Health & Wellness

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​GFWC Meadowlarks are addressing the issue of Irlen's Syndrome.
Irlen's Syndrome is a little known but fairly common, visual perception disorder manifested by sensitivity to light and difficult reading. It appears in 65% of individuals with traumatic brain injury of insult (concussion, stroke, etc) and 30-35% of children with ADHD or Autism. It is not diagnosed in regular eye exams because it is not a structural defect in the eye, but rather how the brain interprets what the eye is seeing. The Meadowlarks want to bring a heightened awareness of this syndrome within our community and in particular, the ladies want to make reading fun because those who struggle with this syndrome tend to avoid it. 2 women became certified screeners and have already screened 17 people. Additional women are in the certification process. 2 volunteers 42 volunteer hours

​The Women's Club of Sweetwater Count donated $425 to the local Alzheimer's walk. In addition the women donated a raffle prize basket and participated in the walk itself. The team of ladies handed out flowers to signify all the different ways that individuals are involved in the fight against this devastating disease. 8 volunteers 25 volunteer hours

The Women's Club of Sweetwater county maintain a "lending closet" of durable medical equipment. The closet accepts donations of equipment such as walkers, wheelchairs and other durable devices. The closet then lends these to people in the county who may need the equipment for short-term use for themselves or visiting friends or relatives. 3 volunteers 133 volunteer hours

​​The Yoder Women's club held a class on Colon Cancer. The knowledgeable tech discussed the how, why and when. Everyone should have a screening by the age of 45. Colon cancer is known as the "silent killer". Colon cancer is second to lung cancer in the number of fatalities due to cancer.

​The women's Club of Sweetwater County held a 10 minute class prior to their membership meeting to introduce their members to the benefit of yoga. Members were instructed on proper stretching, breathing and meditations to create and maintain healthier lifestyle. 21 Volunteers / 2.5 Hours

​A $250 donation was made by the Women's Club of Sweetwater County to a local home set up to house out of town cancer patients and their families who come to the Rock Springs Cancer center for treatment.​

The Women's club of Sweetwater County donated $200 to the local emergency room. Often a patient's clothing is damaged in an accident. This donation helps provide articles of clothing to replace those that have been damaged. 

​To address the issue of food insecurity in their community, The Women's Club of Sweetwater County took up a collection of non-perishable food items at their general membership meeting. The women also setup collection boxes around the community. All food items were given to the local soup kitchen. $50 in cash was donated as well as $500 in-kind donations.
10 volunteers / 10 volunteer hours

​The Women's Civic League of Cheyenne collected coffee, coffee filters and coffee creamers to donate to Recover Wyoming.
Recover Wyoming is a non-profit organization that provides services to people seeking recovery from substance abuse.
Recover Wyoming assists an average of 210 clients a month.

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​The Wyoming Past Presidents' Club donated $100 to Shot@Life Measles Vaccination Project. The incidence of measles is on the rise in the United States and around the world. It is difficult to receive the vaccination is many parts of the world.. This donation will help reach some of those difficult areas.

Meetings can be boring. A fun activity of line dancing at the State Conference during the officer induction party was a great way to end 2 ½ days of meetings and reports and workshops. The State conference committee worked on having a fun event in line with the incoming President's logo of the wagon wheel. With the wagon wheel theme they brought in a local dance instructor to teach the ladies how to line dance. After dinner our instructor arranged three different line dances that she had the attendees up and learning. This was a very fun event and much appreciated after sitting for the conference, eating, and celebratory drinking. The instructor emphasized the importance of activity. She showed how even low impact activity such as the line dancing can be beneficial at any age. The ladies were delighted to be able to have fun while "working out". There were more than 40 women attending the banquet for officer induction. All were members of Wyoming GFWC clubs. 4 volunteers 10 volunteer hours 20 volunteer hours of fun!

Irlen's Syndrome is a little known but fairly common, visual perception disorder manifested by sensitivity to light and difficult reading. It appears in 65% of individuals with traumatic brain injury of insult (concussion, stroke, etc) and 30-35% of children with ADHD or Autism. It is not diagnosed in regular eye exams because it is not a structural defect in the eye, but rather how the brain interprets what the eye is seeing. The Meadowlarks want to bring a heightened awareness of this syndrome within our community and in particular, the ladies want to make reading fun because those who struggle with this syndrome tend to avoid it. 17 people were screened for Irlen's Syndrome by Nancy Kaufman and Laurie Pessetto, both certified Irlen Screeners. Referrals came from professionals and word of mouth Each individual was screened privately in a location of their choice. At least one parent was present if the client was a minor. Screenings took 1-1 ½ hours each. Referrals were made to a Diagnostician in 4 cases and filters were given to the clients in 11 cases All 17 people screened were impacted, including family and friends who may be screened in the future as awareness spreads. 2 clients received therapeutic glasses after seeing the Diagnostician. In both cases, a profound improvement in reading and lifestyle was noted. For one, migraine headaches disappeared, night driving became possible, and on-line learning became easier-tasks could be accomplished in a standard time-frame.