Scrapbooks and memorabilia showcasing 100 years of philanthropic service by the Whitefish PEO Chapter D were on display Aug. 18 as members celebrated the chapter’s centennial.

PEO — Philanthropic Educational Organization — has been a constant and faithful presence in the Flathead Valley since 1915. The Kalispell PEO Chapter C organized in May that year, and Whitefish followed suit, organizing its chapter on Aug. 18, 1915.

Since the PEO Sisterhood was founded in 1869 by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College, the heart of the organization has been to make a difference in the lives of women by providing educational grants, scholarships and loans. It’s a mission that is dear to the members of the Whitefish chapter.

“What I value the most about PEO is its boundless pursuit of promoting the advancement of women of all ages and races to further their education so they can make a difference in their lives and the lives of others,” Chapter D member Vera Smith said. “The impact our highly successful fundraising has on the lives of women is palpable.”  

Ronnie Budge of Chapter D pointed out how the organization gives a local scholarship each year to a graduating senior from Whitefish High School.

“I’ve served on that committee several times and am always amazed at just how smart kids are these days and the subjects that are taught to them and how far they have gone in their careers,” Budge said. “One of the reasons I joined is that I was an only child and always longed for a sister, and as I told them once, now I have more than I can count!”

Chapter C now has 46 members, but in the beginning, finding and retaining PEO members was a challenge, according to member Claire Strickler, who compiled the club’s history.

“The idea for a chapter in Whitefish came when Catherine Goodell was visited by a former school chum from Milwaukee who was always wearing a great big star,” Strickler noted in her written account. The PEO star emblem in those days was four times bigger than the current star.

About that same time, Leah Groene of Whitefish visited Kansas and found her girlhood friends enthused about the new philanthropic organization, according to Strickler. So Goodell and Groene collaborated to find six more women — a club needed a minimum of eight members — and started Chapter D.

In early years the chapter had difficulty retaining members because several of the women moved away. Strickler found a notation in the organization’s early minutes that stated: “After struggling for almost four years we were still back to our original number of eight, but with every prospect for a growing and enthusiastic chapter.”

Chapter D President Mary Haase said one of the chapter’s biggest annual fundraisers is the sale of pecans raised in Georgia. A silent auction held during the group’s spring luncheon is another fundraiser.

“We contribute a portion of the money we make to each of PEO’s projects,” Haase said. “Every year we try to up our giving.”

The PEO Sisterhood maintains six projects, including the Educational Loan Fund, International Peace Scholarship, Program for Continuing Education, Scholar Awards, STAR Scholarship and Cottey College, an independent liberal arts and sciences college for women in Nevada, Missouri, owned and operated by the PEO Sisterhood since 1927.

Membership to PEO is by invitation only. Once a potential candidate is sponsored, she may be invited to join.

“We are a varied group of women,” Budge said. “Many have been teachers or have had other professions and have lived abroad, so have had that experience to share and we all have something in common is so many ways. Much love abounds and we are there for each other if someone needs help.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.