Puyallup Valley Altrusa club promotes literacy, community service

The Puyallup Valley Chapter of Altrusa has played an active part in the life of Puyallup since the club was chartered June 9, 1948.

The summer of 2017 will find Altrusa International celebrating its 100th anniversary, with more than 380 chapters in 13 countries. The focus of Altrusa has always been to promote literacy and provide community service. Eleanor Roosevelt was an Altrusan whose efforts exemplify our ideals.

Each chapter chooses how it will promote literacy and community service. The Puyallup group gives new books to Stewart Elementary first-graders three times a year: before Christmas vacation, before Spring Break and before summer vacation. The children are thrilled to receive their own books as we invest in the future of our youngest citizens. We also encourage continuing education through our scholarship program, when we award four academic scholarships to local high school seniors each spring. Additionally, we offer one scholarship for an adult community member interested in pursuing or continuing their education in an accredited nursing program.

We work for our community! We provide duffel bags and suitcases for children in local foster homes, we support the Puyallup Playcare Center and the local women’s shelter. We beautify our community with our participation in the Adopt-a-Garden program by maintaining the garden located at Meridian and 7th Ave. We also help other Altrusa chapters with their projects and programs.

One of the community programs we most enjoy is preparing and serving dinner twice a year for the participants of the Love and Logic Parenting Classes. The program is run by the Puyallup Family Support Center at MultiCare in conjunction with the Puyallup School District. We not only prepare and serve dinner to the participating children and parents but also let each child choose a book and stuffed animal “reading buddy” to take home.

Altrusa is open to any woman interested in serving her community in a meaningful way. Our meetings are the first and third Mondays of the month at the Highlands Community Center off Meridian Ave. Contact Sherry Haviland at 253-312-5366 or s.haviland1@comcast.net if you would like to learn more about what we do and how we do it. We would love to meet you.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 11:46 AM with the headline "Puyallup Valley Altrusa club promotes literacy, community service."