Our Causes & Projects - Woman's Club of Redondo Beach

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Our Causes & Projects

Core causes supported by our club each year:

Preservation of our historic clubhouse. Our 100+ year-old redwood structure requires constant care and maintenance. Our club is committed to its preservation to ensure its legacy of community service continues for generations to come. Our weekday evening classes, special events and weekend rentals help us with this important mission.
College Scholarships - We strive to raise funds each year to award three $1,000 scholarships to RUHS seniors, based on need and academic achievement. We also make an annual donation to the Patricia Dreizler Continuation High School, in honor of Pat’s 65-year club membership.
Baby Shower - Gifts and gift cards are collected and donated to benefit babies in the foster care system through the local Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
Holiday Families - Gifts and gift cards are collected and donated to needy families at Christmas time. One family is selected by RBPD’s Domestic Violence Advocacy Program. A second is selected by DCFS where the family has been recently reunited after a parent’s incarceration or drug treatment.

Club members are encouraged to make monetary donations to WCRB earmarked for a specific cause of their choice, or for one of these causes which we support:

LOCAL

Angel Gowns of South Bay
Beach Cities Health District

Behavioral Health Services
Laptop Elf

Patricia Dreizler Continuation HS

RBFD Community Relief Fund

Redondo Beach Historical Society

RBPD Domestic Violence Victims Fund

South Bay Children’s Health Center

NATIONAL / INTERNATIONAL

American Cancer Society

Canine Companions

Heifer International

Hope for Justice

March of Dimes

National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Operation Smile

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

UNICEF Shot @ Life Campaign

PAST PROJECTS

Angel Tree
An Angel Tree looks a lot like a typical Christmas tree except instead of ornaments it is decorated with name tags that bear gift requests from sponsored families. We have done an Angel Tree in conjunction with Cheer for Children.

Baby Shower - Each year WCRB sponsors a baby shower for various community organizations that support the needs of mothers and babies coming into Foster Care. We did not let the Pandemic stop this effort. In 2021, due to COVID, we held a Virtual Community Baby Shower and invited our sister organizations and friends to participate using all sorts of media. Donations from the Virtual Community Baby Shower included many, many items valued at $7,232 (clothing, bedding, toys, diapers, etc). Personal care items were also dropped off for the teen moms valued at $415 with 9 new computer backpack carriers. Thanks to the ladies of WCRB and our sister organizations we again had a hugely successful Baby Shower.

Back-of-the-Room Sales - This is one way WCRB raises money to fund our community outreach projects. We invite vendors to our Monthly General Meetings and provide space for them to display their products. A portion of the money they make from sales of their products is donated to WCRB.

Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts - 1999-2000 - We began sponsoring Cub Scout Pack #555.

Buddy Bench - The Buddy Bench concept was created by 8th Graders in 2010 as their entry to a nation-wide academic competition in community problem solving with the topic of recycling. One bench is made from around 15,000 plastic caps, varying from milk bottle lids, to water bottle lids and soft drink lids, medicine bottles with lids, and yogurt/sour cream container lids which are all non-toxic. For approximately 5 years the members of WCRB have been collecting lids. In May of 2021 we had 10,000 lbs of bottle caps, etc stored and options were being explored to transport bottle caps, etc, to make finished Buddy Benches.

Bus Trips - We are fortunate to have members experienced in coordinating bus trips. In the past our members have enjoyed visiting local points of interest along with lunch. In 2019 our destination was the Will Rogers Ranch House followed by the Getty Villa.

