Fundraising lunch set for September
PEO Chapter II will be hosting a mahjong luncheon fundraiser on September 21 to benefit the PEO Texas STAR Scholarship for high school girls.
The “Ladies Luncheon and an Afternoon of Mah Jongg” event will be in the Cowan Creek Activity Center in Sun City. Tickets are $25 per person, registration and payment is due by September 7. Email Ronnie Kamka at ronniekamka@gmail.com for more information.
PEO, or Philanthropic Educational Organization, is an international women’s organization that awards educational scholarships and loans to women from all over the world. PEO was founded in 1869 and has awarded approximately $432 million to 125,000 women pursuing a higher education. There are six different PEO Chapters in Georgetown including the PEO Chapter II, which has 39 members.
Ronnie Kamka has been a PEO member for a year and a half and is the new vice president of Chapter II.
“I am very passionate about helping young women,” Ms. Kamka said. “I do this through volunteering with a variety of different organizations, including PEO.”
Amelia Tesering applied for a PEO scholarship in 2021 after hearing about it from a member of her church and received a $2,500 scholarship that year. She now goes to a private Christian liberal arts school in San Diego California.
“This scholarship helped me to afford to go to Point Loma Nazarene,” Ms. Tesering said. “It’s definitely not cheap to go to college, so it was just a big help. There are definitely a lot of extra expenses as you’re moving out of your house and going to school.”
Ms. Tesering said that she has appreciated the support of PEO and continues to send them updates on her journey. She is now set to graduate in May of 2025 with a degree in political science, women’s studies and philosophy. For anyone else thinking of applying for the scholarship, she encourages authenticity when completing the application essay.
“Authenticity will shine through in what you write about. So if you write about something you’re passionate about, people will pick up on that and be inspired to help you further your goals and dreams.”
PEO also offers three other scholarships that are for women who are not current high schoolers. For example, there is a scholarship for women whose college education was interrupted who wish to go back to school.
For more information about scholarship eligibility and to apply, visit www.peointernational.org/educational-support/.