General Federation of Woman’s Clubs

Illinois

“ U N I T Y  I N  D I V E R S I T Y ”

MEETINGS:

Wood River Fire Station

501 E. Edwardsville Rd.

Wood River, IL  62095

The Second Monday of each month at 6 PM.  

Dues for the year are $25.

If you are interested in membership, please contact:

Helen Crause

1414 Brushy Grove,

Wood River, IL

618-259-2021

whiteyc46@att.net

Club Officers:

Helen Crause & Cheryl Maguire---Co-Presidents

Carolyn Crause---Vice President

Martha Schultz---Recording Secretary

Diane Perry---Corresponding Secretary

Susan Broadway---Treasurer

History:

The Wood River Woman’s Club was founded in March of 1916 by Mrs. Manning who served as the first President. The club planted 2,000 trees, cleaned up and beautified the area with flowers, flags were given to the schools, playground equipment was purchased, donations were given to the needy, and a huge 4th of July parade and picnic was organized by them. In 1918-1919 they established an emergency hospital to combat a flu epidemic. In March of 1922 they rented a room in a building on Ferguson Ave. and established the first library which opened to the public that July.

Club Committees

Fundraising

Historian

Publicity

Membership

Art

Conservation

Education

Health/Home Life

International Outreach

Public Issues

Projects:

We collect Box Tops for Education, Campbell's Soup Labels for Education, tab tops for Ronald McDonald Houses, & plastic bags.

Our annual fundraisers are: Make a Difference Trivia which allowed us to give $5,000 to the Patches to Badges Program this year, sold pecans, held a bake sale, had a Trash to Treasure Sale, and sponsored the annual Ice Cream Social in July in Wood River. We donated desserts for the Wood River Fire Department's Annual Fish Fry to help with the Burn Camp, sponsored two American Red Cross blood drives, collected used/new shoes for the Shoeman Water Project, cooked food for the annual Breakfast with Santa, and bought, cooked, and served lunch to those in need at the Saturday Café in Alton twice.

We made monetary donations to Federation Projects---American Cancer Society, American Heart Assoc., Ectodermal Dysplasia, Shawnee National Forest, Isabella Candee, Minds Eye, Winning Wheels, State Scholarship Fund, Kind News, American Diabetes, Blue Ribbon Fashion Show, Pennies for Art, Alzheimer’s Assoc.,  and Pinwheel for Domestic Violence.

WRWC donated monies to: Oasis Women's Center, Operation Blessing, gave out 3 $500 scholarships to 3 graduating seniors, donated $200 to the Young Authors program & gave cash to the winners in the Wood River Hartfrod School District, Salvation Army Booth House, Wood River Fire Department, Wood River Heritage Council, Wood River Aquatic Center, Child Advocacy Center, Fisher House, Habitat for Humanity, Heifer International, Unicef, Wood River Library Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, VIP Manor Activities Fund, Foxes Grove Activities Fund, Operation Support Our Troops of Illinois, USO, and 5 A's.

Each month we collected different needed items such as: pet supplies, children clothing, baby items and blankets, winter clothing, socks, Christmas presents, books, toiletries, washcloth & towel sets, baby wipes, birthday bags, personal hygiene bags, school supplies, and food which are distributed to the 5 A’s Animal Shelter, Oasis Women’s Shelter, and Operation Blessing. We also provided free eye exams and two free pairs of eyeglasses to needy school children in the area. We made quilts and gave those to Operation Blessing.