Californians for Ukraine - We helped by providing space and volunteers to sort humanitarian donations for the war in Ukraine. (2022)

Catherine’s Friends - A new program was started by our club to benefit our women in the military and was adopted by other clubs and the district. (2006-2007)

Chance Auction - In previous years, the Chance Auction was called the Chinese Auction. In 2022 to be more sensitive to all people it was renamed. Although we had a wonderful Chinese luncheon in 2022, in 2023 the Chance Auction will feature a Greek luncheon. In future years we will have an opportunity to sample various foods from around the world at our Chance luncheon. We also feature a special raffle where unique items pulled from our rummage sale donations and member donations are displayed. Members and guests receive raffle tickets with their lunch and have the opportunity to purchase additional raffle tickets. They place their raffle tickets with the item they are interested in winning. At the conclusion of lunch a ticket is drawn for each item to see who is the lucky recipient. Proceeds from the Chance Auction typically go towards our Scholarship Fund.

Dine-Arounds - To raise funds to support our various projects and upkeep of our historic clubhouse we contact local restaurants who donate a portion of the cost of meals purchased by members on a specific day and time. Lemonade Cafe and Taishi Hainan Chicken were recent participants.

Fashion Shows - 2007-08 - We started our year of celebration for our 100th birthday with a wonderful Fashion Show titled “Looking Back to the Future.” Fashions both past and present were featured, wine glasses with our logo, and food generously donated by Janice Petrosino - we made over $5,000.

Firefighters’ Spaghetti Dinner

Food Drive - At various times, depending on special needs and/or schedule, our members collect and donate food items to various worthy community organizations such as the Salvation Army Meals on Wheels Program.

General Meetings - On the 3rd Monday of the months of September thru June we hold our General Membership Meetings. There is a social time before the meeting with lunch following the meeting. In addition to conducting club business, we schedule speakers on topics of interest, acknowledge birthdays and other timely events, often have vendors in for back of the room sales, and other interesting topics. A portion of the vendor sales is donated to WCRB to support our community projects.

Ice Cream Social

Juneteenth Celebration - Program about the new federal holiday of Juneteenth, Block Party (the first Juneteenth family comedy), Bruce’s Beach, and redlining.

Little Dress for Africa - This is an International Outreach project where old or new pillowcases are turned into dresses for the little girls in Africa. Members gather to cut the pillowcases, select the trim and then sew on the trim making each dress unique. The use of different size pillowcases enables us to make dresses for all ages. In 2019 we completed 42 dresses and 77 in 2020.

Magical Soiree

Membership Tea - Our Membership Tea is a somewhat formal affair with our members in hats for the “hat contest” and a traditional tea menu of finger sandwiches, scones, sweets and pretty much anything bite-sized served on tiered trays. Of course we serve hot tea in our prettiest WCRB teapots and those that our members wish to display for this event. In 2022 we also had a contest for the most unique and/or beautiful tea cup. The Membership Teas is an opportunity to encourage members to renew their membership for the coming year and invite their friends to become new members.

Pallet House - In mid December 2020 the City of Redondo Beach installed 15 Pallet Shelters to help combat homelessness at the City Yard on Kingsdale Avenue near the South Bay Galleria. The members of WCRB supported this endeavor first by donating cleaning supplies and food items. A second donation was made of a new dorm size refrigerator and microwave oven.

Redondo Beach Public Library - 1999-2000 - We also sponsored magazines at the Redondo Beach Library.

Riviera Village Summer Festival - Sell water bottles donated by the Chamber of Commerce. https://www.rvsummerfestival.com/

Rummage Sales - We generally hold a Fall Rummage Sale the 1st Saturday in October and a Spring Rummage Sale the 1st Saturday of March. Drop off days are on Friday, the day before the sale. We can give tax receipts if you wish. Our volunteers accept, sort, and arrange the donated items on Friday and open for the sale on Saturday. We generally make in the range of $1000-$2000 each time we hold this fundraiser.

Scholarships for High School Seniors

Sister Cities -

Swing Dance - On July 21, 2019, members of WCRB sponsored a Swing Dance to raise funds for our Scholarship fund for a student(s) at Redondo Union High School. There was a 17-piece band, dance demonstrations and lessons, a costume contest, and refreshments were donated by club members for sale, adding to ticket sale proceeds.