GFWC-OK La-Kee-Kon Club was organized in 1903 and joined the Indian Territory Federation in 1903. Club members joined the General Federation of Women’s Clubs in 1909.
Founding member Roberta Campbell Lawson served as club president, and later serve in various state positions before becoming GFWC International Vice-President and President. Another founding member, Eva Payne Glass served as local president as well as numerous state positions. Current members Joan Maddox served as State President 2018-2020 and Carroll Craun served as State President 2021-2023
Recent projects include supporting our two-year Community Impact Project. Each member brings one or more books to each meeting where they are collected and donated to our local Boys and Girls Club Birthday Box. The books are placed in age-appropriate boxes at the Boys and Girls Club, and each child picks out a book on their birthday that they may take home.
Funds ($200) were given for the 2024 Elementary School Book Fair to help those children that may not be able to afford to purchase books. In September we participated in the National Day of Service. We brought non-perishable food items as well as monetary donations to our meeting, then distributed them to a mobile food pantry ministry that serves Nowata County.
At Christmas, participating members purchased small items (stocking stuffers) that will fit in a shoebox, suitable for a man or woman, wrap them up and deliver them to the Nowata Senior Citizens Center and the Washington Nowata Community Action Center, where they are given to Senior Citizens for Christmas.
We are working together with our local Nowata Beautification Committee to help them with their community improvement projects, which can be as small as picking up trash to painting a mural. They are a small group as well but do so much for the community that we want to support them with fundraising efforts, labor and donations. Our mission is to help our community be a better, healthier, more positive place to live, and we are always striving to reach that goal, not only for ourselves, but for future generations.