference one family at a time.

GFWC Battle Ground (Washington)

Members of GFWC Battle Ground (Washington) presented a $1,000 donation and several totes and bags full of young children’s clothing to the Family and Community Resource Center in Battle Ground, Washington, at the end of January. This center helps meet the needs of local families faced with housing instability and other economic challenges, and carries a limited inventory of new and gently used items to give to families in need. After the club learned of the need for specific sizes of boys and girls clothing, members staged a “tailgate meeting” as a drop-off place and time for donations. Additionally, since the club did not provide a scholarship this year due to COVID-19 school closures, those funds are being repurposed for other projects that will benefit children, such as the donation to the Family and Community Resource Center.

Another ongoing club project involves members cutting the fronts off greeting cards and shipping them to GFWC Affiliate Organization St. Jude’s Ranch for Children in Nevada. The cards are reimagined into new creations and sold by a business run by the children to help them learn entrepreneurship. The ranch’s live-in venue gives kids of all ages an opportunity to break the cycle of abuse, abandonment, and neglect they have experienced. During the drop-off event, 255 cards were gathered for shipment.

GFWC Brunswick Woman’s Club (Georgia)

Members of GFWC Brunswick Woman’s Club (Georgia) spent Martin Luther King, Jr. Day helping out at the Glynn Community Crisis Center’s Amity House. Glynn Community Crisis Center provides comprehensive services to men and women who are survivors of domestic violence and their children, and their Amity House program provides safe emergency shelter and operates a 24-hour crisis hotline.

Club members Lillie Smith, Vicky Jefferis, Kay Taylor, and Kathleen Orians Dawson went to the house to clean, replace broken dresser knobs, rearrange furniture, and help in any other way they could, including washing kitchen items, making up beds, and more. A couple days later, Pat Porto, Jeanette Pewitt, and Penny Smith joined the others to bring more items the club purchased to help make the house feel like home. Although members Peggy Tuten and Angel Porch could not come along, they too sent items to be used at the house.

In addition to this, the members made other trips to help repair broken items, hang shelves, and do more work as needed. In total, the club donated 57 hours and more than $575 to the project.

GFWC Lexington Woman’s Club (South Carolina)

Clubwomen with GFWC Lexington Woman’s Club (South Carolina) made it a point this February to let those they love know it by participating in a Valentine’s Day project for first responders. This project saw a big turnout from members, who made more than 300 assorted Valentine’s Day cards. The cards were made by active club members, family members, neighborhood children, and some local school children who all wanted to show their appreciation. The cards were sorted into piles, bundled, and tied with red ribbon before being delivered.

One of the clubwomen with GFWC Lexington Woman’s Club who sews face masks also supplied about 170 masks that were included in the packages that were delivered to first responders. The packages also contained large bags of chocolates and individual snacks.

Three club members, along with two of their family members, delivered the packages to the Lexington Police Department and Fire Station No. 10. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the personnel at Fire Station No. 10 were tasked with distributing some of the packages to other local fire stations.

Club members said everyone had the chance to get in on the fun of creating!

GFWC North Myrtle Beach Woman’s Club (South Carolina)

GFWC North Myrtle Beach Woman’s Club (South Carolina) started an initiative last year to bring Little Free Libraries to residents and visitors alike. Club members said these adorable libraries can be accessed anytime and are a perfect fit for their community and for the many visitors to the area’s beaches. While kids are playing in the sand, visitors can sit back, relax, and have a great book to read.

Their most visible library is at the end of a city beachside parking lot, where the club’s Conservation and Environment Committees also do beach trash pickup once a month. Last fall, the club planted some trees behind it, and this year they added an environment education aspect to the library, by rolling several ongoing projects into one. They did this by adding bookmarks to the library that help spread the word about local and global environmental issues. One bookmark pertained to recycling and another educated people on turtle conservation.

The five libraries in North Myrtle Beach usually manage to self-sustain, but members make sure they are stocked by bringing used books to general meetings. Club members also sustain the four additional Little Free Libraries in the area. Clubwomen said the Little Free Libraries have been a huge success for the club both before and during the pandemic.

GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club (Alabama)

Members of GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club (Alabama) came together to make and donate two sleeping mats to the city of Huntsville’s Operation Green Team, which will be given to people without homes. The two waterproof sleeping mats represent 1,400 plastic grocery bags that have been eliminated from a local landfill.

