Volunteers in Action: GFWC Women’s Club of Indian River; GFWC High Springs New Century Woman’s Club; Woman’s Club of Parsippany-Troy Hills

The GFWC Women’s Club of Indian River (Delaware) had a luncheon to celebrate both their year-end and having donated 231 pairs of shoes for Soles 4 Souls as part of GFWC’s Seven Grand Initiatives.

Vice Pres. Muriel Pfeiffer, Linda Kurpjuweit, Corr. Sec., Michele Smith, sitting Alyce Amussen, Sally Ledger, Christy Swiger,
Pres. Henrietta Belcher Stack and Secretary Linda Kutay,
Second Row: Diane Pfahl, Treas. Shelby Weilepp, Jackie Riemenschneider, Millie Garcia and Mindy Goss.

Members from the GFWC High Springs New Century Woman’s Club (Florida) visited Partnership for Strong Families to present them with 22 “Birthday Bags” to distribute to children in foster care and families that are receiving support from the organization. The bags contained everything for a birthday party: hats, balloons, table decorations, toys, prizes, cake mixes, icing, and candles. Sometimes the birthday bags are used by caseworkers to encourage families to spend quality time with their children.

The Woman’s Club of Parsippany-Troy Hills (New Jersey) hosted a Salad Supper where they recognized the local students they provided with scholarships, as well as two Girls Career Institute delegates they sponsored. The students spoke gratefully about their college plans. In addition to all of the celebrations, the club was celebrating 65 years of Living the Volunteer Spirit!

 

GFWC Volunteers in Action: GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club; High Springs New Century Woman’s Club; GFWC Woman’s Citizenship Club; Lawrenceville Woman’s Club

The GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club (Utah) hosted their 77th annual Park City High School Girl Graduate Tea last month. The Tea, which began in 1942, celebrates that many women came to the Tea as senior girls and then returned as mothers.

Kathy Calhoun-Damon, club president of GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club, opened the 77th annual Park City High School Girl Graduate Tea. 

Each year at the Tea, GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club honors two inspirational girls who are recognized by their peers, as well as senior girls who were sponsored by the club as sophomores to attend the Hugh O’Brian HOBY Leadership conference.

The guest speaker was Luz Lewis-Perez, Director of Development for the National Kidney Foundation of Utah and Idaho. Lewis-Perez spoke about how she found her place in the world growing up.  She stressed that the hard parts of life teach us many things, and few things in life must be done perfectly, they just must be done well. Lewis-Perez stressed to the girls that a new stage of life was opening-up as they leave high school, and there is a place for each of them in this world with their unique talents. There was music, a professional photographer taking pictures of the girls and their moms, and refreshments. The event is a great way to acknowledge the talented young women in the community.

The High Springs New Century Woman’s Club (Florida) was happy to present Deputy Chief Antoine Sheppard from the High Springs Police Department with additional care bags to keep in patrol cars for when officers encounter individuals in need, including the homeless. The bags contained donated water and ready-to-eat snacks. The bags were greatly appreciated and will be put to good use, and the club will continue this project.

The GFWC Woman’s Citizenship Club (Colorado) partnered with the First United Methodist Church to provide an ‘Autumn Blaze’ maple tree for the Alamosa Boys & Girls Club. Arbor Day comes late in Alamosa, Colorado where they are at 7,500 feet in elevation and have to wait until the weather gets warmer to plant trees!  More than twenty people participated and were grateful to the Department of Parks and Recreation crew for digging the hole ahead of time.

After learning about the importance of properly planting and taking care of trees, the boys and girls took turns preparing the hole by filling it with soil so the maple wasn’t planted too deep. Teh children then backfilled and firmed the soil by the stomping on it while someone held the tree upright. To prevent any injuries from shovels or flying soil, the eager boys and girls took turns shoveling in an orderly manner.

After the tree was planted, it was surrounded by wire mesh to prevent deer damage, was staked as it is in a windy location, and was mulched with cedar chips. The stakes will be taken off in a year since trees that are staked too long don’t develop a healthy root system and are therefore more likely to fall over. This type of maple has tender bark when young so the trunk will be wrapped in the winter with protective wrap until the diameter is 3 – 4 inches. The children affectionately named the tree, “Autumn Bob.”

Alamosa Methodist Church and GFWC Woman’s Citizenship Club members pose in front of the tree while the children finish an outdoor game and are rounded up for planting.

