Can We Help?
The Clearwater Junior Woman's Club has resources available to individuals and organizations in our community, including volunteer time, funding, and in-kind donations. Most of our projects and donations fall within one of our six departments, or focus areas: Arts, Conservation, Education, Home Life (includes health, safety, financial, and other "home" related topics), International Affairs, and Public Affairs.
If you are a Clearwater-area charity or community service organization, or a local branch of a national organization, please add us to your mailing list for brochures, newsletters, and event announcements. Information we receive in the mail is shared with club members at each monthly meeting, and helps us learn more about organizations in our community who might benefit from the resources we have available.
Scholarships and
Community Service Grants
Each year, the GFWC Clearwater Junior Woman's Club awards scholarships and grants to local students, non-profit groups, and social service agencies. This is made possible by the success of our major fundraising event, the Christmas Under the Oaks Arts & Crafts show.
Mary Clark scholarships in the amount of $1000 each are awarded to local students who are attending college while overcoming some adversity in their lives. We evaluate need, school performance, community service activity, and reference letters in selecting scholarship recipients. The Joseph Clark Memorial Scholarship, also $1000, is awarded to someone who has turned their life around and needs the money to stay on the right track.
Helping Hands Grants in amounts os approximately $2000 each are awarded to local charitable and social service organizations. Grant applications must identify a specific need or program for which the organization requests funding, and applicants are considered based on need, the impact of the program on our community, non-duplicaiton of effort, and programs which fall within the focus areas of our club's six departments (The Arts, Conservation, Education, Home Life, International Affairs, and Public Affairs).
Applications for the Mary Clark and Joseph Clark Memorial Scholarships and for the Helping Hands Community Grants are available in January each year, application deadlines are around April 1, and our awards ceremony is held in May.
Volunteer Time
If your community service organization needs some extra hands for an upcoming event, please contact us. Requests made at least one month in advance will have the best results, as we will then be able to announce your event in our monthly meeting and newsletter.
Funding
Our largest monetary contributions are the Helping Hands Community Service Grants. We encourage local (Tampa Bay area) community service organizations to apply for a grant of up to $2500 for a specific need or project. Our departments (Arts, Conservation, Education, Home Life, International Affairs, and Public Affairs) also make smaller donations throughout the year to related organizations.
In-Kind Donations
Clothing, accessories, and occasional housewares are available through our ongoing Macy's Lights the Way project. One requirement of this program is that the items not be resold in a thrift shop, flea market, garage sale, or any similar sale, nor used for personal gain. The items may be distributed to individuals in need or used by service organizations to further their missions.
Club members also donate a variety of items at our regular meetings, based on identified needs in the community. Some items we have collected in the past include business clothing (for Dress for Success), school supplies, children's socks, and Halloween costumes.
