Northbrook Woman's Club Foundation fundraises for local nonprofit grants and high school scholarships

The Northbrook Woman's Club/Foundation (NWC/F) hosted its annual fundraising event on Oct. 16, at Sunset Ridge Country Club in Northbrook, with this year's theme "Our Homecoming." The goal of the event was to raise funds for local nonprofit grants and for the 2023 scholarship program for local GBN/GBS students, while hosting an in-person event where members could once again come together since the pandemic.

The NWC/F , a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the community through philanthropy and service, while fostering personal fulfillment through shared interests, has been serving the community since 1955.

"The Woman's Club focuses on philanthropy, social activities, and volunteerism," stated Susan Schueler president of NWC/F. "The social aspect of our organization halted for over two years, so we are thrilled to be together in person again while raising funds for amazing causes and deserving people in our community."

Laurie Shults and Missy DeVries, the benefit's co-chairwomen, chose a theme that was relevant to the local high school homecoming timeframe and theme. The event was complete with a room filled with autumn trees, pumpkin centerpieces, and football décor, and included fundraising elements like football squares, golf spa weekend raffles, and an Autumn Giving Tree.

"We had over 150 members and guests attend, which attests to people wanting to gather and be social again,"stated Shults. "Thanks to the generous support of our guests, we raised over $29,000 which will help families with scholarships for college tuition, help local nonprofits continue to do their work in the community, and help our organization continue to volunteer and assist in other aspects of social responsibility."

Shults has been a member of the NWC/F for many years and has seen first-hand how much the organization helps the community.

"The NWC/F is an amazing group of women, who really care about others," said Schueler. "We have over 180 members of various ages, races, religions, backgrounds and experiences, and we welcome new faces. Some of our members have been with the organization for 20+ years and some have just joined to be a part of social activities and community projects. We are always looking for new members to be a part of this amazing group."

With over 1,000 hours in community service work, the NSW/F volunteer events have included supporting battered women's shelters, feeding food insecure families, delivering meals to the homebound, and providing handmade blankets to the sick and many animal shelters.

NWC/F also recently hosted local community events to help fundraise for college scholarships and local grants. These include:

• Lou Malnati's Dine & Donate on Nov. 15, with 20% of total purchases going back to the Woman's Club.

• Sunset Foods Benefit Day on Nov. 15 and 16, where donations were made based on the purchase amount.

On Dec. 1, the NWC/F will host its annual event the Holiday Boutique at the North Shore Country Club in Glenview. This shopping experience is open for all woman to attend and registration can be found at The Northbrook Woman's Club website, northbrookwomansclub.org. There will be over 15 local businesses and vendors, and 20% of the proceeds will go back to the NWC/F where proceeds will be used to help local programs, scholarships and grants for local nonprofits in 2023.

To date, the NWCF has raised and donated more than $1.4 million for college scholarships and grants to local service organizations. $780,000 of the total went to support families for Northbrook Student Scholarships. Other organizations that have been supported through the NWC/F have included A Safe Place, The Cancer Wellness Center, Center of Enriched Living, Children's Advocacy Center, Connections for the Homeless, Family Service Center, The Glenkirk Foundation, Hunger Resource Network, Irene Josselyn Center for Mental Health, North Shore Senior Center, The North Suburban YMCA, Northfield Township Pantry, and many others.

For information about the Northbrook Woman's Club or to purchase tickets to the Holiday Boutique, contact Kim Nyren at kimfielding@sbcglobal.net or visit www.northbrookwomansclub.org

About the Northbrook Woman's Club/Foundation

Since the club's founding, the Northbrook Women's Club/Foundation has grown from 24 members to more than 180 members with active, new, sustaining or honorary status each one dedicated to preserving our mission: The Northbrook Woman's Club/Foundation is an organization dedicated to supporting the community through philanthropy and service, while fostering personal fulfillment through shared interests.