The Lawrenceville Woman’s Club (Georgia) partnered with the First Book Club 165 to assist in its book distribution program, which offers support for students at five Title 1 elementary schools who are at risk of failure and living at or near poverty. It provides 12 books to each student to read during the summer to help students not fall behind in their coursework. In February, during phase 1, club members helped sort the books. The book distribution began in May with the Lawrenceville Woman’s Club back in action to keep their table sections stocked and to assist students in selecting their books. The final task during the distributions was to double bag the books and provide students with a bookmark. This year the club served 3,815 students and distributed a total of 54,832 books, with the schools retaining those books not selected by their students. In addition to volunteering, the club made a monetary donation to support the purchase of chapter books.

GFWC Volunteers in Action: GFWC Meadowlarks; GFWC Pennsylvania South Central District; Woman’s Club of Vista; Grundy Woman’s Club

GFWC Wyoming welcomes their newest club–the GFWC Meadowlarks, federated in May 2019 at the Wyoming State Conference! It’s a single purpose club that only meets in the summer months.  The projects already planned by the club members are to paint two rooms at the local homeless shelter, hold a garage sale, and provide lunch for the Habitat for Humanity building crew. We can’t wait to see these Volunteers in Action get started!

Five members of the Woman’s Club of Hartland (Wisconsin) collected 1,219 pairs of shoes, surpassing their goal of 1,000 pairs! They set up drop-off sites around the community, collected from those sites, and packed the shoes into 88 boxes to ship. Soles4Souls will receive 1,170 pairs, and the remaining shoes will go to the NIKE Reuse-a-Shoe program. They questioned whether they’d meet their goal, but they met it within two weeks! The club is so grateful for their community’s generosity.

Barb Christensen, Donna LeVeille, Kathy Loftis, Robyn Allen, and Joy Vilter collected shoes for the club.

Clubwomen from the GFWC Pennsylvania South Central District and students from Central Pennsylvania HOBY got together and made 305 boxes for The Jared Box Project. A Jared Box is a plastic shoe-box sized storage container filled with small gifts, toys, games, and other fun activities selected for a child’s specific age and gender. The goal of the Jared Box Project is to lift the spirits of children who are being treated in hospitals. The boxes were donated to Holy Spirit Hospital in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania for hospitalized children of all ages. They also decorated 67 decorated pillow cases for children to use instead of a garbage bag when removed from their homes. Draw strings were added to the pillow cases so they can be used to transport items.


With enthusiasm and energy to spare, students in the California Scholastic Federation at Vista High School volunteered at the Earth Day Festival at Alta Vista Botanical Gardens. Fifty-seven students made crafts for families to do, pulled weeds, sorted trash, and cleaned up after the Festival. “Farmer Jones” aka Nancy B. Jones of the Woman’s Club of Vista (California) delivered appreciation certificates to the students.

When the Grundy Woman’s Club (Virginia) celebrated GFWC’s Federation Day on April 24 by sponsoring the Women in Entrepreneurship Conference: ‘Empowering Women.’ They sent five clubwomen to participate in workshops and bring back the insight gleaned over the course of the one-day event. Held at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon, Virginia, the conference was hosted by the Virginia Tech Southwest Center and featured a dozen female entrepreneurs, who spoke on success in business, as well as in life. The purpose of the event was to encourage women to engage their skills and talents to support themselves and their families, as well as to contribute to the economy of the region.

Grundy clubwomen JoBeth Wampler, Sandy Stiltner, Betty Shields, Ginger Robertson, and Diane Lynch joined 59
other women
in attendance at the event, which is expected to be held again in 2020.

Volunteers in Action: GFWC Oregon City Woman’s Club; GFWC Woman’s Club of Tarpon Springs; GFWC West Side Women’s Club; Women’s Civic League

It’s a long-standing tradition for the GFWC Oregon City Woman’s Club (Oregon) to place their club flower, the carnation, at the graves of 27 of their past presidents in Mt. View Cemetery. It goes as far back as Jennie B. Harding, president from 1904-1906. The event is a great way to honor the club’s rich history and the women who have carried on its legacy through the years.

The club also recently donated 36 children’s quilts and 57 stuffed animals to the Children’s Center to bring hope and healing to children and families. Following a child’s assessment at the center, they get to choose one stuffed animal and one quilt to take home.