To construct one mat, clubwomen flattened 700 donated plastic grocery bags, cut them into one-and-a-half inch strips, looped the ends together to form a ball, and bagged them. The materials were then given to clubwoman Nell Fisher, who crocheted them into the mats. She said it took about 35 hours to crochet the plastic together.

This project is part of GFWC du Midi Woman’s Club President Cherie Byrne’s project “Unity in Biodiversity – Protect Our Planet,” which includes waste reduction in landfills.

GFWC Ossoli Circle (Tennessee)

Clubwomen with GFWC Ossoli Circle (Tennessee) have been busy with two projects to help people in need. For the first project, “Hugs for Hope,” club members filled donated handbags with toiletries, makeup, scarves, and jewelry, which will go to the women at the McNabb Domestic Violence Shelter. Members paid $10 each to fill the handbags and wrote a note of support and encouragement for the women who will receive the handbags as survivors of domestic violence. Club members said the project was fun and successful, and appreciated by the representatives from the shelter.

The second project clubwomen worked on was collecting items for GFWC Affiliate Organization Operation Smile “smile bags.” All of the items for the bags were purchased by a member and the bags were sewn shut.

Operation Smile is an international children’s medical charity focused on restoring children’s smiles through preforming surgery on facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Winter Haven (Florida)

GFWC Woman’s Club of Winter Haven (Florida) spread the love by crafting Valentine’s Day cards for recipients of the local Meals on Wheels organization. The club’s goal was to make at least one handmade card for each participant in the program – a total of 500 cards. Clubwomen worked hard and were able to reach this goal! Members of the local Girl Scout Troop No. 5101 also helped make handmade items for the Meals on Wheels donations.

Pat Davidson, Sheila Leavey, Cheryl Menser, Cheryl Price, Suzanne Sherry, Bev Wallner, and Jane McGinnis were the contributing members for the Valentine’s Day cards, and as a result of this project, Bev and Attilia Gogel are now driving and delivering meals for the Winter Haven Meals on Wheels program!

According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, nearly 20 people per minute on average are physically abused by an intimate partner in the U.S. The goal of GFWC’s Signature Program is to increase awareness of and help prevent the widespread occurrence of violence against women in communities across the nation – and the globe. Areas of focus include Intimate Partner Violence, Child Abuse, Teen Dating Violence, Campus Sexual Assault, Elder Abuse, Violence Against Native American Women, Military Sexual Assault, and Human Trafficking. While there are many ways to work toward this goal, some clubs are helping their communities by donating resources and providing support to their local domestic violence shelters and the women and children who go there for help.

One of these clubs is the Maquoketa Woman’s Club (Iowa). Throughout the pandemic, clubwomen have continued to support their local survivor services center as the stress of COVID-19 has increased the number of women and children needing safe housing as a result of domestic violence or sexual abuse. Club members said the counselors at the shelter do a wonderful job of preparing women as they transition to their own residence, and they are proud to provide women with necessities to get their homes set up as their begin new lives free from violence.

The Maquoketa Woman’s Club provided two grocery gift cards to ensure that the residents at the shelter could enjoy a Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner, and they also organized a donation drive so that families moving into their own apartment or home would have essentials such as towels, laundry soap, toilet paper, food containers, children’s books, and more. In total, the donation drive raised nearly $1,000 worth of household items or monetary donations for families.

Another local club is doing what it can to help survivors of domestic violence is GFWC Greater West Palm Beach Women’s Club (Florida). In December, clubwomen donated 37 pajama sets in all sizes for the children living at the domestic assault shelter at Harmony House in Palm Beach County.

In addition to the pajamas for children, members also provided 50 new mascaras to the women living at the shelter. Club members said they were informed by a social worker that mascara can make a big difference to these women, and decided they wanted to do what they could to help.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Madison (Connecticut) also helped local survivors of domestic violence this year by donating 80 new and gently used women’s and children’s winter coats, jackets, gloves, and hats to the Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence. Danielle Morfi, with the Umbrella Center for Domestic Violence’s communications department, spoke during the club’s October Zoom meeting and expressed the need for warm clothing, and clubwomen were more than happy to help out, adding it would be a simple but necessary way to assist during a difficult time.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Fairfax (Virginia)

GFWC Woman’s Club of Fairfax (Virginia) kicked off 2021 with a socially-distanced Drive-up, Drop-Off, and Drop-in Social. This event continued the club’s commitment to staying connected with members while maintaining its role as an important volunteer organization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Echoing the theme of Martin Luther King Junior’s Day of Service, the event provided an opportunity for clubwomen to drop off items collected for the club’s Foster Care Program.

