By Felix Hoover

For YourNewsColumbus.com

Posted 05-24-09

 

 

Fun raising and fundraising go hand in glove for members of the Girl Friends, a national organization of African-American women.

 

The group is maintaining a busy schedule of tours, luncheons and a black-tie affair during its stay in Columbus.

 

Girl Friends was started in 1927 by four women who wanted to maintain their friendship after they left college. It was incorporated in 1938. Mostly a social organization, it still has a strong charitable component that raises money for college scholarships.

 

On Friday, May 22, the board of directors of the Girl Friends Fund Inc. presented a scholarship benefit at the Columbus Hilton at Easton.

 

If the theme was ever in doubt -- posters of the Temptations and Shirelles and Sixties album centerpieces were clues -- the matter was settled when board members donned feather boas and carried inflatable microphones as they danced their way to the dais for "Celebrating 50 Years of Motown."

 

The serious part is that the fund usually raises about $50,000 a year "to provide financial assistance to worthy students actively seeking higher education," said Board President Carole Temple Phillips of Brooklyn, N.Y. said. The money goes to African-Americans and other underprivileged groups, she said. Recipients receive a stipend for four years, as long as they maintain sound academic standing.

 

Girl Friends is an invitational organizaton and the luncheon is its only public event, Phillips said.

 

Robin Leach Harris, also of the Brooklyn chapter, was experiencing her first conclave.

 

"It was an honor to be invited to join," she said. "Usually, invitations are extended from mother to daughter. I'm a goddaughter."

 

Donna Evans, president of the Columbus chapter, said that local members have worked hard to make sure their visitors had plenty to do during their four-day stay.

 

The hosts held an opening-night event at the Statehouse atrium and gave their guests an opportunity to see the city.

 

Golf outing and trapshooting were among activities that kept the Boy Friends occupied while the gals were in actiion.

 

A farewell breakfast with an Ohio State University theme wraps up the conclave on Sunday.