The Catholic Woman’s Club of York has continuously promoted spiritual, educational, literary and social growth among the Catholic women of the York Deanery for over 100 years by establishing fraternity.
The club was founded in 1922 by Anna Dill Gamble. Her message of empowering Catholic women has been continuously held by the club for the past 103 years.
Roxanne Castellanos, current club president, said the club empowers and educates women in various ways.
Castellanos said, “We empower women. It is a place for all women of Catholic faith to come together. We have a lot in common.”
“I think it is fabulous that you get to connect with other women who have a similar faith background as you…. Each month when we gather, we pray, we discuss things and everyone comes from the same type of faith background,” said Castellanos.
The club helps with charity work and different events in the area. It hosts one event a month from speakers to parties, said Castellanos.
“Each year the president picks a local charity and we try to help one charity a year,” she said. “We hold one event a month. We do a couple of parties, a Christmas party and have speakers. We try to educate our women on different topics.”
Anne Bahn, current first vice president and former president, said one of this year’s events was an open Catholic conversation with Father John Bateman, pastor of St. Patrick Parish in York, Dean of the York Deanery and Director of the Diocese’s Formation for the Permanent Diaconate.
Bahn said, “One of the things we did this year, that we had not done before, was we invited Father John Bateman…to come and meet with our members for an open Catholic conversation.
“Anyone who had a question about, for instance, current Church direction on end of life, or burial, Catholic funerals and things like that (could ask). The people were very welcome to ask any questions they wanted. There were a lot of questions on limbo and mental health. Father Bateman really spent a lot of time and answered each and every question.”
Castellanos said the event included a mix of their club members and Catholic women from across the York Deanery.
“We invited other Catholic members from different parishes in our deanery. We did have a mix of some non-Catholic club women who came. Father Bateman was phenomenal. There was pretty much nothing off limits. He explained any questions anyone had.”
The club helps educate its members and offers opportunities to socialize with like-minded women. Members also participate in community service, Castellanos said.
“This year we tried to do more education for our members in different areas,” she said. “We do social things, but this year, we are trying to put in a little more community service going forward.”
Bahn said the organization’s main fundraising goal is to offer scholarships to young Catholic women pursuing college or technical degrees.
“We made a change last year. We used to say that the scholarships were for any young Catholic woman going on to college. But we also added recently that it is offered to young women going on to college or trade school,” she said. “The club really tries to fill the current needs and we know that trades women are very much needed.”
Castellanos added, “Last year was the first scholarship that we gave out that a girl going to a trade school could apply for. Going forward now, you don’t just have to go to college. We are moving with the times and we are going for more trade for girls in STEM.”
The scholarships have made quite an impact to young women in the community.
“Since 1958, the Catholic Woman’s Club of York has provided scholarships to over 100 young women,” Bahn remarked. “As an example, in 2022, 2023 and 2024, scholarships were given in the amount of $2,000. We had three scholarships given in 2023 and 2024, and two scholarships awarded in 2022. Even during COVID I didn’t see any interruption.”
Castellanos said, “We plowed through COVID online and via phone, so young women were still eligible to apply. We did not stop anything even though COVID shut everything down and closed most of the schools. If you were there, you could apply.”
She said the club is open to new members from the York Deanery. Anyone who is interested can contact her for more information and an application.
Bahn said, “We are very inclusive. We love everybody. So, any Catholic woman is really eligible to join our club.”
“By continuing the club and showing the longevity of what a group of Catholic women can do, I think one of the things we are trying to do is show an example to young Catholic women. We really encourage young Catholic women to get involved and join the club. We reach out to the scholarship recipients of former years and try to engage them and have them carry on for the next generation of scholarship awards,” said Bahn.
The club will host its largest annual fundraiser, the 55th annual fashion show entitled Puttin’ On The Ritz, on April 26. The proceeds go towards the Anna Dill Gamble/Susan Glatfelter Scholarship for young Catholic women pursuing a technical or college degree.
To reserve a seat, RSVP by April 1. Questions regarding the event can be sent to Beth Brennan by email, bsbrennan@comcast.net, or phone, 717-495-0947.
(Maria Resuta is a freelance reporter for The Catholic Witness. Photos courtesy of Anne Bahn, Catholic Woman’s Club of York.)
By Maria Resuta, The Catholic Witness