During the Drive-up, Drop-off, and Drop-in Social, 135 Valentine’s Day cards were dropped off to go to children in foster care and child protective services in Fairfax County, as well as for youth in college who have recently aged out of foster care through Foster Care to Success. Along with the cards, 24 “Comfort Cases,” filled with comfort and personal care items for youth entering the foster care system, and 15 birthday kits, consisting of cake mix, icing, a birthday banner, streamers, candles, balloons, a card, and a modest gift, also were donated.

Comfort Cases is a nonprofit organization that aims to bring dignity and hope to youth in foster care by providing a backpack filled with personal care items to children entering the child welfare system.

Foster Care to Success is a nonprofit organization that works with college-bound youth in the foster care system to help them transition from care to adulthood through education.

GFWC Woman’s League of Lowcounty (South Carolina)

Edie Autuori and her committee are heading up the Hunger Initiative for GFWC Woman’s League of the Lowcountry (South Carolina). The committee kicked off the New Year with “Breakfast for a Better Day” to support Mercy Mission in Hardeeville, South Carolina, by collecting and delivering healthy breakfast food items throughout the month of January. Mercy Mission, directed by Sister Mary Francis, provides a food pantry as well as a thrift store for Jasper County families. Throughout the last year, this organization has served more than 17,000 individuals.

GFWC Community Club of Collegeville (Pennsylvania)

Members of GFWC Community Club of Collegeville (Pennsylvania) donated more than $700 worth of items to the Southeastern Veterans’ Center in Spring City, Pennsylvania, on February 12. Items included gift cards, batteries, storage containers, personal care items, art supplies, adult coloring books, puzzle books, two new DVD players, and more.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Fredericksburg (Virginia) 

Members of GFWC Woman’s Club of Fredericksburg (Virginia) said “thank you” to healthcare workers in COVID-19 units at Mary Washington Hospital and Stafford Hospital by sending them more than 1,000 Valentine’s Day cards and a poster expressing their appreciation. Club members said they are proud to honor the healthcare workers for caring for the Fredericksburg community during the pandemic.

GFWC Windsor Woman’s Club (Connecticut)

Throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, GFWC Windsor Woman’s Club (Connecticut) has continued to host monthly and special Zoom meetings to promote camaraderie in the areas of social and charitable endeavors. Club members recently developed an arts and crafts project during which craft kits were made available to members at a minimal cost. As a result of this craft project, along with additional donation from members, the club raised $185 for the Windsor Food and Fuel Bank, which they donated in the form of gift cards for grocery stores in the area. The club has hosted different fundraisers each month of the pandemic.

GFWC Mesquite Club of Las Vegas (Nevada)

Members of the GFWC Mesquite Club of Las Vegas (Nevada) brought in more than 500 pieces of winter clothing to be donated to people in need. Clothing included hats, socks, sweatshirts, and coats, most of which had hardly been worn and was in good condition.

The coats were taken to The Catholic Worker, an organization that helps feed people without homes in downtown Las Vegas. The organization had been distributing coats this winter, but ran out, and expressed an ongoing need. Fortunately, club members were able to fulfill that need. Organizers with The Catholic Worker have expressed their gratitude for the donations. The Catholic Worker will distribute these coats to people in need of warm attire as they line up for food.

Another recipient of the coat and winter clothing drive is The Embracing Project (TEP). January was National Human Trafficking Awareness Month and TEP is a Rite of Passage program, which advocates peace and healing for youth survivors of violence, sexual exploitation, and trafficking, through the development of specialized programs, trauma-informed care, and unconditional support. This is in line with GFWC Nevada State President Cherie Lee Williams-Dewitt’s Signature Project. Some of the coats also were donated to the Faith Lutheran Thrift Store.

These nonprofit organizations each serve the community in different ways. Overall, this project was devised and completed in two weeks.

GFWC Battle Ground (Washington)

GFWC Battle Ground (Washington) hosted its own “Souper Bowl” this year with a fun twist to bring in nonperishable items to be donated to local food banks. Points were scored according to the number of food items, mainly soups, credited to each team that was brought in by club members. Clubwomen Valerie Huey and Ginger Crabtree served as referees to help keep the record straight. After the game was over, 230 pounds of food was taken to the North Country Community Food Bank.

