This fiscal year, Mission Beach Women’s Club gave $39,000 to 19 nonprofits groups with $5,500 going to Big Animals for Little Kids for new costumes worn by the group when visiting children in hospitals; $4,500 to the Center for Community Solutions, a local safe house for abused women; and $3,000 to Mission Bay High School Band Boosters toward the band’s trip to Japan. The 19 nonprofits represent groups that benefit women, children, veterans, disabled people, and domestic animals.
Cordelia Mendoza, the 64th president of the Mission Beach Women’s Club, pointed out that the current membership of 85 women continue the legacy of the club, with the mission dedicated to educational enrichment, to community service, and to provide social opportunities.
This year marks the club’s 93rd anniversary. “I follow in the footsteps of some amazing women,” Mendoza said. “It all started on Nov. 4, 1926, when a group of 10 women gathered in a Mission Beach home and organized the club. One of my efforts as president is to celebrate the history of the club and its clubhouse, which is also a venue for weddings, events, parties, and meetings on Santa Clara Point in one of the earliest houses built in Mission Beach. Venue and parking space rentals along with our fundraising efforts each year allow the club to give to many nonprofits. Another way we give back to the community is offering the venue to non-profit groups at no charge.”
In addition to the nonprofit grants, the club shipped 150-plus boxes packed with personal items for the Support our Soldiers Holiday gift boxes, which are sent overseas to women soldiers. And this December, the club will once again hold an Adopt A Family/Adopt a Foster Teen program. “Our members all take part by purchasing and making sure each families’ wish lists are fulfilled,” Mendoza said.
The club’s executive board and foundation board are made up of 17 women, along with the membership, who keep the clubhouse maintained, keep rentals going, run the club’s other functions, including the philanthropy’s vetting of non profits, social media, overseeing the various members’ committees, and preserving the history of the club. The club also throws fun into the mix with various club parties throughout the year and with its book club, walking group, lunch bunch, and other fun activities.
The deadline for nonprofit organizations to apply for funds for the 2019-20 fiscal year is Oct. 31. Applicants may go to mbwc.org to fill out the form online.