PEO International Sisterhood Gives Women’s Education a Helping Hand

Pat Sasse and Ellen Flynn Giles described the history and mission of the PEO International Sisterhood and its local Chapter AF as guest speakers at a recent Columbia-Patuxent Rotary Club meeting. Ellen is a longtime volunteer and Pat serves as Chapter AF president.

The PEO International Sisterhood was founded in the Midwest in 1869 by seven women as a secret society to motivate, educate and celebrate women. It’s headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, and has about 5,000 chapters around the country. It has awarded $425 million in scholarships over 150 years.

“What makes us special is that we are empowered to help one another,” Pat said. “We consider ourselves as sisters and we band together for whatever we need to do. Many of our sisters are very well-educated and have been very active in the community.”

PEO scholarships include: an Educational Loan Fund - for women to get money for higher education at a 2% interest rate; International Peace Scholars - for women from around the world who come here to continue their education; Continuing Education Scholarships - for women whose education has been interrupted short of completion, and who need support to go back to school; Doctoral Student Awards - providing up to $25,000 scholarships for a woman pursuing a doctoral degree; and Star Scholarships - for high school girls going to college or a certified technical school.

While Chapter AF is always looking for candidates for national and international PEO scholarship programs, it also has set up a Chapter Scholarship Foundation that focuses on Howard County students.

“We want to make sure that we are able to support local young women who have potential, and make sure that they can go on to fulfill that potential,” Ellen explained. The chapter gave two $2,000 scholarships last year and three in the same amount this year. In addition to monetary support, the chapter maintains connection with young women.

“They really appreciate the connection and the ongoing feeling that there's somebody who believes in them,” Ellen said. “When somebody says you're terrific, you're doing really great, it makes a difference … They have a network to come back to, they feel part of this community, and they feel like they're representing us. So that's great.”

Columbia-Patuxent Rotary is the largest and most active of Howard County's seven Rotary clubs. It meets weekly on Friday mornings at 7:30 at JAM Eateries.