Nancy Gillard, president of Chapter EN, P.E.O., read her president’s letter at the February 8, 2024 meeting to the 20 chapter members in attendance.
The letter described a come-back year for the chapter, during which it initiated new members, held two successful Bunco fundraising parties, attended a P.E.O Day performance at the Lyceum Theater in Arrowrock, held a Christmas luncheon at the Clinton Country Club and celebrated Golden Girl Kay Thomas, a 50-year member.
P.E.O. is a philanthropic educational organization that supports higher education opportunities for women. At last Thursday’s meeting, the chapter voted to sponsor a woman who is completing her education to become a certified nursing home administrator. Kristi Kenney, of the Program for Continuing Education committee, is helping the woman complete her application for a $4,000 P.C.E. grant.
Chapter EN also sponsored a local high school senior for a $2,500 Star Scholarship for her first year in college, and will hear if she has been chosen in April.
Nancy said that Chapter EN adopted three students at Cottey College, a women’s college in Nevada, Missouri, that P.E.O. owns and supports. The students received birthday cards, small gifts and notes of encouragement throughout the year.
P.E.O awards $20,000 merit-based Scholar scholarships to women who are completing a doctoral degree, and International Peace Scholarships that allow women from other countries to study in the United States and Canada. P.E.O also has an Educational Loan Fund with low interest rates for women pursuing their education after high school, either in college or a trade school.
As well as reading her president’s letter, Gillard gave a program on Missouri P.E.O Outreach, which provides financial help for people who are elderly or in need. Chapter EN sponsored two people who are now receiving help paying electric bills, according to Linda Wilson, an Outreach committee member.
A brief P.E.O. memorial service was read for JoAnne Kemper, who passed away last summer at the age of 84. JoAnne and her husband, C.W. Kemper, ran Keil’s Jewelry Store in Clinton, which had been in C.W.’s family since 1870 and was the oldest jewelry store in the state of Missouri.
Chapter EN now meets in the fellowship hall at First Presbyterian Church, but before Covid, met in members’ homes. The pandemic meant the chapter could not meet at all for many months, then had meetings on Zoom, and put a dent in membership, as it did in many organizations.
With this year’s president’s report, the chapter is back on track and continuing to grow. In 2025, EN will celebrate its 100th anniversary as a P.E.O chapter. The chapter was organized on July 2,1925, and is one of two P.E.O. chapters in Clinton.
One of the oldest women’s organizations in the United States, P.E.O. started at Iowa Wesleyan College in 1869, and now has more than 210,000 members in 5,800 chapters in the United States and Canada. There are more than 300 chapters in Missouri.
