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Volunteers in Action: GFWC Women's Club of Granger and GFWC Women's Civic League, Inc.
GFWC Women's Club of Granger
Members of the GFWC Women's Club of Granger (Iowa) are encouraging a love of reading and the outdoors by establishing a Story Trail in their community. Club Executive Officer Rose Dory said the trail of 25 story panels is currently on display in their local Centennial Park, and members regularly change and maintain the stories.
"The story walk gives kids a place to go to get out and the park is located well for them to walk there," she said.
Rose explained the Story Trail project has been in the works for the past several years, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic and changes within the city parks and recreation department, the project was temporarily postponed. After getting the project back up and running, the club worked with the local library and the city to finish organizing this fun activity for area children. The current stories being used for the project were obtained through an interlibrary exchange process from a library in a neighboring town that organized a story trail of their own. Rose said the club plans to purchase additional stories for their trail in the future. The rest of the project was made possible through a Thrivent grant and club funds.
Rose said the Story Trail will remain up at least through the fall and clubwomen will discuss if it will be on display during the winter. She added that because the story panels are portable, the trail can be moved to other locations in the city.
"We always want to support reading and education," Rose said.
GFWC Women's Civic League, Inc.
The GFWC Women's Civic League, Inc. (Utah) participated in a National Day of Service on September 11 to benefit GFWC Affiliate Organization Operation Smile. Club President Tonya Woodruff said members, guests, and even a clubwoman's spouse came together to make Smile Splints for the organization. Smile Splints are comfortable arm bands that prevent children from bending their arms and touching their faces, which helps keep surgical incisions clean and promotes the healing of a child's new smile. As of mid-September, volunteers with the club prepared 75 Smile Splints to send.
"Operation Smile is a great organization that changes lives," Tonya said.
In addition to this donation, Tonya said the clubwomen intend to sew more Smile Splints and hospital gowns and plan to come up with additional ways that they can support the organization during the next couple of years. She added that even if members or friends of the club do not know how to sew, there are always ways to help.
"When people donate their time to help these children, it means so much to me," she said.
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Rose Dory
After moving several times with her husband, Rose Dory eventually found herself in Granger, Iowa. There, Rose discovered the Granger Woman's Club when she was invited to a club meeting by the vice president in 2015.
Each year, GFWC awards scholarships to help intimate partner abuse survivors obtain a post-secondary education that offers a chance to reshape their future by securing employment and gaining personal independence.
Featured Club
GFWC Millington Junior Women's Club
Each year April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month. Kathleen Sweeney, Executive Director/Forensic Interviewer of The Child Advocacy Center of Tuscola County (CACTC), spoke at GFWC Millington Junior Women's Club (Michigan) monthly meeting and told members that 10% of the 235 reported cases of child abuse in 2017 in Tuscola County were from Millington Township, including Millington. It inspired them to take action with the "Color Me Blue" Project.
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