Ashley Hunter
ECB Publishing, Inc.
At the monthly meeting of the Monticello Woman's Club on Tuesday, Jan. 14, the club was visited by a special guest, Nan Baughman.
A outreach counselor with the Jefferson County Refuge House, Baughman was present in order to receive funds which club members had gathered during a recent period of collection.
According to Monticello Woman's Club President Dianne Braren, members of the club had spent the last several months collecting and purchasing gift cards to be donated to the local refuge house.
With the goal of helping and protecting women who have escaped from homes with domestic violence and abuse, the refuge house uses gift cards in order to enable the women under their protections to purchase groceries, toiletries and other needed items.
Baughman told Woman's Club members at the January 14 meeting that frequently, women who have fled from their abusive homes are not able to bring even the most common items with them.
Frequently, these brave women will leave behind personal items, clothing, their children's diapers and other needed supplies in order to seek refuge from their abusive partners.
In addition to the gift cards and funds, the Jefferson County Refuge House will network with local people, organizations and groups in order to find other items for the women.
Baughman spoke of a recent scenario where the community supplied a washing machine and dryer for a women who needed those appliances.
After a club-luncheon of spaghetti, salad and cheesecake, the Woman's Club presented Baughman with the gift cards that had been collected by club members over the last three months.
The gift cards, which were for Walmart, Publix and Dollar Tree, totaled to $285.
“[Baughman] gets involved in everything that's a worthy cause,” concluded Braren.
In addition to other local causes, such as the Jefferson County Humane Society and 4-H Cherry Lake Summer Camp scholarships, the Jefferson County Refuge House is one of the organizations which the local Woman's Club has sponsored and supported for several years.
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