The GFWC Civic Engagement and Outreach Community Service Program reminds us that each of us is part of a larger society and is responsible for undertaking actions that will create a better quality of life and foster a sense of community—locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. There are four main focus areas in this Department.
- Citizenship
- Crime prevention, safety, and disaster preparedness
- Those in need, food insecure, and unhoused
- Our military personnel and veterans
Club Projects
- Operation Holiday Stocking is a statewide program that our club uses to support our troops. Each year we fill Christmas stockings that are shipped to troops to brighten their holidays.
- Day of Service:Â We participate in two days of service annually, the GFWC day in September and the National Day of Service on Martin Luther King Day. For both of these we dedicate our efforts to support community service projects, from eliminating food insecurity to domestic violence prevention.
- Community Memorial Day Parade:Â Our club members march and ride in the parade and lay a wreath in memory of those lost while serving our country.
- Family Promise: This organization assists local families who are in imminent danger of becoming homeless. We support them by providing duffle bags for individuals in the program. We are the only organization filling this specific need.
- South Jersey Dream Center: Our club continues an ongoing food collection for the local residents served by the Dream Center.
- Greater Woodbury Cooperative Ministries: We support the area communities by collecting food, ladies and men's underwear, and school supplies for the families served by the local food pantries. We participate in special projects for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Back to School/Backpacks, and “Warm Hands + Warm Heads = Warm Hearts.”
- Wreaths of Remembrance: Every year our club sponsors and helps lay wreaths at the Gloucester County Veterans Cemetery in Williamstown to help remember those who served.
- Police and Fire Departments:Â We make donations each year to support our K-9 unit of the Police Department and our local firefighters. We also invite them to speak at meeting occasionally to share information and knowledge.
Women's Suffrage Project
To commemorate the !00th anniversary of women’s suffrage in 2021, several members of the club helped high school students produce a video teaching about the suffrage movement and encouraging voter registration. This video was incorporated into the high school curriculum to educate students about voting and civic responsibilities.