Volunteers in Action: Glendale Woman’s Club

February 28, 2023

The GFWC Glendale Woman’s Club (Glendale, Arizona) Veterans committee hosted an educational program with guest speakers from USVETS for our February 2023 business meeting who provided updates on the new facility in Phoenix, scheduled to open in April 2023. This site will house 132 transitional beds for homeless veterans. We are also excited to join in a new journey with USVETS who unveiled Ashley’s Place. Two brand new five-bedroom homes were built through a partnership of USVETS and Habitat for Humanities. These homes will provide transitional housing for up to 30 female veterans who will receive daily meals and services such as group counselling.

GWC ladies showed their giving hearts with travel size toiletries, dental supplies, socks, and more, an in-kind donation valued at around $400.

 

Members of Glendale Woman’s Club took advantage of the opportunity for a free booth at the 13th Annual Dog Days of Glendale to raise awareness of our club, its mission and also to help raise funds for the Frances Willard Munds statue. Dog Days is an annual event that supports Animals & Humans in Disaster, Empty Bowls Pet Food Pantry a nonprofit organization. They provide support to individuals in Arizona who are experiencing economic challenges, health problems and natural disasters.

The Frances Willard Munds statue is a big deal, since it is the 1st statue of a woman to be built on Arizona state owned land. We celebrate Women’s History by keeping Arizona’s suffragist Frances Munds visible using the club’s #flatfrances project.  We brought our  6 ft. #flatfrances to this event, and that really helped to draw attention to our booth. We encouraged visitors to be a part of history, take a picture with #flatfrances, and consider donating to the statue fund. Offering online payment options really helped with getting these donations. In a few short hours we raised $186, over 90% was an online payment. We also brought plenty of GFWC and club information so we could tell the public about our 122 year old GFWC club. We handed out GFWC brochures, postcard invites to our next meet your neighbor event, and provided literature on the club’s current programs. During the event we also took time to explore and advertise by doing a Facebook live event.  This helped advertise our club’s participation and also the good news of our community coming together to help our 4 legged friends.

Below: Pictured is Club President Cheryl Kappes and local high school student, club-volunteer Idaprae Maynes with #FlatFrances