Clubwomen Helping Operation Chillout

By NJSFWC | October 11, 2020

The member clubs of the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs of GFWC (NJSFWC) have been busy helping Operation Chillout, New Jersey’s oldest (and only) all-volunteer mobile outreach for homeless veterans, men and women, and the 2020-2022 NJSFWC Special State Project.

The first project the NJSFWC Clubs helped with was Operation Chillout’s summer collection. With everything happening with the Coronavirus, members couldn’t go out and purchase items so they purchased items from their website, https://operationchillout.org, where they had a registry for donations. Operation Chillout made a deal with ShopRite and Amazon to purchase water, t-shirts and baseball caps at cost. All items cost $10.00. This project ran from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Members are also busy making business card sized notes to accompany the items. According to NJSFWC Special State Project Chairman, Operation Chillout has now met the goal for t-shirts, baseball caps and water.  Members are now also collecting new hooded, zippered sweatshirts for the upcoming cold weather. If you would like to donate a large or extra large sweatshirt order it online from your favorite store and have it delivered to NJSFWC Headquarters, 55 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, or send a check made out to NJSFWC and earmarked sweatshirt. We will purchase it for you.

NJSFWC President, Jan Hanson, said “I’m so pleased with how our clubwomen have embraced this new project. When we ask for anything for our Veterans, they are always quick to respond.”

The NJSFWC, a volunteer, community service organization, was founded in 1894. It is headquartered on the Douglass College campus in New Brunswick, the college the NJSFWC founded in 1918. In 2019, the organization, with a membership of over 6300, reported almost 21,600 community service projects involving over 498,000 volunteer hours and $3.4 million in cash and in- kind donations. The NJSFWC is a member of the General Federation of Women’s Clubs, headquartered in Washington, DC. The GFWC is the largest and oldest women’s volunteer community service organization in the world.

For more information about the NJSFWC and/or membership in a local club, visit www.njsfwc.org or call 732-249-5474.