GFWC Woman’s Club of Tarpon Springs (Florida) was awarded the Non-profit Business of the Year award at the Chamber of Commerce event in their community last week. Professionals who attended the event were amazed by both their philanthropic history and the longevity of their club which began in 1892.

Board members who accepted the award (from left to right):
Dolly Vatikiotis, Barbara Michelin and president Dee Isguzar.

 

GFWC West Side Women’s Club (Pennsylvania) recently served a meal at St. Vincent De Paul Soup Kitchen, which serves the community by helping the homeless and those in need. They provide hot meals daily and have a clothing room and food bank.

GFWC members: Ginny Zdanowicz; Maggie Wallowak;
Chairman Karen French; Terry Ross; Eileeen Gallagher; and Pat Clinton.

The Women’s Civic League (Utah) recently donated all occasion cards to Our House Assisted Living for residents to use. When the cards were delivered, several residents selected some of the cards for immediate use!

Volunteers in Action: GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club; Maquoketa Woman’s Club; GFWC Saxonburg District Woman’s Club; GFWC- South Brunswick Islands Woman’s Club

The GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club (Utah) held their 1st annual Road-Clean-Up on May 7th. The club adopted a 2.1 mile stretch of Old Ranch Road, which is a well-traveled and beloved roadway in Park City.  The day was cold and rainy, but somehow the weather made it more fun, and members were just glad it didn’t snow!

The Maquoketa Woman’s Club (Iowa) continually participates in community outreach and seeks new ways to make a positive impact. After one of their club members mentioned that the chemo port that was implanted near her chest was uncomfortable when she wore her seat belt, the club sprang to action with a solution that will provide some comfort for patients. The club has now donated over 160 handmade “seat belt port protector bags.” These soft, cushioned mini-pillows can be attached to the seat belt strap and adjusted accordingly to bring comfort to patients who have ports, pacemakers, and other health-related implants. The club donate them to the University of Iowa Hospital where they’re provided for free to patients. This is an ongoing project and one that will keep us busy due to its popularity at the hospital. It’s wonderful to know that we can bring a small bit of relief to patients. On May 11, they also helped spruce up the welcome sign that greets visitors as they enter the city. The volunteers have adopted the sign area and will continually maintain the landscaping. They planted 180 brightly colored marigolds and mulched the flower beds. In addition, they’ll be re-painting the letters on the sign so it’s even more visible to passersby. Throughout the summer and fall they’ll also be on weed patrol to keep the beds clean and welcoming.

The GFWC Saxonburg District Woman’s Club (Pennsylvania) are happy to contribute to the Soles4Souls Grand Intiative. In just one month, they collected 75 pairs of gently used and some new shoes to donate. They were delivered to Larua Marks who will be taking them on a mission trip in July. She hopes to be able to take 5000 pairs of shoes with her by that time!

The GFWC- South Brunswick Islands Woman’s Club (North Carolina) participated in the March for Babies Walk in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  The club made baby blankets, 12 of which were donated at the local event, and 14 of which were donated to the national event. The club also raised $2,009.00! The club not only surpassed their 2018 collections in both dollars collected and blankets donated, but they were also recognized locally as 3rd place in donations for non-family member groups.

 

Volunteers in Action: The Salem Area Woman’s Club; Women’s Club of Indian River; GFWC Yorba Linda Woman’s Club; Needham Women’s Club

The Salem Area Woman’s Club (New York) worked with the Glens Falls Hospital to co-sponsor the 25th Annual Women’s Health Day “By Women For Women” at Salem Washington Academy. There was an outstanding community response to this all-day event.  The keynote talk was given by author Patricia A. Nugent.  Six workshops were offered by Dr. Krista Carle, Jill Chadwick, Elizabeth Cockey, Joyce Dattner, Jessica Roesel, and Dr. Lauren Van DeWater. Attendees  enjoyed a continental breakfast which was supported by the club and local sponsor, while local businesses contribute door prizes. Homemade baked goods were available to purchase throughout the day. Health Day Committee Chairman Lois Sheaff voiced her thanks to all involved in making this interesting and informative event such a success.

Chairman Lois Sheaff with keynote speaker Patricia A. Nugent.

The Women’s Club of Indian River (Delaware) celebrated Arbor Day with a tree planting at the Indian River Yacht Club where they hold their meetings. The tree was donated by the East Coast Garden Center, RSC Landscaping, LTD., Millsboro and planted by them through the help of new members Stephen and Michael Cordrey.

