Women's Club Awarded Suburban Essex Chamber of Commerce Community Service Award
On March 23rd the Women’s Club was awarded the Suburban Essex Chamber of Commerce Community Service award at their 100th Anniversary Gala. This award recognizes our service to Glen Ridge and the surrounding community throughout our 112 years. This is an honor of which we can all be proud. I would like to share with you the short bio we provided for the SECC gala program book. ”The Women’s Club of Glen Ridge has played an integral role in the community for over 100 years. The club was founded in 1905 as ’an organized center for thought and action for the women of the community in which ideals of education, culture, and civic and social service may be encouraged and developed’. Kicking off its 112th year this January, our club has been successfully fulfilling its mission since its inception and remains a vibrant and vital organization today.” Charity fundraising and community service are cornerstones of the Women’s Club. We organize several major, annual fundraisers including the spring Favorite Doll Tea and the popular House Tour in May. Funds from these and other events support the charitable gifts the Club passes on to local organizations. The Women’s Club has been closely associated with almost every aspect of life in the borough and we pride ourselves on responding to the needs of the community at large: as an official polling place, blood drive location, and host of myriad co-sponsored activities with the public schools and other community organizations. Community Service projects over the years have been both large and small in scope, but there is hardly a local charity or town organization that has not benefited from the Club’s generosity. The Women’s Club, along with its own junior group, the Girls’ Club, aises an annual sum of approximately $20,000.
Below is a sample of the many organizations that we support:
High School Scholarships
Community Gardens
The Human Needs Food Pantry
Glen Ridge Volunteer Ambulance Squad
Sponsorship of the Glen Ridge Eco Fair
Wynona's House
Susan G Komen, North Jersey
The Connie Dwyer Breast Center at St. Michael's
Toni's Kitchen
Gas Lamp Players
Community Food Bank of New Jersey
Glen Ridge Local Assistance Advisory Committee
As we go forth in our mission, the Women's Club of Glen Ridge continues to grow and evolve as a club for and about women. We are grateful to the women who have helped knit together our long history and hopeful about the contributions of those who follow us in the years ahead. At this time, we would like to take the opportunity to thank the Suburban Essex Chamber of Commerce for this very special recognition and honor. We deeply appreciate the spotlight you have placed on our good works in the community, as that light will serve to energize and inspire us all the more.
Thank you! Yours in Service, Jill Simmons, President
From the Signpost
The Newsletter of the Women’s Club of Glen Ridge
Vol. 57 No. 4
April/May/June 2017