Theresa L. Peoples
The feeling of Christmas is felt throughout the whole year by the women in the Robson Ranch Women’s Club. This club has approximately 500 women with hearts as big as Texas. When the club meets, which is the first Monday of each month, there is always a Denton County Charity selected for donations, some of which are the Denton County Food Center, The Friends of the Family, Hearts for Homes, Our Daily Bread and the Refuge for Women. Club members not only contribute with cash donations at meetings but also gave many hours of their time and held two fundraisers to raise over $20,000!
Last summer the RRWC provided 250 snack packs the first day of June, July and August (for a total of 750 packs) to the Friends of the Family to use for the children they shelter during the summer months. Many of the women helped the Service Committee with the call for back-to-school backpacks to be distributed by Friends of the Family. It took two SUVs packed to the brim to deliver all the backpacks and school supplies collected. Our Daily Bread had a dozen or so more volunteers who donated their time to serve the homeless at St. Andrews Church, and the Refuge for Women procured a bookcase filled with 155 books and DVDs to be used by the women in this shelter.
Janet Utzman, organizer of the Charity Committee, said, “The committees did a lot to foster this year’s Women’s Club motto: We have roots, we have growth – together the sky is the limit.” Some other projects that were successfully completed were the making of 35 Christmas wreaths to decorate tables in the Hearts for Homes hall for their annual fundraising banquet. The wreaths were sold to the attendees, and the women helped the Hearts for Homes to generate several thousand dollars. There was a garage sale to help raise money to provide gifts and food for children at Christmas. A clothing drive for working women through Friends of the Family brought in 540 items of clothing, and accessories that were donated. The women of the Charity committee also adopted three families and provided age-appropriate gifts and a basket of food for a wonderful Christmas dinner to those families.
The Women at Robson Ranch enjoy all the amenities their ‘active’ retirement community offers along with being close to their families and grandchildren, but they are also busy forming new friendships and enjoy working together for those who are less fortunate and need help in large and small ways. No matter how young or old, all who participate find that by giving and serving from their hearts they will be provided with returns which are too numerous to count!