The Altrusa Club of Youngstown was organized in November 1956. The first charter member was Mary B. Smith who is still active with the club. The mission of the local chapter is to promote literacy in the community through many hands on projects.

Altrusa currently has 25 active members, who work hard to implement various service projects around the community. Make A Difference Day projects include a Halloween Party for the children at the Rescue Mission. The group threw a shower of much needed supplies for a new teacher. They give comfort baskets to their ill members, scholarships to those in need and put up a Giving Tree at Christmas. They have participated in Adopt a School, YSU English Festival and found celebrities to decorate bird houses for a Hospice of the Valley auction. They orchestrated a collection of thousands of jars of peanut butter,(with red, white and blue lids), for Second Harvest Foodbank then constructed a huge American flag on the YSU football field for an aerial photo. It was quite an undertaking! And just recently the group gathered school supplies and book bags for the Salvation Army Kids Fair in August and the Casa Madre AIDS project.

Altrusa’s largest Literacy Project in partnership with Mill Creek Metro Parks, Western Reserve Public Media and the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, is the “PLANT THE SEED TO READ” Book Fair which takes place at the D.D. and Velma Davis Education and Visitor Center, Fellows Riverside Gardens. The 4^th Annual Book Fair is set for March 27^th, 2010.

This past April over 1200 children came to the Book Fair. Along with their parents and guardians, attendance was well over 2400 people! The children participated in a variety of activities from crafts to food projects. The authors read to them as well as local readers such as Mayor Jay Williams. The children played on the Scholastic Magic School Bus and took home photos with PBS’s Word Girl and Sid the Science Kid.  . They were able to meet a children’s book illustrator and authors as well as take home a book they picked out.  Children from all of the communities in the Youngstown area enjoyed this great event. To sum it up here is a quote a 6 year old who screamed…“is this really all for free ??!!”

Thank you Altrusa for bringing a Book Fair to our valley. 

Accepting the Outstanding Civic Organization award for the Altrusa Club of Youngstown is President, Pat Brown and member Patty Zitello who spearheaded the Plant the Seed to Read Book fair.