Local Woman's Club Awards $5,000 to Teachers This School Year

Area teachers are now eligible to apply for individual grants of up to $250 that can fund special classroom activities or programs that can enhance the educational process for their students.

The GFWC Lake Wales Junior Woman's Club has announced its Grants for Great Ideas mini-grant program for the 2023-2024 school year. To be eligible, teachers and other school-based professionals that work directly with students must work at an LWCS or PCPS school that has a physical Lake Wales address.

Grant applications have been sent to all eligible school principals and assistant principals for the first grant cycle of this school year. Applications for the first grant cycle are due on September 8. A second grant cycle will open January 5 with grants due February 9.

A competitive grant award process, the program will provide up to $250 per award. A volunteer committee of key community stakeholders will review, score, and rank the applications. The Junior Woman's Club plans to award a total of up to $5,000 this school year, or about 20 grants. Funds for the Grants for Great Ideas program were raised through the inaugural Fall Festival that the Junior Woman's Club held last year.

In addition to the Grants for Great Ideas program, the Junior Woman's Club dedicates their efforts to supporting Lake Wales students who are at-risk, homeless, live in a shelter, are unaccompanied minors, or who have been displaced from their home due to an emergency removal. The Junior Woman's Club works directly with the Lake Wales Police Department to provide "Backpacks of Love" for these students.

Junior Woman's Club President Shelley Clemons shared that the Club is "working hard on this year's Fall Fest to raise more money to expand both programs" so that more people in the community can benefit. This year's event Fall Festival will be held on Saturday, October 14 from 11 a.m.- 4 p.m. at Lake Wailes Park.

The club is a member of the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC), a worldwide women's service organization. For more information about the Grants for Great Ideas program contact Chairperson Katheryn Endicott. To become involved with the Fall Fest fundraiser, including sponsorships, contact Chairperson Mary Walkup. Both can be reached by email at lwjuniorwc@gmail.