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WCOP September 18, 2008
Pittsford’s Rayson-Miller American Legion Post #899 presented a "Red, White and Blue Award" to the Women’s Club of Pittsford for their outstanding efforts to promote Americanism through their support of our nation’s military members and their families. The efforts of the WCOP exemplifies the highest standards of dedication and determination, leading by example to their community, friends and neighbor’s the true meaning of being an American. Jennie Miller, Commander of Rayson-Miller Post #899, presented the award, also in attendance was Vice Commander Bill Rahn, whose wife, Pat, is the new president-elect of the WCOP. Commander Miller was also the guest speaker for the meeting.
The "Red, White and Blue Award Program" recognizes individuals, organizations, business, and industries, other than The American Legion and its members or its associated organizations, for promoting Americanism through action. This is The American Legion’s way of saying "Thank You" to those citizens who are showing that they are proud to be an American.
The Women's Club of Pittsford is a non-profit voluntary organization dedicated to charitable, civic and educational purposes and was founded in February 1984.
Meetings are held monthly at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center in Pittsford, 3750 Monroe Avenue from September to June.
WCOP will celebrate its 25th Anniversary as a club in February 2009. All women from Pittsford and surrounding towns are welcome to join at any time.
The Ladies who spearheaded the projects for which WCOP was recognized are Bridget Kolano for the Girl Scout Cookie Project, Nancy Schoenberger for the Coupon Project, and Laura DeRoin for the "Sew Much Comfort" project. A brief description follows:
- The Girl Scout Cookie Project- this annual event has been in progress now for five (5) years. This endeavor involves the donation and/or purchase of Girl Scout cookies by members, which are then brought to a central location – usually a WCOP member’s home. Upon completion of collection they are then sorted and boxed for shipment. These shipments also include various other items to aid in the support of the morale of our troops and include such items as newspapers and candy. To date there have been approximately 1,500 boxes of Girl Scout cookies shipped overseas to our troops in Iraq.
- The COUPON PROJECT provided support not only to our military troops but to their families as well. WCOP members collected coupons for food and personal items to scheduled meetings, where they were then cut and sorted for distribution to families of deployed military members. Exceptionally useful for military families who shop at their Post or Base Commissaries, which accept most types of coupons as part of purchase transactions in accordance with the terms and conditions stated on a coupon and those located in foreign overseas areas will accept coupons up to six months after the expiration date stated on a coupon. Thus far, the COUPON PROJECT has donated a minimum of $1,200 in coupons to families of deployed troops.
- The "Sew Much Comfort" Project, new at one (1) year old has WCOP members acquiring new tee shirts and adapting them for use by wounded military members. Sew Much Comfort is a non-profit charitable organization that provides adaptive clothing free of charge to support the unique needs of our injured service members from all branches of the military and national guard. Adaptive clothing accommodates the medical devices and situations, provides ease of use, increases personal independence and minimizes the visual impact of the medical condition. Recovery becomes more comfortable both physically and emotionally. Medical personnel and service members are provided the ability to have ready access to their injuries by utilizing the adaptive openings in these adapted clothing items. Specially designed clothing also permits easy access during exams and physical therapy, as well as facilitating the difficult process of the injured service member in dressing themselves in their everyday life. WCOP has chosen to adapt tee shirts, which involves disassembling each tee shirt to sew Velcro into a seam so that a shirt can then be put on and removed without having to lift the arms. At present, WCOP is committed to providing 50 adapted tee shirts to wounded troops by June 2008, but expects to complete at least 150 during the remainder of the year. (http://www.sewmuchcomfort.org/)
