GFWC-Battle Ground, a local 24-member women's organization affiliated with the General Federation of Women’s Clubs International, recently rose to the challenge of staying connected and providing for the community during a pandemic. While the organization has not adopted Zoom meetings, Club President Mary Lee Miller said the group has “kept the airwaves hot with emails” to keep the club updated on the progress of several projects. Members no longer meet in a congregated group, and masks are worn and social distancing practiced at all outdoor meetings.
A new approach to volunteering at the club has been organized as “tailgate” projects where donations and collections are brought by members of the club to a designated members vehicle.
The most recent tailgating project, “Birthday Bags,” took place between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 22. Members of the club tailgated at the club’s Little Free Library Shelter on First Street in Battle Ground. At the tailgate, members brought an array of items to throw a successful birthday party for underprivileged children.
“The donations were later assembled into bags decorated with colorful stickers,” GFWC-Battle Ground Chairman Mary Eastman said in a news release. “Our goal is to lift their spirits.”
Included in each bag is a cake mix, canned frosting, sprinkles, a teddy bear and party favors. Each bag is labeled for its appropriate age group.
As of now, the club has created 10 birthday bags with an end goal of 80. Distribution of the bags will be made through the North County Community Food Bank and the Family and Community Resource Center of Battle Ground Public Schools. The food bank will receive the first 10 bags in November. In each succeeding month, donations will be alternated between the two agencies until June 2021. GFWC-Battle Ground has worked with the local food bank in the past. In an earlier tailgate project, members of the club collected 442 pounds of staple foods for the bank and helped offset food bank donations usually brought by shoppers to the Ladybug Bazaar, which was canceled due to COVID-19 earlier this year.
“Advocating for children is one of the main objectives of CFWC, International and local GFWC clubs like ours,” Miller said. “Many of the club’s programs are child-centered.”
A proclamation to declare the week of October 25-31 as National Advocacy for Children month was recently written, signed by Miller and posted in several Battle Ground locations. The proclamation gives recognition to the problem of child abuse and to urge the community to come to the aid of children victimized by child abuse and other crimes. Learn more about the club at GFWC-battlegroundWA.org.
