DOVER — HAVEN and End 68 Hours of Hunger continue to touch the hearts of GFWC-Dover Area club women each year with the work these local non-profits do for families and children. Each year GFWC-Dover Area Woman’s Club tries to provide a little something extra for their families.

“Our club worked individually to purchase different items to donate,” said Donna Maskwa, co-president. “Weeks of emails between members kept us up to date with all our members’ purchases. On Dec. 13 at our monthly meeting everything came together on Packing Day! We made 15 personal care emergency shelter bags for women and 160 mini treat bags for the kids!”

GFWC-Dover Area is a member of GFWC, an international organization with over 80,000 members in each state and more than a dozen countries. Since 2010 its signature program has been Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention. GFWC has gained a reputation as a powerful force in the fight against domestic violence, providing early support for the Violence Against Women Act and establishing the GFWC Success for Survivors Scholarship, explained Maskwa. In 2014 GFWC gave $20,000 in scholarships to survivors of domestic violence and abuse for post-secondary education to reshape their lives.

“Our emergency shelter bags for HAVEN, delivered before the holidays, contained personal journals, calendars, fuzzy socks, lavender soaps, sanitizing lotions and even facial beauty masks for women,” explained Maskwa. “In addition we bought adult coloring books, kids coloring books, crayons, diapers, dish soap, general shelter supplies, winter hats, canvass bags and over $200 in additional gift cards for Haven staff to distribute as needed.”

In addition, club members also made about 160 vacation treat bags to send home with Dover’s school kids through Dover’s End 68 Hours of Hunger program. GFWC – Dover Area Woman’s Club has taken a monthly shift packing food for kids since the beginning of this program. Treat bags have to be tiny to fit in the packed food bags but the club’s bags still included candy canes, chocolate treats, a bookmark to color and other treats.

“Thank you to our partners at HAVEN and Dover End 68 Hours of Hunger for their fantastic suggestions and support,” concluded Maskwa.

For more information, visit www.facebook.com/thedoverareawomansclub