Monday, March 31, 2008

Living year round on Cape Cod by Mary Higgins

Living year round in Chatham was the “dream come true” once we made the move….time for new friends and activities. Each person’s timetable for joining clubs and activities will be different.

My first stop was the CHATHAM WOMAN’S CLUB, a great organization for meeting friends and becoming involved with others. This organization was 93 years old in 2008 and is “more vigorous than ever with 195 members.” The stated purpose of the women who met in 1915 was ”to broaden and strengthen the moral, social and intellectual life of its members and to be through them a power for good in the community. The club is a member of The General Federation of Woman’s Clubs, a non-denominational women’s volunteer service organization, founded in 1890 and located in Washington, D.C.

The club has 5 Departments: Arts, American Heritage, Conservation, Literature and Legislature. Serving in any of these departments, attending the meetings scheduled from October through May, and taking part in fund raising to support our scholarship fund are enough to keep most anyone as busy as they like.

For more information, visit the club’s website at www@chathamwomansclub.org.



The Cape Cod Hospital Auxiliary is another great organization to work with. The Auxiliary has been in existence for 63 years. The mission statement is “to promote and expand Cape Cod Hospital facilities and services to the highest quality through volunteerism and philanthropy.”

After World War ll, the Auxiliary had grown substantially in size and the neighborhood groups were formed geographically. They currently consist of four branches (Barnstable, Yarmouth Port, Orleans and Chatham).

Branch meetings are held monthly (September through May) in order to plan fund raisers such as fashion shows, bridge parties, raffles, craft fairs bake sales, a Holly Berry bazaar, a golf tournament and others. To branches continue to sew, one by making comfort pillows for surgical patients, and the other to make puppets for the pediatric patients, plus knitting baby caps for the 1,000 newborns who arrive annually at Cape Cod Hospital.

Currently, we are engaged in the largest pledge to date: $1.5 mullion to the Cardiac Care Center. When the current pledge is completed, the total raised by the Hospital Auxiliary will be in excess of $6,900,000.

Opportunities exist for volunteers to work with the Auxiliary Gift Shop, Auxiliary Thrift Shop and in the Hospital itself. Members of the Auxiliary are hard working, dedicated volunteers. Whether you are a member of a branch contributing hours at one of the two shops, or even participating in both activities, the camaraderie among the group is unsurpassed and all consider it a labor of love, for there is no reward other than one’s own satisfaction.

If you are interested in becoming a member of the Cape Cod Auxiliary, please call the Cape Cod Hospital volunteers Office at 508-862-5259.


For Real Estate information please call 508-737-9024 or visit my website www.maryjhiggins.com


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