The Canadian Federation of University Women is celebrating 80 years of service in the North Bay area.
Formed in 1941. Nat Brunette, Co-President of CFUW in North Bay says it started as a small group that felt strongly about supporting women
"They founded this and many of them were single women who believed in supporting women in education and they put in their own money to put the scholarships forward for women and children and that is pretty significant when you see that," recalls Brunette.
Organizers say they advocate for women from North Bay as well as those overseas such as women dealing with the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.
"We will speak out, we will write letters to our mayor, MP, MPP," said Bonnie Roynon, Co-President of the long standing organization.
"We notice an issue and we speak out about it."
Currently, the North Bay group has about 50 members but has had as many as 100 members at its peak.
"We all believe strongly in all the parts of what this organization does," said Brunette.
"Not only is it education but we really push that for all women and girls have a good education, they are safe. We have so many activities in the community. We are supporting Amelia Rising and Food Drives and all kinds of different activities. It is so important," she said.
The CFUW is planning to hand out its annual $800 scholarship to a female Nipissing University student next month. As well, the organization will have a display at the North Bay Museum celebrating the 80 years of history for the CFUW.
"When you come to the museum in October and you will see the 80 years of history, it is unbelievable. I have spent the summer working on it and it will be quite an attraction for the city of North Bay. They will see how much CFUW has contributed to the community," said Brunette.
"It is amazing the honour that so many women have put into this community to making everybody's lives so much better in the community in so many different aspects,"
The City of North Bay put up the CFUW flag at city hall today to honour the organizations' history.
Brunette believes they will continue to stand up for the cause and keep celebrating it for another 80 years.
"One of the things that we feature almost every month at our monthly meeting is we have a female entrepreneur who is featured and makes a presentation on their job or career. It has been really interesting to learn and we have been advocating for women and we see a bright future for women in North Bay."
