COMMUNITY

Altrusa Alamogordo Members bids community a fond farewell

Altrusa Alamogordo Members
ALTRUSA International Alamogordo, NM

Altrusa International of Alamogordo, NM Inc. began meeting in 1960 and was officially chartered on Sept. 17, 1962. Over the last 55 years the club has served the Alamogordo community in numerous ways.

We have physically and/or financially supported the following organizations: St John’s Soup Kitchen, Toys for Joy (providing toys and books to children in orphanages in Juarez, Mexico), “Ditty bags” for COPE, Special Olympics, Adult Basic Education/Literacy, ID Finger Printing with the Department of Public Safety, Girl Scouts Zia Council, and emergency pendant monitors for the elderly.

For several years we donated funds every other month to the Wounded Warrior Project and Dr. Korec’s Cancer Center. Our biggest project was the Traveling Literacy Bear, which encouraged all of the children in Alamogordo, Tularosa, La Luz, High Rolls and Cloudcroft elementary schools to read as many books as possible. We rewarded them at the end of each school year. We also proudly offered Scholarships to students attending New Mexico State University-Alamogordo.

The main focus for Altrusa is literacy and we have been very proud of the service we have provided to our community, however, since 2010 our local membership has declined. We almost disbanded in 2016, but after considering our rich history in Alamogordo and the almost 55 years we have had with this chartered club, we were not willing to give it up.

People don't just join Altrusa, you become an Altrusan. ALTRUSA means Altruism in the USA.

We enjoy helping others and love this country. We are united by one theme internationally, “Leaders in Service.” Altrusa provides community service, develops leadership, and fosters an international network of members in diversified career classifications.

We are sad to report that we have continued to lose members and have had to make the difficult decision that we cannot continue.

We are having our last meeting on May 4 at 5:30 p.m. at the 19th Hole Restaurant, 2351 Hamilton Road. We have some funds in our budget to distribute before we officially disband. We are giving checks to the following organizations as a “Thank You” for taking the time to share their cause with us over this last year: The Otero County Boys & Girls Club, the Ultimate Gift of Life Foundation and the Burton Learning Systems.

We would like to thank all of you who helped support us over the years by coming to our Yard sales at the White Sands Mall twice a year, attending the Casino Night we used to host, participating in our Pool Tournaments at Mission Billiards and lastly attending our two “Teas” that we sponsored over the last few years.

We have appreciated your support and it is with great sadness that we say farewell.