The women who keep Farmers Branch going

Know Your Community This Spring

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This year's show was themed "Wild About Spring." The style show is the most visible expression of what the club has been doing since 1963 in this inner-ring suburb of Dallas: turning a room full of women into a funding engine for the community around them. Founded on the idea that a small group could do meaningful good, the club has 159 members and awards college scholarships to Carrollton-Farmers Branch ISD seniors each spring while supporting a rotating slate of local nonprofits.

The founding women, said current president Lucy Gore, would recognize what they built.

"I hope they're proud," she said. "I think they are."

Scholarships were a pillar from the very beginning, even when the amounts were modest. "Even when they were giving students one hundred dollars," said Jan Wooldridge, the club's parliamentarian and a member since the mid-2000s, "that was one of the founding missions." The dollar amounts have grown since. What has not changed is the intent.

"It's not for us that we're doing this," Gore said. "It's for others and for the community."

Each year, after the style show, the board divides fundraising proceeds among scholarships and charitable partners. A scholarship committee reviews applications and interviews candidates. Awards typically range from eight to 15, depending on the season's fundraising and the applicant pool.

Beyond scholarships, the club directs donations to local nonprofits chosen by the board each May. This year's recipients are Woven Health Clinic, Metrocrest Services, Firehouse Theatre and The Branch Connection. Members nominate organizations and advocate for them before the board votes.

"This club has its finger on the pulse of Farmers Branch and the North Dallas area," said Adrianne Young, the club's corresponding secretary. "If you go to the Metrocrest luncheon, you'll see lots of women from our club. If you go to the Firehouse gala, you'll see lots of women from our club. Our women are throughout the community doing good work."

In November, the giving gets personal. Members gather for the Jingle Mingle, an informal holiday get-together where they bring toys donated directly to Metrocrest Services. No fundraising. No formal agenda. Just women showing up, the way they always do.

The club sustains its philanthropy through two fundraisers each year. Each fall, members host a Game Day of bingo and mahjong, lunch and a raffle. Each spring, the style show luncheon pairs runway fashion with a silent auction, a raffle and sold centerpieces. Every dollar beyond expenses feeds the scholarship and charitable fund.

Membership dipped during the pandemic but has since rebuilt. The club kept going through COVID-19 via Zoom and creative fundraising without losing sight of its mission. New members must be referred by two existing members and approved by the board, and those without a connection can reach out through the club's website.

One deliberate priority now is recruiting younger women. The membership has historically skewed toward retirement age, and Gore said that is something the club is working to change.

"We would love young professionals," she said. "Women who can see the benefit and the difference they can make even before having a little more time in their lives."

Between meetings, the club runs smaller affinity groups, bridge circles, bunco nights, a "Traveling Gourmets" dining group and an antiques cohort called the Treasure Hunters. Monthly meetings feature guest speakers on topics as varied as North Texas gardening, local art, literature and scam awareness.

Young joined about 13 years ago after friends she knew from a church volleyball league kept inviting her. Working alongside them deepened the relationships.

"When you're shoulder to shoulder working for an event," she said, "you get to know people and understand them better."

Wooldridge was recruited the same way, by friends, as she wound down her career. She has watched the dynamic play out over two decades. Friends bring in friends. They come for the mission and stay for each other. Some, like one member who has passed the century mark in age, never really leave at all.

Back in that banquet room each spring, the runway gets rolled out, the boutique racks go up, and the models take their places. The fashions change every year. The reason they are there does not.

"It's a very loving, welcoming sisterhood," Young said.

For information on membership or to reach club leadership, visit farmersbranchwomansclub.org.

_{Local News Matters.}