Category «Health»

Days for Girls

Our DfG project commenced in 2018 and still continues in 2023. After hearing at a District Conference, how girls in some overseas countries very rarely have access to feminine hygiene products and sit on cardboard each month we started planning to include DfG as a hands-on project for our club. Sewing days are organised inviting along not only Altrusans but our community as well to help us cut, match, stitch, press, overlock, glue and sometimes unpick! It is fantastic to have our community help us which has led to some helping with other projects too! We have donated underwear, soaps, facecloths, money alongside feminine hygiene products to our own community helping overcome period poverty for struggling families locally

At Your Service Meals on Wheels

The club supplies the Meals on Wheels (MOW) Food Delivery Service, primarily to the elderly treats at Easter and Christmas.
At Easter the club gather Easter Eggs, cellophane packets and ribbons, putting together a small pack of chocolate eggs to be distributed for the Easter MOW delivery.
At Christmas time members bake Shortbread biscuits, up to 100 packages of six, and tie with a ribbon. These are added to the Christmas Meals delivered by MOW. These are very much appreciated by the recipients

Food Drive

In honor of Hunger Awareness Month (June), members brought donations of canned food and nonperishable items to our mixer. The donations were given to a local organization, Community Through Hope, for distribution to homeless and low-income individuals and families.

Ukraine Newborns: Born in a War Zone

The purpose of the project was to aid mothers and newborns at the outbreak of the War in Ukraine. There were pregnant women travelling alone to the maternity hospitals to give birth. There were photos of strollers left at train stations for mothers who fled their home for their own and their children’s safety.

Olena has relatives who work at a Maternity Hospital. She devised a plan and connections to ensure the goods we gathered would get DIRECTLY into the hands of those who needed it most.

Olena sought Altrusa’s help to advertise her collection of comfort goods for “Mommies and Babies” in Ukraine Maternity Hospitals. Altrusa Intl. of Central CT, Inc. advertised on social media… word spread like wildfire to Altrusans and friends. Donations came in from 16 states from Maine to California! We then assisted with collection, sorting, and packaging donations alongside of Dancers, Dentists and Daycare Workers, to pack 27 pallets, filling a 50-foot trailer, in one weekend.

We took part in a humanitarian effort to supply expectant mothers and newborns with desperately needed supplies in war-ravaged Ukraine.

Make a Difference Day for At Risk Youth

Each year the Sikeston club chooses a project for Make a Difference Day in October. This year it was decided to fund a project for the Missouri Department of Youth Services and serve underprivileged at risk youth. The club donated money to pay for a field trip to a recreational center, where the children attended a water safety course then enjoyed time in the pool. Afterwards, all the children were treated to ice cream before being returned to their home, foster home or group home. All the children who participated were selected because they had experienced abuse during their short lifetime. Altrusa is proud to be a positive influence in their lives and to show them that their community does care about them.

Altrusa Athenaeum

You don’t normally associate hospital and reading room, but Altrusa did. They felt there was a need for a bookshelf and assorted reading materials for the ICU waiting room at the local hospital. So they created a reading area in the waiting room. Every month two Altrusans volunteer to stock the bookshelves with new books and magazines. They remove any worn out reading materials. For the many hours that families spend waiting in this room, they now have an alternative to mindless television programming and can maintain their literacy skills. This club addressed a little known need of the community in an effective and supportive manner.

Heart to Heart

This project meets a community need that addresses the loss of a family member. Each year around Valentine’s Day, club members submit the names of people they know in the community who have lost a loved one. This good will project is intended to be a pick me up for those who have suffered a loss. Cute bags with theme food items, small gifts like fragrant soap, and inspirational cards and booklets are prepared and delivered to the recipients close to Valentine’s Day. This is an in-person project addressing loneliness and isolation.

Christmas Connection

Each December Club members prepare Goody Bags for 40 residents of Green Meadow Retirement Home. The Goody Bags contain winter necessities like chap stick, gloves, hats, etc. These Goody Bags are handed out on Christmas by the staff. In addition to the Goody Bags, the club supplies refreshments for the annual Christmas party for the residents of this assisted living center. Just one of the ways the Sikeston club is leading to a better community.

Tamariki, Togs and Towels

This project supplied disadvantaged children with resources, (namely a waterproof bag, containing togs, towel, and swimming goggles), enabling them to take part in the summer swimming lessons at school. Improving water skills is essential to reduce the drownings in New Zealand, a small island nation surrounded by water with many pools, rivers and lakes.
Each school library also received books and water safety literature.

Tijeritas for Kids (Scissors for Kids)

The “Tijeritas for Kids” (Scissors for Kids) service project arises from the need to provide free haircuts to children with limited economic resources in the town of Guánica monthly basis. Our goal is to impact the educational system of Guánica with free haircuts aimed at school-age students, in which good hygiene and sanitation practices are promoted to provide personal care and health service. The fusion of both concepts creates in the student a level of self-esteem and confidence based on their appearance. Due to the success of this service project in the town of Guánica, we will soon include elderly and disabled people from our community.