Since the Oklahoma Christian Women’s Association began in 1955, it has contributed more than $1 million to the university and continues to plan event and fundraisers to better the school.
The current coordinator for this group, Lauren Tallon, said she always enjoys her time with the ladies.
“They put on fundraisers throughout the year to raise money for Oklahoma Christian,” Tallon said. “At the end of each school year they pull all their funds together and then different departments can request funds from OCWA and then the OCWA women decide who they want the funds to go to.”
OCWA has provided funding for many different endeavors, including the revamping of the chairs in Hardeman Auditorium — a $4,000 project.
“They gave the music department $4,000 to buy new dresses and menswear for the chorale,” Tallon said. “Also, the alumni department funds First Night for the freshman and so OCWA fund-raised and gave money towards bibles for that. So all the new freshmen get bibles for free.”
Tallon said there are several different chapters for the Oklahoma Women’s Association.
“All these different chapters do their own fundraiser,” Tallon said. “Tonight [Thursday] the Memorial Road chapter is having a chili supper night and that is usually one of their biggest fundraisers. They also do a big garage sale in the barn at OC which they do in the fall and they raise a lot of money with that. We also do a pecan fundraiser which I think that was back in November.”
Dot Maple is the president this year and said she enjoys her job.
“I love being apart of it,” said Maple. “When I worked I didn’t get to be involved in it, but I love being a part of it. I have three sons that graduated from Oklahoma Christian so it is a part of me. I really love raising funds so they can have the things that they normally could not afford.”
Maple said the association is always looking for new members.
“As generations come in we have more members and we love younger members, we need them because they have fresh ideas.” Maple said. “We have a lot that have become members that also work on campus, which is really exciting because they take time from their office hours to come and help and so it is a good organization.”
Joanne North is a longtime member of OCWA and is active within the organization.
“I love students and I love OC and I think it is a great project,” North said.
According to North, the group went through several name changes throughout the years.
“It used to be called Stepping Stones originally, back when Dr. Baird was president then when [the school was] OCC,” North said.
Many parents send care packages to students that the organization puts together. The most recent care package was the Valentines Day balloons and gift.
“Some of the things that I handle myself is that we do student packages and so we get emails from parents and they can order a care package for their student,” Tallon said. “For example, we did the Valentines packages last week. We also do birthday cakes and all these different kind of things to help parents who live far away and they can’t be here for their students birthday and so we help them out by sending them a care package.”
The group continues their fundraising efforts for various events across campus. For more information on their association, or to contact OCWA, visit the website.
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