The GFWC – NC Education Community Service Program encourages club women to create learning opportunities for themselves and their communities through volunteerism. For more than a century, education has been a cornerstone of GFWC beliefs and practices. In fact, Jane Cunningham Croly formed the General Federation of Women’s Clubs “to support clubs throughout the nation and further their efforts at providing education, improved working conditions, health care, scholarships, and other reforms.” The GFWC Education Community Service Program works to improve literacy and education awareness in communities at home and around the world.
Clubwomen are dedicated to promoting a commitment to literacy and lifelong learning by:
1903 – Traveling libraries were started in NC. A total of 92 traveling libraries, later known as bookmobiles, were
donated to the State Library Commission.
1930 – Educational pilgrimage of 186 adult women and men night school students to Washington, DC in support
of adult education. Their initial efforts led to the establishment of the Extension Division of the University of
North Carolina.
1965 – Combined with the Sallie Southall Cotten Loan Fund established in 1913, the new Sallie Southall Cotten
Scholarship became an annual four-year renewable scholarship.
2008 – Contributed over $70,000 to the Blue Ridge Parkway Parks As Classrooms Project.