Editor’s Note: This story is the second in a series of profiles on local organizations making a difference in the community.

While the Violet Township Women’s League does a lot of good in the community, its members make sure they have a lot of fun, too.

The 10-year-old group of approximately 80 women – who live in Pickerington, the township and nearby communities – works to award two $2,000 scholarships each spring to high school seniors who are college-bound.

But that’s not all. At each monthly meeting, members pick a charitable cause and make donations. Also, during the holidays the league adopts two families and fills their “wish lists,” delivering the requested gifts for Christmas.

In October, the league collected non-perishable items for the PCMA Food Pantry of Pickerington, newspapers for the Franklin County animal shelter and 31 pairs of eyeglasses for the Pickerington Lions Club.

In January, members will donate arts and crafts supplies for Blue Shoe Arts, a program supported by the Fairfield County’s developmental disabilities agency.

Jan Powers, a founding member, says the league has donated about $10,000 to community groups and organizations since it evolved from a Welcome Wagon club that disbanded as the national organization did in 1998.

Powers, who at the time was president of the dissolving club, says members wanted a women’s group to continue loosely based on they had been doing. A committee spent a year working on details for what would become a full-fledged, free-standing charitable organization and social club. The reconstituted group started with 88 members, Powers says, and 12 original members are still on board today.

Powers says the club officers change annually in order to give everyone a chance to get leadership experience. She stays active doing committee work without being an officer, choosing instead to offer advice to those who want it.

“It’s difficult to place value on the time and products (the league has donated),” Powers says. However, the group is especially proud of the annual scholarships and their results.

At the 10th anniversary meeting, letters from former recipients (all students in Pickerington who had top grades and were active in school and the community) told of their progress or success in life.

The first year the scholarship was offered, it was worth $500. Recipient Laura Diewald of Brooklyn, N.Y. is now a lawyer who plans to practice public service and women’s law. Shelly Lee Grey, the 2004 recipient, has a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Toledo and is studying for a master’s degree in nursing at The Ohio State University. The 2006 winner, Bonnie Chow, is a pre-med student at Notre Dame University. Sean Murphy and Nathan Corder won in 2008, the first year two scholarships were offered. Murphy is on the dean’s list at the University of North Carolina and Corder is on the president’s list at the University of Alabama.

In 2009, when the scholarships reached $2,000 each, the winners were Christen Johnson and Kaitlyn Osborne. Johnson is a freshman at Ohio University who hopes to someday open a free clinic for women, and Osborne is a Wright State University student studying middle childhood education and development.

“All of our scholarship recipients have achieved success,” Powers says.

Scholarship money is raised through an annual style show and raffle in the spring. Members do the modeling and businesses donate merchandise sold at the show. It has continually gained popularity and grown to provide enough support for the two scholarships.

Shirley Jacobs, publicity chairman, speaks enthusiastically about everything the league does, including active participation in community activities.

“Whenever anything’s going on, someone volunteers,” she says.

Besides the charitable efforts, Jacobs also points out the social aspects of membership that make it a fun group. Members have euchre and book clubs and a bowling league. They meet for breakfast, have monthly movie nights and enjoy an occasional Saturday night out for cocktails. The number and type of groups within the league depends on potential participation.

“Anyone who wants can start a group,” Jacobs says. Monthly meetings last about two hours, including a brief business session. Programs have ranged from flower arranging to self-defense instructions.

The requirements list to be a member is short: “(It is for) anyone who wants to interact socially with other women and be involved in our community,” Jacobs says. “It’s so wonderful, I can’t say enough about it.”

The Violet Township Women’s League meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month at the American Legion, 7725 Refugee Rd. For more information, visit www.vtwl.org.  

Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor for Pickerington Magazine.