Linda Kutay, Recording Secretary; Muriel Pfeiffer, Vice-President, Shelby Weillop, Treasurer;
Cheryl Broadway, Home Life Chair; and Henrietta Belcher-Stack, President.

In 1961, the GFWC Yorba Linda Woman’s Club (California) gave their first scholarships by awarding two local students $50 each. Now they host an annual Student Awards Night. This year it took place on May 2 and the club awarded over $30,000 in scholarships, HOBY leadership awards, and art awards to 57 high school students from local area schools. The funds were raised through a combination of proceeds from their Spring and Fall Craft Fairs and their wonderful sponsors.

In attendance were the students’ families, friends, art teachers, and school principals, as well as several local dignitaries: City of Yorba Linda Mayor Tara Campbell, Mayor Pro Tem Beth Haney, Councilmember Gene Hernandez, City Manager Mark Pulone, OC Supervisor Hon. Don Wagner, Senator Ling Ling Chang, and representatives from the offices of Congressman Gil Cisneros and Assemblyman Phillip Chen. On display were the winning students’ photography, drawing, painting, mixed media and 3D art entries.

The annual awards ceremony evening is a wonderful culmination of all the outstanding work of the Yorba Linda Woman’s Club each year. The club members dedicate their time to planning, coordinating, advertising, etc. to continue these successful events so that they can continue to give back to their community and young students through scholarships and awards.

The Needham Women’s Club (Massachusetts) held their largest fundraiser, Dancing with the Needham Stars, along with the Needham Exchange Club. These two groups will donate more than $50,000 to several local programs and charities that benefit children, domestic violence survivors, homeless families, and the intellectually disabled.

Women’s club members dancing through the decades!

Volunteers in Action: GFWC California’s Southern District; Olympia Woman’s Club; Farmingdale Women’s Club

Peace Over Violence has run its Denim Day campaign on a Wednesday in April in honor of Sexual Violence Awareness Month for the past nineteen years. The campaign was originally prompted by a ruling of the Italian Supreme Court where a rape conviction was overturned because the justices felt that since the survivor was wearing tight jeans she must have helped her rapist remove her jeans, thereby implying consent. The following day, the women in the Italian Parliament came to work wearing jeans in solidarity with the survivor. Peace Over Violence developed the Denim Day campaign in response to this case and the activism surrounding it. Since then, wearing jeans on Denim Day has become a symbol of protest against inaccurate and destructive attitudes about sexual assault. This year’s Denim Day was April 24, 2019, also Federation Day, and the executive board of GFWC California’s Southern District showed their support by wearing jeans.

In January, Olympia Woman’s Club president Linda Wolfe, vice-president Sandra Groves, and member Pat Keith met with Senator Sam Hunt to review procedures and processes for potential funds from the Washington State Legislature for the Abigail Stuart House. The upkeep and maintenance of the house is a considerable cost to the club, and they’ve been searching for assistance. At the prompting of Senator Hunt, The Woman’s Club of Olympia prepared an application to their Washington State Legislature House and Senate representatives, Senator Hunt and Representative Beth Doglio, to apply for an appropriation of funds from the Capital Budget for upgrades and maintenance of the historic Abigail Stuart House by making it more ADA accessible, upgrading the electrical wiring system, installing a new roof, refinishing floors, painting, and overall maintaining of the House. The application made it through the offices to be included as an application to the Financial Committee. Since March 1, the club periodically checked in with Hunt and Doglio’s offices to review the progress of their application. The final vote on the Washington State Operating and Capital Budgets was held just moments before the close of the legislative session and both budgets passed with revisions. One revision that was not removed was the Abigail Stuart House and the final Capital Budget awarded an appropriation in the amount of $250,000. The Woman’s Club of Olympia is thrilled with this outcome and will be setting up a committee to set priorities for the use of the funds within the guidelines of the application.

To show support for the GFWC-New York President’s Project, the Farmingdale Women’s Club held their Pinwheel Prevention Event in April and donated $150 to child abuse shelters for Lond Island children. In the fountain there are memory and tribute boards and Tina Diamond added the Floral Park Juniors to it.

Volunteers in Action: Arbor Day

One of the Seven Grand Initiatives was to plant 1,000 trees for Arbor Day, and clubs took it to heart, planting trees across the country. Here are just a few of the clubs who celebrated.

