What We Do

Current Programs

The Children’s Wish Drive provides holiday gifts for children in families with financial need. The wish requests are fulfilled by townspeople. All Killingworth families with financial need as well as grandparents who are raising grandchildren are welcome to participate. Starting In 2021, KWO will be expanding the wish program year-round for children in need.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the Children’s Wish Drive can do so online: Donate Today, or can send a check to KWO, PO Box 952, Killingworth, CT 06419 (please indicate Children’s Wish Drive on the check/online).

The 2020 Holiday Children’s Wish Drive was a success! Check back for more details on the ongoing Children’s Wish Drive throughout 2021.

Nancy McCormick, Andrea Frierbauer

One of KWO’s most active committees is the Domestic Violence Awareness & Prevention Committee (DVAP). Our efforts include bringing awareness of the problem, its impact on the community and ways to help through events, panels and various other means. We conduct donation drives to collect funds and items for women and children who are living in safe houses overseen by New Horizons Domestic Violence Services in Middletown and for DV survivors moving into their own homes.

The Killingworth Women’s Organization recognizes that domestic violence is unacceptable and that it is a crime in the state of Connecticut.

One way we raise funds is with our gift card program. Gift cards from local stores and national retail outlets are purchased at a discount and sold at full retail value to members, the Helping Hands food pantry and non-members to cover club expenses.

If interested in purchasing gift cards yourself, use the Shop With Script, fundraising while you shop program to purchase actual or digital gift cards online. Purchasers get the full retail value and by designating KWO as your charity, we get a rebate.

Eileen Blewett

The KWO started providing volunteers for The Helping Hands Food Pantry in the summer of 2020. The pantry was originally created for emergency assistance for those in need of food, but due to increased need, set weekly pickup hours have been added. The pantry also conducts three annual donation drives with holiday baskets given out to those in need.

Kelly Leach Teresa Yocca

Helping Hands Food Pantry Information & Details

This committee honors and archives our history by recording memories of current and past participation through photos, articles, and online posts.

Morgan Nairn

KWO Timeline

A bright red mailbox in the Killingworth Library collects Santa letters in December that are then read and personally responded to by KWO members.

Santa’s mailbox was at the Killingworth Library November 27-December 16, 2020. Santa hopes to hear from the children of Killingworth in 2021.

Morgan Nairn, Laura Traver

Each year, a generous dollar amount is set aside to give a worthy, community-minded Killingworth woman (or women) a scholarship as she graduates from high school and heads towards higher education. Criteria include community service, letters of recommendation and an essay topic that we choose each year. Watch for this year’s form beginning in February.

Barbara Sleight

2021 Scholarship Guidelines and Application

2021 Scholarship Application (Editable)

This project is a year-round effort that sends care packages to local service members as well as their families.

Amanda Brackett, Morgan Nairn

Birthdays and special occasions are recognized with cards by this committee.

Christen Riedy

KWO organizes a community tag sale in the parking lot of the elementary school. Individuals and vendors register to purchase a sales spot, sell their wares and keep the proceeds of their sales. KWO sets up their own sales tables stocked with items donated for sale; KWO keeps the proceeds from those sales. The sale is an opportunity to clean up clutter and turn it into dollars for a good cause, while providing the community a venue for high visibility sales.

Proceeds from registration fees and items donated to the KWO for sale benefits our Scholarship Fund.

Andrea Friebauer, Genie Dethloff

An annual event that provides a safe place for young children to trick or treat with decorated cars and trunks full of candy.

On a first come, first served basis, we fill the Middle School parking lot with cars that have their trunks full of candy! It’s an amazing way to bring the community together while providing a safe way for local children to “Trick or Treat”. With so many cars, the kids can’t help but walk away with tons of treats.

Barbara Sleight, Heather Temple

This committee is planning events to celebrate this centenial.

Nancy McCormick

View Gallery Here

Standing Committees

Responsibilities include ensuring by-laws are maintained, followed and decisions are made in the best interest of the organization. This committee also determines members who are interested in running for officer positions in the upcoming year and presenting them to the Governance Chair.

Kelly Leach, Andrea Friebauer

This committee recruits and educates new members, collects dues and organizes all member-sponsored events.

Sandy Allard, Donna Fornall

This committee is responsible for ensuring all organization events are well publicized though media outlets including articles, calendars, advertisements, the KWO website & social media. We strive to make the KWO website as informative, up to date and user friendly as possible. Updates allowing for online membership and event registration & payments, and dynamic member forms are some of our recent changes.

Genie Dethloff, Janet Colandrea

Ways and means is responsible for ensuring enough monies are raised to cover club expenses, donations and our scholarship.

Past Programs

The Earth Day Library Fundraiser is held every spring, usually on the last Saturday of April. It is a fundraiser for the Killingworth Library, with a committee consisting of members of the KWO, the library and Chatfield Hollow Inn and Farm. Chatfield Hollow Inn and Farm hosts it as a community event with local vendors, organizations, authors and craftspeople that can present ideas on nature and sustainability practices. To add to the festivities, there are games for kids, music and food.

Christen Riedy, Heather Temple, Donna Fornal

Relay for Life of Haddam Killingworth, held annually, is a non-competitive, community fundraising event to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society.

The idea of fighting cancer speaks for itself. Our primary missions for the event are to raise as much money as possible for the cause, (click here for the Relay for Life home page) and to come together as a group. The H-K Relay team has continuously been one of the top fundraisers in the area. We are proud of our past accomplishments and are honored to be a part of such a momentous event.

Postcards are sent to new residents that contain a welcome message and information regarding the Killingworth Women’s Organization information and meeting times.

Sandy Allard