Nine Outstanding Women Volunteers Win International Medal of Honor

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs is delighted to announce the 2008 winners of the Jennie Award, a medal of honor given to recognize service to club, community, and family. The Jennie Award is the only national award presented by GFWC that singles out and honors members for personal excellence. 

Award winners are nominated on the club and state levels, and then recognized in their regions. The nine national winners are:

• Kitty Beavers (Duncan, Okla.); Owl Study Club
• Patty Benskin (Cheyenne, Wyo.); GFWC Woman’s Civic League of Cheyenne
• Judith Earle (Warwick, RI); GFWC Warwick Women’s Club
• Betty Emrich (Tipton, Iowa); GFWC Tri Sigmas
• Jolie Frankfurth (Tampa, Fla.); GFWC New Tampa Junior Woman’s Club
• Elaine D. Krick (Sharonville, Ohio); GFWC/Sharonville Federated Woman’s Club
• Ernestine (Tina) Koukol (Rye, Colo.); Rye Woman’s Club
• Norma Racke (Loudon, Tenn.); GFWC Tellico Village
• Carol Ward (Westhampton, NJ); GFWC Woman’s League of Mt. Holly

“We are just thrilled to honor these nine exceptional women,” said GFWC International President Jacquelyn Pierce. “Each of them is a special role model for any woman who volunteers her time, cares for her family, or contributes to her community.”

The Jennie Award honors those extraordinary clubwomen who perform their roles as volunteers within their clubs, elsewhere in the community, and as members of a family or extended family. The award is named in honor of GFWC founder Jane Cunningham Croly, who began the international organization more than 117 years ago. The nomination process is two years long and includes detailed information about each woman’s contributions to her club, community, and family.

“Many deserving women were nominated,” notes Bert Alberti (Coral Springs, Fla.), GFWC Jennie Awards Chairman. “We had tremendous response from our members, who were so eager to nominate their fellow clubwomen.”

Criteria for judging the Jennie Award nominees centers on three areas of achievements:

• Commitment to club, defined as leadership, activity to build membership, promotional activities, and overall spirit of volunteerism;
• Commitment to community, which goes beyond club activities and addresses real community needs, reflecting innovative approaches to volunteering with other organizations; and
• Commitment to family, where volunteers exhibit outstanding concern for the well-being, health, and welfare for their family as they define it.

Jennie Award winners will be honored at a Celebration Banquet as part of
the Federation’s 117th Annual International Convention in Chicago, Ill.,
June 28-July 1, 2008.

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The General Federation of Women’s Clubs, one of the world’s largest and oldest women’s volunteer community service organizations, was founded in 1890 and is headquartered in Washington, DC. GFWC has more than 100,000 members in affiliated clubs in every state and over a dozen countries. Visit us online at www.GFWC.org.

About GFWC:

• The General Federation of Women's Clubs is an international women's organization dedicated to community improvement by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service.

• In 2006, GFWC and its members raised nearly $32 million on behalf of more than 230,000 projects, and volunteered more than 8.4 million hours. 

• Notable GFWC clubwomen have included: Eleanor Roosevelt, first lady, social reformer, columnist, teacher, and political activist; Julia Ward Howe, author of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”; Jane Addams, founder of Hull House; Margaret Chase Smith, the first woman to ever be elected to both Houses of Congress, and the first woman to campaign for the presidential nomination of a major political party; and Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first female governor and the first woman to be appointed Director of the United States Mint.