Being from Nebraska, the Seward GFWC has celebrated Arbor Day since the beginnings! They are proud to know that clubs across the country were celebrating this year too thanks to the Seven Grand Initiatives. This year, Seward GFWC joined forces with Concordia University to celebrate their 125th birthday by planting two trees. One was dedicated to the GFWC club and the second was in recognition of Concordia’s milestone. Both trees were donated by Sinclair Hille Architects of Lincoln Nebraska, who just completed a new building on Concordia’s campus.

Every year, their Arbor Day celebration includes the fourth grade classes from Seward’s public elementary school as well as St. John’s Lutheran and St. Vincent de Paul’s Catholic school’s; each class does a presentation in honor of Arbor Day. The festivities were started with a Proclamation by Seward’s Mayor, Joshua Eickmeier. Two separate trees were donated by an individual to the Seward GFWC and were planted on Arbor Day at the Seward Civic Center where the club meets. The Civic Center was built in 1955 after Jessie Langworthy passed and donated the land and money for a structure to be built to host non-profit organizations at no cost. Mrs. Langworthy’s mother-in-law was an early member of their town’s GFWC club.

For Arbor Day, the GFWC Dillsburg Woman’s Club (Pennsylvania) voted to plant a small tree in Quay Park, which the club owns. Since it is a beautiful but narrow park on the main street, they needed to plant a tree that would stay somewhat small. Thus, after speaking to one of the horticulturists, they decided on the pinky winky hydrangea tree that blooms as white flowers in mid-summer and changes into purplish pink flowers in late summer and fall.

The GFWC Woman’s Club of the Denville-Rockaway (New Jersey) joined in the festivities when the town held a’ bridge’ dedication at a local park for one of the club’s past members, Peggy Gray. She was an active volunteer in the town and the club was able to get a tree donated in her memory and planted by the bridge.

Pictured with members is the Mayor of Denville, Tom Andes.

The Sorosis Club of Lamar (Colorado) worked along side the tree board and their local 5th graders to help plant 30 trees at local ball parks. Four members were able to help the 5th graders plant trees and nine members provided 12 doz. cookies and 12 doz. bottled waters to the 105 students and adults. Everyone had a great time!

Many clubs brought together Arbor Day and Federation Day to make their mark and celebrate in a big way. One such club was the GFWC Temple Terrace Woman’s Club (Florida), who planted 2 red maple trees to celebrate GFWC’s history.

Another club who combined the celebrations was the GFWC South San Francisco Women’s Club (California). They purchased a valley oak tree that they planted at Orange Memorial Park, a local sculpture garden. A plaque indicating the type of tree, location, date of donation, and an inscription indicating it was donated by the South San Francisco Women’s Club will be posted in their SSF Municipal Services Building for the public to see.

L to R: President Sylvia Payne, Evening and Garden Chair Sharon Silvers;
2nd VP Janine Greenwald; Treasurer Olma O’Neill; and Past President Annette Davis

The Women’s League of Mt. Holly (New Jersey) celebrated Arbor Day with a tribute to two of their members. Club president Joelle Wentz conducted a ceremony to honor Mardella Woolston for 63 years and Carol Kovacs for 48 years of loyalty, generous spirits, and loving hearts. Both were presented with a certificate and became lifetime Honorary Members as they touched candles to represent the circle of light that guided their footsteps for all those years. To celebrate Arbor Day, the club purchased two books on trees and donated them to the very school Mardella retired from so many years ago. The school was delighted and asked her to read a book to the children. One of the books donated is a true story about teacher, Kate Sessions, who moved to San Diego in 1883 and began planting trees in that dry, arid terrain and how she changed the city forever. The Tree Lady by H. Joseph Hopkins was the perfect example of the strength and tenacity their two honorees have shown over a combined total of 111 years.

And last but not least, Midge Tucker, a member of the GFWC Ludlow-Okemo Valley Woman’s Club (Vermont), showed that just one person can make a difference. She doesn’t just plant trees for Arbor Day! Midge has a lot of evergreens in her yard, and while weeding the gardens she comes across tiny inch-high seedling trees. She pulls them up and plants them in little pots, sometimes weaving two or more together for strength. The stems are sometimes as thin as a piece of thread, but will grow rapidly when put together. Some of her successes have found their way to other areas of town, usually when they reach at least a foot high and can survive transplanting into strange soil. She wants to spread the love through trees and you can too!

