STE. GENEVIEVE—The GFWC Woman’s Club’s largest fundraiser of the year was held in November in support of its signature project, Missouri Girls Town (MGT).
Members worked for weeks organizing the annual auction.
Fifty-five women gathered in the fellowship hall at the First Baptist Church whose walls had been lined with donations. Members arrived laden with purchases from the Girls Town wish list and other donations. Debbie Kirchner had gathered a shopper’s extravaganza of Hallmark ornaments, estate jewelry and grab bags all for $5 or less.
After lunch the action began when auctioneer Sandy Stewart started the bidding for baked goods, gift baskets, and decorative items donated by members and friends. Sandy kept the pace lively, the competition manageable, and the offerings entertaining.
All the planning, organizing and hard work paid off.
In-kind gifts for Girls Town totaled $1,360.
The auction brought in $1,885, and when added to the yearlong 50/50 raffles of $265 and a club donation of $100, the grand total was $3,610.
Missouri Girls Town was founded by the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Missouri in 1953 to provide care and treatment for abused and neglected girls, and the Williamsburg facility has been the primary focus of funding efforts by our local chapter ever since.
The featured speaker was Casey Bishop, Executive Assistant for Missouri Girls Town.
She thanked the Woman’s Club members for their continued generosity and spoke of the ongoing challenges in providing community-based care to young women who find themselves without a safe harbor.
Some of the stories are heartbreaking. Girls Town provides a safe space, a normalized environment with structure, rules and responsibilities. They also have recreational facilities, therapy sessions, and a school on campus.
The goal of their programs is that girls transition out into the community with the skills necessary to build healthy relationships and a brighter future.
However, the assistance from Ste. Genevieve women was taken to a higher level by former Club President Judy Gustafson.
We have watched as Judy rose through the ranks of the GFWC organization, first through the Ninth District culminating in the presidency, and last year her progression through the State levels that brought the title President GFWC of Missouri, Inc.
All along the way she has made significant contributions, but this year’s project for Missouri Girls Town at the State level came at a critical point. Girls Town was running low on funds. They couldn’t hold their annual live Silent Auction because of Covid restrictions, and they were without a Development Director, so they had no one to do any fundraising at all this year.
Judy saw the need and came up with a plan. She devised an opportunity drawing, called it “Cash for a Cause” and sold the tickets for $10 through clubs across the entire state in September and October.
Because of Judy’s experience and persuasiveness, 56 different GFWC clubs participated along with MGT Board Members, raising a total of $5,650 after prize payouts.
The board members of Missouri Girls Town were astounded and thrilled when Judy presented them with a pile of over fifty “Cash for a Cause” checks. This was the highest amount ever raised in a short-term fundraising campaign for Girls Town – and it was all done for them – created, organized and led by a woman from Ste. Genevieve who had a vision for helping others.
Of course, the Ste. Genevieve club sold the most tickets of any GFWC club.
For more information on becoming part of the GFWC Woman’s Club of Ste. Genevieve, please contact Diane Miller by email at gfwcmostegen@gmail.com or by phone 314-308-6203.
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs is an international woman’s organization dedicated to community improvements by enhancing the lives of others through volunteer service