Sunnyvale volunteer's effort, nonprofit fuel women's college dreams
While two-thirds of women say high tuition is a barrier to enrolling in college, compared to less than half of men, according to a Gallup poll, a South Bay woman has found a creative way to help bridge the gap.
When you shop at the Nearly New Shop thrift store in Sunnyvale, Lois Christopherson says you're doing something good.
"We can make a difference for the world," she said.
For years, sales at the 67-year-old shop supported a retirement home for a women's nonprofit called the Philanthropic Educational Organization. But when the PEO home closed in 2006, Christopherson came up with the idea to use the shop's profits to help women attend college.
"I realized with as much as we were making and as much joy that people experienced working at the shop that a scholarship program was ideal," she said.
That's because since PEO was founded in Iowa in 1869, the mission of the international nonprofit has been to educate and celebrate women.
For almost two decades, the Nearly New Shop has been a source of pride for local PEO volunteers and the staff members who run the store.
In the early years, it provided three scholarships of $2,500, and it has grown since then. In the last year alone, the shop generated $200,000 in scholarships for 30 young women in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Christopherson has volunteered with the scholarship program for 18 years. She can't put a price tag on its impact.
"You are so delighted with the quality of women you're dealing with," she smiled.
Christopherson's own experiences are also an inspiration. With two graduate degrees in clinical social work and business, she screened and counseled patients in the late 1960s for Stanford's pioneering heart transplant team.
As a mentor, she motivates the next generation.
"You can do even more than you originally think," Christopherson said. "Keep working on it. Don't be discouraged."
Julie Towne received multiple PEO scholarships as she earned her bachelor's degree at Sonoma State University, then her master's at San Jose State University.
"It's just an extra added sense of reassurance that they believe in me, and I feel loved," Towne said of the scholarship awards.
Towne, a third-generation PEO member, is now an occupational therapist and is grateful to PEO and Christopherson for fueling her dreams.
"Lois is one of a kind," Towne said. "She's so vivacious. She is so friendly and so determined to help others."
Christopherson, herself the daughter of a PEO member, leaves her mark in empowering women, according to store manager Teresa London.
"In a world where women are told to sit back and kind of fade away, this whole purpose - and Lois is so inspiring - is to show women that they can have a purpose all through their life," London said.
The application window for a variety of PEO scholarships is from September to January. People can support the program by shopping at the Nearly New Shop, which also accepts donations of gently-used, "nearly new" items.