Volunteers in Action: GFWC Spring Station Woman’s Club; Woman’s Club of Fredericksburg; GFWC Women’s Club of Indian River; GFWC Brookings Women’s Club; GFWC Progress Club of Las Cruces

Clubs around the country have planted pinwheels for Child Abuse Prevention Month to symbolize healthy and happy childhoods. The GFWC Spring Station Woman’s Club (Tennessee) planted a pinwheel garden in front of Spring Hill City Hall and issued a press release to local news media to raise awareness.

Cassie Self, Willie Adler, and Tina Majors

Members of the Woman’s Club of Fredericksburg (Virginia) greeted Fredericksburg Head Start students to plant a pinwheel garden.

Cheryl Broadway, the Home Life Chair of the GFWC Women’s Club of Indian River (Delaware), joined other members to collect art supplies and diapers for Easterseals in Georgetown. The baskets were donated and decorated by member Christy Swiger. 

Pictured left to right are Shelly Waples, Easterseals Access Rep for Children’s Therapy Dept.;
Home Life Chair Cheryl Broadway; Linda Forte, Community Relations Easterseals;
Kate Antisavage, Easterseals Center Director of the Adult Day Program; Shelby Weilepp, Women’s Club of Indian River Treasurer;
Henrietta Belcher-Stack, President of Women’s Club of Indian River; and Muriel Pfeiffer, Vice President of Woman’s Club of Indian River.

The GFWC Brookings Women’s Club (South Dakota) helped pack food bags for school children. The Brookings Backpack Project is a program that assists children and youth in Brookings County by providing them with easy to prepare weekend meals and snacks throughout the year. They helped pack 450 bags of food to deliver to schools for the kids to take home for the weekend. This is a weekly project, with different community groups and volunteers taking part.

The GFWC Progress Club of Las Cruces (New Mexico) volunteered to help with the preparation of Marcher Bags for participants of the 29th Annual Bataan Memorial Death March held annually at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This March honors the more than 75,000 American and Filipino Soldiers who were surrendered to the invading Japanese force in April 1942. This year there were 8,790 marchers. The GFWC Progress Club, along with other volunteers, helped prepare 9,500 Marcher Bags in two days! Bags included shirts, brochures, dog tags, shave gel, blister pads, hydration drink and pamphlets. In a small way, they were able to honor the 10,000 people who died along the way and many more who were held in captivity. The club was honored to be part of this important event to honor the men and women who serve our country today and throughout history.

Volunteers in Action: GFWC Utah; GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club; GFWC West Side; Henry Clay Woman’s Club of GFWC

GFWC Utah made a donation to the Hill Air Force Base’s Spouses’ Belle of the Ball program. The formal and semi-formal dresses are “rented” to military personnel, their spouses and children, civilian base personnel, and anyone who has access to the base. They can rent the dresses free of charge for military balls, proms, weddings, or any event that requires a formal dress.  GFWC Utah donated 155 dresses along with shoes, purses, and jewelry. Taylor Williams (left), director of the program, accepted the dresses from Linda Kuwana (right), President of GFWC Utah.  Taylor had to come the next day with an extra car to transport everything. She was “blown away” at the generosity of the Utah membership.

Members of the GFWC Park City Athenaeum Club (Utah) were one of the clubs who joined GFWC Utah in collecting gowns to support military women. They gathered approximately 60 fabulous gowns. Members had fun “modeling” three of the gowns from the collection before packing them up for delivery.

Marilyn Boschetto (Event Chairperson), Kathy Calhoun-Damon (Club President),
and Lynette McAferty (Club Historian and Membership and Communications Coordinator).

GFWC West Side (Pennsylvania) also had supporting military women on the mind! They donated Mommy Bags to new mothers at Veterans Administration Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre.  The bags contained personal items for moms, such as: body wash, lip balm, hand sanitizer, tissues, sticky note pads, ink pens, hand lotion, chocolate bars, snacks, and a personal note of encouragement and thanks from the women of the club!

Co-chairmen of the project, Mary Seyfert and Heide Cebrick.

GFWC Virginia President Kelly Lane joined GFWC Virginia Lee District President Carol Outten and members of the Henry Clay Woman’s Club of GFWC in planting a Pinwheel garden at the Ashland Town Hall. This is the fifth year that the club has planted the garden to mark April as Child Abuse Prevention Month! They were joined by Assistant Town Manager, Matt Reynal, and other members of the town staff who were invited to participate.