Rhode Island

Annual “Spirit of Giving” Essay Contest helps young people learn the joys and benefits of charitable giving
with awards given by GFWC Women’s Club of South County.

Local 6 th Graders write about a 501 (c)(3) charity they want to support, and the Club makes it possible for selected essayists to present a donation to the organization.
Many of the South County schools participate in this program and encourage their 6 th grade students to select a nonprofit charitable organization they would like to support with a donation. Their essays explain what inspired them to choose aparticular charity and Club members select the winners from a large number of submissions, often 200+. Cash awards are given to each student to present to representatives of the charities they write about. The students not only author outstanding essays, but they also read them aloud, articulately and with a passion for the organization they had chosen, before a large group in attendance.
For 2025 students from Broad Rock Middle School (BRMS), Monsignor Clarke School (MCS), and Meadowbrook Waldorf School submitted essays about nonprofit charitable organizations they hoped to support with a $350 donation. Club members selected the winners from 193 submissions, and cash awards of $350 were presented by each student to the representatives of the charities they wrote about.
The General Federation of Women’s Clubs of South County essay judges always enjoy reading the essays submitted by our local sixth grade students. The awards were given to the following students:

                                                 Sophia Misa – Broad Rock Middle School (BRMS)
                                                Her chosen charity was the American Cancer Society.
                                                 Joey Brown – Broad Rock Middle School (BRMS)
                                                        Her chosen charity was Edisia Nutrition.
                                               Florence Thomas – Broad Rock Middle School (BRMS)
                                                    Her chosen charity was Habitat for Humanity.

In addition to receiving donations to present to the charitable groups they selected; the winners were given certificates from the club and $20 gift cards for ice cream to Brickley’s Ice Cream. Their teachers also received a cash donation from the Club for their classrooms. This year’s recipients all happened to be from the same classroom! Congratulations to Broad Rock Middle School!
Honorable mention certificates were also given out to seven other students from Broad Rock Middle School and Meadowbrook Waldorf School.
Essay judges were Terry Schimmel, Jeanne Rago, Linda Hines, Peggy Noble, Rosann Evans, and Mary Finnegan.
The GFWC, Women’s Club of South County is part of an international civic organization where women, “Live the Volunteer Spirit,” by helping people in need in their local communities.