GFWC Women's Club of South County Awards Scholarships

The GFWC Women’s Club of South County makes dreams come true, according to Gabrielle Mowry of North Kingstown. Mowry is the recipient of one of the club’s scholarships supporting the continuing education of South County women with limited financial and educational opportunities. She will use her award of $4,000 to pursue a degree in nursing. “I always wanted to be a nurse and liked helping others,” she says. She loved math and science classes as a young student, but she was not ready to study nursing after high school. Fortunately, she has been given another chance. This fall she will finish the prerequisites, and in the spring she will enter Rhode Island College’s nursing program with the club’s financial help. She is excited, in part because she has the chance to give her three-year-old daughter Kiley a good life and at the same time to serve as a role model for Kiley, just as Mowry’s mother, a nurse and single mother, did for her.

Rachael Rooney of Westerly has also received a $2,000 scholarship from the Women’s Club of South County. Rooney is pursuing a degree in secondary education and biology at the University of Rhode Island in Kingston and hopes after graduation to teach science in middle school. Rooney, who was having a hard time financially, left college six years ago. She tried supporting herself through various jobs, including one as a coffee shop barista and another as a nanny. After some time and soul searching, she realized that she wanted a career in which she could make a difference in someone else’s life. Working as a nanny had convinced her that she wanted “to be with children and educate them.” To “give back” to her community in this way, Rachel realized she needed a college education.

The GFWC WCSC Scholarship Fund was established in 1997. Application forms and instructions are posted each January on the club’s website: www.gfwcri.org, select South County. The deadline for submission falls in April. For more information, contact Kim A. Hanson at kimahanson@southctycomm.com.

The GFWC WCSC is a 501 (c) 3 (nonprofit) organization. Its next membership meeting will be held on 26 September at 12:00 noon at the Narragansett Community Center. To find out more about this dedicated service club, please join us. Our organization, comprised of women who “live the volunteer spirit,” invites and welcomes new members.