Civic clubs often play important roles by engaging in activities to improve the quality of life in various geographic areas.
We were reminded of that fact after learning that the Eastlake Women’s Club is marking its 60th anniversary.
Since 1965, the Eastlake Women’s Club has worked on and supported community projects, as well as taken on volunteer opportunities locally, countywide, statewide, nationally and internationally, The News-Herald’s Marah Morrison reported.
The club is a part of the Ohio Federation of Women’s Clubs, as well as its national counterpart, the General Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Joyce Bates, Eastlake Women’s Club president, got involved with the club in 2005.
“A friend asked me, ‘Do you want to join with me?’ ” Bates recalled. “I said, ‘We have a women’s club?’ That’s how most of us got into this, because we never knew there was one. We do anything that we can do that isn’t morally wrong.”
Among the things the club has done include having been a sponsor for youth baseball and the city’s cricket team; provided high school, medical and fine arts scholarships; donated toward speakers at human trafficking workshops; and donated spa bags for the Eastlake Police Domestic Violence Discussion Group.
Additionally, for National Day of Service, the club collected more than 2,000 items for Forbes House in Lake County and WomenSafe in Geauga County to fight against domestic violence.
“We’re giving the leftovers to Project Hope for the Homeless,” Bates said. “We got over 2,000 items in from ourselves and the city, and there’s more coming.”
Membership numbers change yearly, but the club has had as many as 28 members. Currently, there are around 18.
“We’re looking for people,” Bates said. “We are the only one (women’s club) in Lake County that is state and national affiliated. There are other women’s clubs, but they are city oriented only. We grew out of the Willoughby Junior Women’s Club, who then decided not to go with the affiliation anymore.”
The club’s biggest fundraiser, a calendar raffle, will be hosted in February.
“We sell tickets to it and we are now soliciting businesses to donate to the raffle,” Bates said. “Last year, it was over $120 a day. We ended up with a second and third raffle. It raised about $4,000. We’re hoping to do better this year.”
The club also has accomplished collecting 1,000 pounds worth of crushable plastic to install a new bench.
“We have five benches,” Bates said. “Three of them right now are down at Borac’s Landing and two of them are sitting in the storage garage. One is going to be put down at the Miracle League and dedicated to (former) Mayor (Dennis) Morley. The other is up for grabs and we’re working on trying to get a wind phone put in at Borac’s, and put the bench with it.”
Eastlake Councilwoman Chris Krajnyak, a new member to the club, said the group raises funds for all of the things donated.
“We do accept donations and we’re always looking for corporate sponsors,” she said.
For Krajnyak, as a new member, she enjoys thinking about the club’s legacy.
“When we’re all gone, all of that is still going to be here,” she said. “The members don’t have to live in Eastlake. This was started by a woman who was not allowed in a club and she decided this was important — women supporting women who are supporting communities.”
Krajnyak has observed women sign up to be a member of the club to aid in donating.
“We have four instances currently of people living out of their cars in our city and I’ve been working through all of that,” she said. “We’re getting three of them into Project Hope for the Homeless, so this is another way of where everybody is working here to get these items to help people and it’s helping people directly in our city.”
Having started with the club in 1983, Judy Daykin is the oldest member of the organization.
“We have a lot of members who are in wheelchairs, can’t hear, can hardly speak, but they still come,” she said. “These are women who are really dedicating to what we want to accomplish.”
Group member Kathy Fink said it’s an accomplishment when she’s able to look at something and say that her organization did that.
“You’ll find our name at Chagrin River Park on the playground area and the Miracle League,” she said. “I think, as women in the community, it’s important to keep our focus on making the community as best as we can. That’s what we’re all about.”
The News-Herald congratulates the Eastlake Women Club on reaching its 60th anniversary. That milestone is truly worth celebrating, based on all that the group has achieved throughout its history.