Worthington assists local schools

GFWC Worthington Woman’s Club supported the schools library and the library’s Book Fair by providing funding for the Library Bookstore Fund ($280) and the Library Fund ($275).  Members also collected and donated 59 Children’s Books to the library.  Members collect Campbell’s® soup labels and General Mills® Box tops for Education throughout the year for the library to exchange for books and other needed equipment.  A total of 700 Campbell soup labels and 84 General Mills box tops were donated.  Club members also signed up for Kroger Supermarket program designating a percentage of money spent on Campbell’s items at their store to the Elementary School.

Members donated items for the schools BUG (Bring Up Grades) program.  The idea behind this program is to reward students with small tokens when they improve their grades throughout the school year.  Items such as decorated pencils, notepads, erasers and coupons for fast food establishments were donated.

GFWC Worthington also sponsored one of the local Elementary classrooms by donating snack items for the teacher to use mid-morning since many of these students do not get breakfast before coming to school and as rewards at the end of the day if warranted.  We also donated teaching supplies to the teacher.  Gifts were delivered to the Special Education teacher and assistants during National Teacher Appreciation Week.

The Arts Committee collected supplies for the Art teachers at the Elementary School.  Items collected included crayons, markers, paints, pencils, paper towel tubes, toilet tissue tubes, egg cartons, the plastic trays that meat and other products are in, and other items that otherwise would be trash. 

The Conservation Committee contacted and paid for a professional landscaper to design a landscape plan for the Elementary School.  The plan developed will be executed over several years.  

Worthington aids a nursing home

The Home Life Committee adopted the Activities Department of Beaufont Health Care Center.  The membership provided prizes for the facilitys bingo games.  Items such as blankets, hairbrushes & combs, trinkets, costume jewelry, mints, picture frames, shampoos, note pads, stuffed animals and lotions were donated.

Worthington supports V.I.E.W.

Worthington supports V.I.E.W. (Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare) by donating gently used womens career and casual clothing and donates coats for men, women and children. 

V.I.E.W. is a Career Closet (a collection of gently used clothing donations that may be worn in an office environment). Suits, dresses and pantsuits are great for donations, but more casual clothing is also acceptable if it can be worn in an office environment. Shoes, handbags, costume jewelry, hose, scarves, new makeup and new undergarments are available for the women as well.
 
Many of the clients are single moms getting back into the work force. Some dont have any clothing for work and dont have any money to buy any. Thanks to V.I.E.W., they have presentable clothing to go out looking for a job as well as something nice to wear once they find one.

Worthington supports Camp Easter Seal

Worthington supported the GFWC of Virginia State Project and the Camp Easter Seal East Lodge and Pool Renovations and Amphitheater with a donation of $200.00 from our Philanthropic budget.  Also a $250 club donation was made to Camp Easter Seals for a campership.

Members supported the Bed & Bath Shower sponsored by the Kanawha Womans Club which was a district-wide project to help refurbish the bedrooms and bathrooms in Federation Lodge at Camp Easter Seal East.  Members donated sheets, mattress covers, and shower curtains.

Easter Seals provides services to children and adults with disabilities and other special needs, and support to their families.  Today, Easter Seals assists more than one million children and adults with disabilities and their families annually through a nationwide network of more than 450 service sites. Each center provides top-quality, family-focused and innovative services tailored to meet the specific needs of the particular community it serves.

Worthington adopts a family for Christmas

The members adopts a single parent family with two children through The Christmas Mother Program of Chesterfield and Colonial Heights.  Club members purchased new clothes, shoes, boots, coats, toys, gift certificates, kitchen appliances, educational games, costume jewelry, cleaning supplies, toiletries, and groceries.  $954.50 of in kind donation was made.

The Christmas Mother Program of Chesterfield and Colonial Heights originated in 1972 when Miss Lucy Corr, director of Social Services, found she could no longer handle the special needs of those in the area who would not have Christmas without help from someone.  Miss Corr enlisted the aid of volunteers from the community to raise funds, secure sponsors, and promote the purpose of the Christmas Mother Program, which is to insure that no child in our community is without food, new toys and clothing on Christmas morning.

Worthington sponsors a child via Childreach

Worthington sponsors a child from Guatemala through the Childreach program.  Members donated items such as shirts, books, markers, combs, hairclips, and toothbrushes to send to the child and her family for Christmas. 

Childreach is the U.S. member of Plan, a global, non-profit, child-centered development organization helping needy children and their families in developing countries since 1937.

Worthington feeds the hungry

The WWC membership collected and donated 220 lbs of nonperishable food worth more than $200 to The Central Virginia Food Bank to recognize World Food Day on October 16. 

The Central Virginia Food Bank (CVFB) was founded in 1980 to procure and distribute food efficiently and effectively to feeding programs throughout the area. Since then, the Central Virginia Food Bank service area has grown to include 31 counties and six cities in the Central Virginia region. CVFB distributes food through a network of 596 partner agencies, which includes 153 child-care providers serving needy children. In addition, we serve 2,000 daily meals in the summer and 850 daily meals during the school year to needy children through our Kids Café program. 

Worthington supports Heifer

In support of the Heifer International, GFWC Worthington adopted the Women in Livestock Development (WiLD) program as our special emphasis and donated money to fund a gift of one sheep and a share of a goat to help women become independent. 

Heifer International is a nonprofit organization working to end world hunger by giving cows, goats, and other food and income producing livestock to impoverished families around the world.  Recipients are trained in animal care and environmentally sound agricultural practices so they can lift themselves out of poverty and become self-reliant.  Recipients agree to share offspring of their animals with others in need through a requirement Heifer calls Passing on the Gift.  Heifer International currently provides 27 different kinds of livestock to families in 47 countries, including the United States.  Since it began in 1944, Heifer has given direct aid to 4 million families and through training and Passing on the Gift, indirectly affected the lives of more than 24 million people in 128 countries around the world.

Worthington assists the veterans

WWC collected personal comfort articles for the veterans at the VA Medical Center.  We provided toothpaste, toothbrushes, denture cleanser tablets, denture brushes, shaving cream, deodorant, talcum powder, shampoo, combs, hair brushes, nail clippers, hand lotion, facial tissues, white tee shirts, white socks, men’s briefs, stamps, writing paper/envelopes, phone cards, canteen books, blank & recorded cassettes (audio & video), disposable cameras, photo albums/frames, hats, caps, gloves.