Staff Reports
A drive-thru food drive to benefit the Community Pantry is being sponsored by an international organization at the Red Rock Elementary School parking lot at 1305 Redrock Dr. from 12:00 pm-3:00 pm Nov. 13.
Non-perishable food items such as canned goods, dried pasta or beans, etc. and checks made out to “The Community Pantry” will be accepted.
This food drive is sponsored by P.E.O. Chapters C & T.
P. E. O. stands for Philanthropic Educational Organization which bears the motto “Women helping women reach for the stars.” P.E.O. is an international group that helps women with their education. Established on Jan. 21, 1869, it was founded by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Over time it expanded to include women off campus and its membership has come to encompass more than half a million women in the U. S. and Canada.
As of April 2021, P.E.O. has awarded:
Educational Loan Fund dollars totaling $229.5 million
- International Peace Scholarships totaling $43.5 million
- Program for Continuing Education grants totaling $65.1 million
- Scholar Awards totaling $30.1 million
- P.E.O. STAR Scholarships (for exceptional high school seniors) totaling $14.9 million.
New Mexico offers assistance to women through the New Mexico State Scholarship, the Delilah Williams Scholarship, the Jean Boswell Scholarship and the Francine Neff Scholarship.
Grant, loan and award recipients need not be members of P.E.O. With the exception of international students who receive International Peace Scholarships, each recipient is sponsored by a P.E.O. chapter.
The international website is peointernational.org and the New Mexico website is nmpeo.org/nmpeo.
