Volunteers in Action: GFWC DeQuincy Study Club and GFWC Decora Study Club

January 25, 2022

GFWC DeQuincy Study Club 

The GFWC DeQuincy Study Club (Louisiana) spent a warm day in December distributing children’s books, hundreds of canisters of disinfectant wipes, face masks, face shields, and disinfecting lotion to attendees of the local Farmer’s Market.

Club President Jolene Constance explained the club was able to distribute many of these items because of a partnership with Global Citizen USA, a nonprofit organization that provides emergency relief services to communities affected by disasters. They started working with this charitable organization after Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana in August 2020, and have since received four different donations of various necessities and supplies from Global Citizen USA that the clubwomen have then worked to provide to their friends, family, and neighbors. These donations have included auto supplies for the area fire department, face masks, personal protective equipment for the hospital, and canisters of disinfectant wipes.

“These global organizations are willing to help give our small rural communities hope,” Jolene said. “…It has given us the arm to reach out to our citizens. They provide us with the goods and we do the work to get it out there.”

Jolene said clubwomen purchased the children’s books to give out to families along with the other supplies at the Farmer’s Market. As the community recovers from the hurricane and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jolene said it is important to members that children have access to fun and educational materials.

“We want to help children enjoy their everyday life,” she said.

 

GFWC Decora Study Club 

Members of the GFWC Decora Study Club (Texas) donated 45 pounds of peanut butter and $80 to the South Texas Food Bank, an organization which collects and redistributes food and food-related items to nonprofit agencies within a 10-county area that have programs to help provide food to people in need.

Mary Ann Wright, federation counselor for the club, said this project was part of the club’s annual President’s Choice Christmas Project, and members were excited to be able to participate.

“We have so many people experiencing homelessness and food insecurity in our community who need food and this organization covers so many counties,” Mary Ann said.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she said members have seen an increase in the amount of people who need additional food and resources, and without adequate access to these necessities, other areas of their lives have been impacted.

“If you’re hungry, you’re not motivated to do much else. Your hunger has to be satisfied–it’s one of our basic needs,” Mary Ann said. “In order to get more stability in your life, either through work or by going to school, you have to be able to satisfy these basic needs first.”

Mary Ann explained the GFWC Decora Study Club has worked with the South Texas Food Bank in the past, and they will likely do so again in the future due to its wide-reaching and important impact.