Hampstead Women’s Club raises funds for scholarships, seniors and so much more.
Tucked away in Hampstead just off Highway 17, a grey brick building hosts a mighty collection of women who have met community needs since 1959.
Originally known as the N.C. Homemakers Extension Club, Hampstead Women’s Club operates a thrift shop, donates to various community needs, provides college scholarships and is a fun place for local women to gather.
“We donate $35,000 to $45,000 back to the community each year,” says Vice President Diane Mangus. “Donations are made to local food banks, school projects, scholarships, the library, the Topsail Senior Center, Lump to Laughter, Save a Vet, Alzheimer’s Association, Wounded Warriors, Carousel Center, Lake Linda’s Christmas Lights, Safe Haven and many more.”
The Women’s Club building hosts the Thrift Shop and a large event space that’s available for rent.
The Thrift Shop has four generous rooms of men’s, women’s and children’s clothing, games, books, household items and home decor. Volunteers sort, price and display items for sale, and the shop is open weekly from 9 am to 3 pm (it’s closed on Wednesday and Sunday).
“We have 40 members and are always looking for more volunteers to process donations in the shop and help with special projects,” Mangus says. “Donations may be dropped off during business hours or placed in the donation bin after hours.”
The banquet room can be the perfect place for a small get together or large formal event. With the capacity of 140 guests, the venue hosts family parties, wedding receptions, showers, special events and meetings. Adjacent to the room is a full-service kitchen and two smaller meeting rooms.
The club opened the Thrift Shop in 1989 to provide funds for the maintenance and upkeep of the community building and to make donations to other organizations. A year later, the club became a nonprofit organization.
In 1991 a scholarship program was established to support local high school seniors seeking higher education. More than $175,000 has been awarded in scholarships.
The scholarship recipients for 2021 were Michael Erickson, a computer science major at North Carolina State University; Makayla Obremski, an elementary education major at East Carolina University’ Luke Anders, a political science major at Wake Forest University; and Jon Siemon, a mechanical engineering major. The 2022 students were Nicole Coursey, environmental policy and management major at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Julien Mouney, also at UNC-CH and majoring in physical therapy; Drew Jones, a public relations and strategic communications major at High Point University; Ryan Garmendiz, a criminal justice major at Guilford College; and Isabella Cogan, a biology and mathematics major at North Carolina State University. Each student received $2,000 from the club.
While the Thrift Shop may be the most visible part of the Hampstead Women’s Club, club members are busy serving many others, especially senior citizens. That service began when the community building was used twice weekly by the Senior Citizens Services of Pender County to provide a hot meal to local senior citizens. With funds from the thrift shop, the Hampstead Women’s Club supported the cost of providing and maintaining a nutrition site for this program and volunteers served meals and organized craft classes, holiday parties and games.
The Topsail Senior Center came about in part thanks to the club. The Women’s Club opened a building fund for a new senior center by depositing 25 percent of the Thrift Shop profits into the fund each month until the Senior Center opened in 1996. The club continues to support senior citizens with annual donations. They remain active throughout the year providing bags of food for seniors who receive Meals on Wheels and fixing a Thanksgiving meal for seniors.
Want to join?
Hampstead Women’s Club
Annual membership dues in Hampstead Women’s Club are $15. Memberships are open to men and women as both volunteers or as social members. In addition to their outreach efforts, the club hosts a Christmas Bazaar, a volunteer luncheon each spring and has regular member events including the popular Bingo games.
For more information and to contact the event center, see hampsteadwomensclub.com/