GFWC Woman’s Club of South County (Rhode Island)

Through the Community Outreach Team of GFWC Woman’s Club of South County (Rhode Island), club members Maggie Hayes-Cote and Jane Tutko made their idea of collecting items for elder adults in nursing homes a success. Due to the generosity of club members, along with their friends and families, residents of 12 nursing homes in Washington County, Rhode Island, were provided with fun activities and gifts. Items including music, games, coloring books, puzzles, and magazines were provided to more than 400 residents to wish them a happy holiday and remind them they are in the club members’ thoughts. Maggie also offered a special “thank you” to club members Pam McCullum, Mary Logan, Peg Schembre, and Deb Brown for collecting and putting the packages together.

“We leave you with a thought that drives our group: Kindness is a bridge between all people. If you are ever down and want to lift yourself, then do something kind for somebody,” Jane said.

GFWC Millville Woman’s Club (New Jersey)

While the GFWC Millville Woman’s Club (New Jersey) has been supportive of the New Jersey Department of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P) through their involvement with Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and by donating books and duffel bags, the club’s Creative Arts Committee has been contributing in another way. EllenBeth Nappen, the chairperson of this committee, has been busy making blankets for children in need. Crocheting the squares and then sewing them together is a time-consuming endeavor, but she said it is more than worth her while.

EllenBeth made seven colorful blankets last summer that were picked up by a representative from the DCP&P. Nancy Booz, another club member, joined EllenBeth in the fall and they made 13 more blankets. These went to the DCP&P during the holiday season. With the help of club member Nuha Hababo, the three clubwomen all are continuing to make blankets for children.

DCP&P is New Jersey’s child protection and child welfare agency within the state’s Department of Children and Families, and CASA is a national association that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children.

GFWC Cosmopolitan Club of Petal (Mississippi)

Members of the Education and Libraries Committee with the GFWC Cosmopolitan Club of Petal (Mississippi) helped develop a lending library called “Rinse and Read” at a local laundromat in Petal. The library was made out of a re-purposed newspaper dispenser, which was purchased from a vintage store and transformed by the Petal School District maintenance department. A shelf was added to fit inside and it was filled with children’s books. The collection includes both Spanish and English books to reach the growing Hispanic communities in the area and school district. Club members began collecting the books early last year.

Children are encouraged to return the books to the lending library, and books will be replenished or repaired each month as needed. A sticker also will be adhered inside each book with information about the importance of reading and visiting the public library for more books.

The “Rinse and Read” project was made possible by a partnership between the GFWC Cosmopolitan Club of Petal and Excel By 5, an early education program that promotes early childhood education, resources, and parent education.

GFWC Valamont Woman’s Club (Tennessee)

On Martin Luther King Junior Day, GFWC Valamont Woman’s Club (Tennessee) hosted an outdoor, socially distanced, and masked event to try to bring joy to residents of a local care facility. During the event, members assembled packets for a coloring contest for residents of the facility. The judges for the contest will be a class of kindergartners, and the winner will receive a framed cross stitch design that was created by a past member who passed away last year. Clubwomen also made kits for other members to make tray favors for the residents of the care facility and planned treats for the kindergartners.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Arlington (Virginia)

The GFWC Woman’s Club of Arlington (Virginia) provided free handmade scarves, hats, gloves, and face masks to families assembled for food donations at the club’s parking lot on December 10, and January 14. The monthly Mobile Market of fruits, vegetables, and other groceries began taking place at the club in October, and is a collaboration between Barcroft Elementary School, Communities in Schools of Northern Virginia, and the Capital Area Food Bank. When a club member had the idea of placing hand knitted items in convenient areas for those in need, the food donation event seemed like the perfect opportunity, and the idea took off! The items were hung on trees near the parking lot during the Mobile Market with a card attached which read, “I am not lost. I was handmade for you. If you are cold or need me, please take me.”

