Continuing a tradition of giving
Civic Club President Andrea Semenoff, left, and Cheryl McCready, Greene County satellite office coordinator for Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania, stand with the donations.
Salvation Army Director Sister Audrey Quinn, left, and club President Andrea Semenoff show off some of the items donated by the women’s club.
The Carmichaels Women’s Civic Club continued a long-held tradition recently by donating toiletries and winter weather clothing to two area charities.
The club sent numerous hats, underwear, gloves and socks to Salvation Army of Greene County to help that group with its winter clothing drive.
The women also collected and donated numerous toiletries, paperback books and even flip-flops to the Domestic Violence Services in Waynesburg to help families in need.
The group has been doing such donations “HUGS and KISS” program for more than a dozen years, even though its umbrella organization, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs of Pennsylvania, chooses different charities and causes to support each year.
“I think most of us are moms, grandmothers or aunts, and many of us are teachers, so we have a soft spot for children,” club President Andrea Semenoff said. “We’re able to do it, to collect and to donate so we’re happy to do that.”
Semenoff said in addition to the donations made last month, the group also adopted a family involved in the Domestic Violence Center and sent various Christmas gifts.
“We never see the people. We don’t know who they are,” she said. “It’s one of the annual projects.”
Cheryl McCready, Greene County satellite office coordinator for Domestic Violence Services of Southwestern Pennsylvania, said the donations of toiletries and other everyday items are invaluable for women and children coming to the agency looking for help. She recalled one woman who came to the office recently without shoes, but the donations the agency receives from various groups allowed them to help her.
“People leave in an emergency and they don’t bring a change of clothing or toiletries,” McCready said. “Having those types of donations in our office is a good thing.”
The Carmichaels group is now turning its attention to the GFWC’s two-year project that focuses on reading and supporting public libraries. Semenoff said they’ve had several book drives over the past two years and donated to the Carmichaels Elementary Center’s school library and Flenniken Public Library in Carmichaels. Members of the group also have read stories to pre-schoolers at the public library and to elementary school classes.
Semenoff said the service projects help to motivate the club’s members to stay engaged with the community.
“We try to keep our club going,” she said.