OAKHURST – Helping One Woman (HOW) is best known for being a champion for women who are going through difficult times. But a few months ago the Oakhurst chapter of HOW did something completely different.
Local volunteer fire department auxiliaries were recently honored and delighted to receive generous donations from the HOW organizers.
HOW is a nonprofit women’s organization that has a monthly dinner to honor a woman who has suffered devastating loss. Each guest puts $10 in a bowl. At the end of dinner the money is gifted to the woman being honored. Another woman is then chosen from suggestions of the guests to be honored with the next month’s dinner.
At their October meeting, the HOW participants had no nominee to be the recipient of ther generosity, so they chose to divide their funds between local volunteer fire department auxiliaries.
With the ravaging fires of 2014 still fresh on their minds, the HOW ladies chose these important organizations, which provide support and equipment for local volunteer fire stations.
“There has been an incredible outpouring in our community to support the victims of our fires,” say HOW organizers. “We have chosen to support our own volunteer fire stations – in Oakhurst, Ahwahnee, Bass Lake, Cedar Valley and North Fork. We are very excited to be able to do this.”
Former HOW team leader Jodi Dillon says the Oakhurst chapter contacted the founders of HOW, and received their blessing for this project.
“This is not something we typically do, but since we had just been through these fires, it was on everybody’s mind,” says Jodi.
For more information, visit the Oakhurst HOW on Facebook.
Tonight, Wednesday, Feb. 18, HOW honors Carol Cardinale at El Cid restaurant in Oakhurst. Carol is a hard working local business owner and faithful single mother. In November her 18-year-old daughter, Sophia, lost her life in a traffic accident on Highway 41. Her son, Elias, survived the accident, but has entered a long road to recovery both physically and emotionally. When we gather to surround Carol and her family on the 18th, we do it to not only give them a cash gift to help with extreme medical bills, but also to show them that they are not alone in the grief and healing process. Bring your smiles and support to this benefit dinner.