During the second event in January, the club expanded their “Chase the Chill” project and offered new socks, small new blankets, and some used clothing in addition to the handmade scarves, hats, and gloves. In both December and January, club members gave out more than 100 scarves, hats, face masks, and more. Ten club members participated by knitting, crocheting, or sewing items, and working the day of the event. The members said they hope to continue this project in February, weather permitting.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Paramus

The GFWC Woman’s Club of Paramus (New Jersey) has made more than 18,000 masks since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Masks have been donated to 15 hospitals, 15 nursing homes, more than 20 elder adult care centers, two veteran’s homes, special education students in Paramus, homeless veteran’s through GFWC New Jersey State President Jan Hansen’s special project Operation Chillout, and more than 40 sister clubs. The sewing brigade has been Paramus’ own “Rosie the Riveters” on the war against COVID-19.

The sewing brigade was started by New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs District Vice President Marie Sullivan, and includes club members Loretta Bayarski, Anna Perrone, Linda Buccino, Stacey Bukowski, Carol Cameron, Lisa Corrado, AnaLiza DeLeon, Pam Duke, Joyce Geils, Peggy Hickey, Dana Powers, Palisades District Vice President Debbie Cibelli, and GFWC Woman’s Club of Paramus President Shelley Rothstein.

“We will continue sewing until there is no longer a need; and unfortunately, there is no end in sight. I haven’t stopped sewing since March,” Marie Sullivan said. “We will do all in our power to help.”

The Woman’s Club of Paramus is also now selling masks to the general public for $10 each so it can continue to donate masks to those in need.

Village Improvement Association of Rehoboth Beach (Delaware)

Plastic bags are non-biodegradable and can take hundreds of years to decompose, which poses a threat to animals and other wildlife. To combat this problem, the Delaware state legislature passed a bill to ban single-use plastic bags starting January 1, 2021. The Environment Committee of the Village Improvement Association of Rehoboth Beach (Delaware) spent 2020 getting the word out to members to encourage the use of reusable totes.

As a result of the bill, the Village Improvement Association took on another major project in 2020. Club members signed up for the Trex Furniture Recycling Challenge, during which participants were tasked with collecting a total of 500 pounds of unwanted plastic materials in a six-month period. The list of collectable plastics included items that are not permitted in curbside recycling, such as plastic grocery bags, newspaper bags, case plastic wrap, bubble wrap, and more. Seventy-three club members logged 91 hours gathering plastic from their homes and from friends and family. The plastic was then collected, sorted, weighed, and dropped off to participating grocery stores. The Village Improvement Association completed this challenge in 10 weeks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trex awarded the club with a bench made from recycled plastic for reaching their goal, and club members volunteered again to create a new memorial garden featuring the bench, a steppingstone walkway, and butterfly bushes.

GFWC Millville Woman’s Club (New Jersey)

Life has not been normal for the GFWC Millville Woman’s Club (New Jersey) throughout the past year, but their giving spirit has remained alive. Since many of the club’s members are retirees from the Millville Board of Education, the club invited board members to use the club’s parking lot to gather donations during their December meeting. Contributions including pillows and pillow cases, towels, body wash, shampoo, and more were collected and donated to the Cumberland County Shelter for the Homeless. Donations of underwear, Snack Packs, and other non-perishable food items also were given to Code Blue, a local “warming center” which provides overnight shelter to homeless individuals in the community. Due to COVID-19, all the donated items were purchased new. Club members said the donation event was a good opportunity to work together for the benefit of the community.

GFWC Stella Research Club (Nebraska)

Although hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic, the GFWC Stella Research Club (Nebraska) continued their community service efforts in December with a variety of projects. One of the projects club members participated in was a food collection drive to donate to a local food bank. Members were provided a list of suggestions for collecting food items for each day of the month of December. Each box of food weighed more than 30 pounds and contained non-perishable boxed and canned items. Total, the club collected 275 pounds of food, which was given to Southeast Nebraska Community Action on December 21.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Dunbar (West Virginia)

The GFWC Woman’s Club of Dunbar (West Virginia) has been working hard since September 2020, to make local nursing home residents feel loved. With most things shut down due to COVID-19, it is hard for residents to feel as if they have anyone thinking about them. To help remedy this issue, one of the club member’s daughters started making homemade greeting cards with hand-written messages for the nursing home residents with her Girl Scout troop. When she asked if the clubwomen would like to help, the ladies jumped into action. Between September and the end of December 2020, club members made more than 1,500 cards to be distributed to 14 different nursing homes throughout the area. The cards include birthday, holiday, and “pick-me-up” cards. Club members have decided to continue this project throughout 2021.