The Altrusa Club of Anaheim recently installed the 2019-2020 board. The members are Leslie Johnson, president; Denice Gilb, 1st vice president; Reon Boydstun Howard, 2nd vice president; directors Kay Spence, Judy Gunderson, Lisa Clark and Pam Krey; Charlene Bowden, recording/corresponding secretary; Beth Pelfrey, treasurer; Patricia Hansmeyer, past president.
Members Leslie Johnson, Maria Hoffman, Denice Gilb and Carol Latham recently attended the 56th Altrusa International Convention in Reno, Nev. They came home with special recognition: Johnson was elected to the Altrusa International Board of Trustees. Latham was honored with the highest award possible in the organization for a member or non-member: the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanitarian Award. Eleanor Roosevelt, who was widely known for her humanitarian efforts, was an Altrusan who continued to be supportive of the organization even after she became First Lady of the United States.
At this convention, Altrusans worked to compile kits for the Children’s Closet and 100 kits for Days for Girls, Altrusa’s International Service Project. Celeste Mergens, founder and chief executive officer of Days for Girls, was one of the convention speakers. Other speakers included Victoria Ransom, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Wildfire, listed as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2012; local Kindness Nina Brian Williams from Think Kindness; and Steve DeVliegar, a cyber fraud specialist.
The 56th convention marks the end of the Altrusa Biennium with International President Leanne Milligan from Te Awamutu, New Zealand, who handed over the gavel to the newly elected 2019-2021 International President, Beverly Hardy of Starke, Fla.
Altrusa Club of Anaheim is part of an international 102-year-old organization of professionals and business people who provide for their communities through volunteer community service. The Anaheim club this year celebrates its 72nd year of providing such services as ROP re-entry scholarships, support for Women’s Transitional Living Center, Pathways of Hope and the HUB of Hope, various literacy projects with the Anaheim Public Library, Anaheim YMCA, Boys & Girls Club and JOYA’s college prep classes and classes for their parents.
The club reached a milestone of over 22,000 blankets delivered through Project Linus and 3,000 blankets to Blankets with Love. They donated over 8,000 recreational and resource books through project Hope Reads to UCI Cancer Center and to date over 5,000 books through the Creative Writing Project and Anaheim Reads. The club has during this fiscal year volunteered over 8,500 hours to community service.
The Anaheim Club is part of District Eleven, which is comprised of California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii, Baja North and South and Sonoma, Mexico. The club meets the fourth Monday of most months at the Holiday Inn & Hotel on Walnut for business, dinner and a program, at 6 p.m.
For more information on Altrusa and their projects, call 714-712-0266, email at altrusaanaheim@gmail.com or visit altrusaanaheimca.org.
