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GFWC Progress Club of Las Cruces has been in existence for more than a century and remains one of the community’s hidden gems.
In 2020-21, the club’s 50 members completed 53 projects, contributing more than 18,400 volunteer hours, raising and donating nearly $15,000 to local groups and organizations and generating another nearly $59,000 in in-kind donations from its membership. The club also hosted a very successful golf tournament (see sidebar).
“The Progress Club of Las Cruces is a 501(c)(3) chapter of the General Federation of Women's Clubs,” said club member Debbie Campbell. “We are a women’s organization committed to improving our community by living the volunteer spirit. We sponsor fundraisers annually to accomplish our volunteer initiative of donating to worthy local causes. Our fundraisers benefit veterans moving from assisted living into their own apartments and scholarships for local college women. We currently give two (scholarships) to NMSU women and one to a Doña Ana Community College student.”
Campbell said the club also makes donations to benefit arts and culture in the community, as well as civic engagement and outreach, education and libraries, the environment and health and wellness.
Here are some of the ways the Progress Club has supported its community in the past two years:
It supported the Doña Ana Arts Council’s Missoula Children’s Theatre, Doña Ana Kid Camp, UNICEF, the United Nations Foundation’s Shot@Life vaccination program and Doctors Without Borders; provided a display of its members’ art during For the Love of Art Month; hosted a short-story writing contest for local high-school students; donated hearing devices to the Las Cruces Museum Foundation; provided funding for NMSU scholarships; planted a tree at Pioneer Women’s Park in support of national Plant a Tree Day (the last Friday in April); created science kits for local students; donated cleaning supplies for local veterans; supported Mesilla Valley Community of Hope with monetary donations and supplies; and sponsored five veterans struggling with homelessness by paying their first month’s rent and security deposit and buying a new bed for each one; and donated supplies to support local mothers struggling with poverty.
The Progress Club’s officers include: President Debbie McAllen; Vice President Minel Schlaefli; Recording Secretary Mary Underwood; Corresponding Secretary Robin Cline; and Treasurer Mary Dohm.
If you are interested in joining the Progress Club of Las Cruces, send a letter of inquiry to Belen Valenzuela, 722 Rena Mae Court, Las Cruces, N.M. 88005. To make a donation to the club, contact Mary Dohm at gfwc.progress@gmail.com.
Visit www.gfwc.org.
