Poway National Charity League chapter plans events

Oct. 17, 2013 11:56 AM PT

By Emily Sorensen

The Poway chapter of the National Charity League, is quietly continuing what they do best: devoting themselves to philanthropy and helping the community.

Their next community project is sponsoring and providing volunteers for the upcoming Halloween Carnival at the Poway Library, 1 - 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26.

The NCL will be providing both supplies and volunteers for the carnival, which is aimed at children third grade and younger, and will include traditional carnival games like ring toss, fishing and bowling, as well as face painting and a cake walk, and a haunted house. Kids are encouraged to come in costume. This event is free and open to the public.

“We try to do mostly hands-on work,” said current Poway chapter president Michele Prescott, a three-year member, along with her daughter Emma, a sophomore at Mt. Carmel High School. “We want the mothers and daughters to feel like they accomplished something. It gives a sense of pride, and helps the development of leadership.”

The National Charity League is a national organization of mothers and daughters throughout the United States who engage in charitable acts and dedicate themselves to community involvement. The Poway chapter currently has 130 mothers and 144 daughters involved, drawing both from the city of Poway, and any female student from the Poway Unified School District in the designated age group.

The NCL’s six-year program, from seventh grade through graduation, aims for personal and leadership development, as well as fostering cultural competency through philanthropic work, educational activities and cultural events.

“We currently support 22 different philanthropies, both in the community of Poway and nationwide,” said Prescott. These include the Valley Elementary After School Homework club, the Poway Senior Center, the Poway Library, Special Olympics, Rady Children’s Hospital, Mothers against Drunk Driving and many more.

The Poway chapter recently added the Poway Valley Therapeutic Riding Center to their list of philanthropies, where members help by prepping horses, acting as “side walkers” during therapeutic riding sessions, and doing administrative work for the center.

The Poway chapter is also gearing up for their annual Holiday Home tour, which will be 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7 this year. The tour, which is $25 per person, takes visitors through three fully decorated Poway homes, and raises money both for selected charities, which in the past have included the Poway Senior Center and the Valley Elementary homework club, as well as for the Poway chapter’s Gayle Kennedy scholarship, which provides a scholarship for a PUSD female student who wants to pursue a teaching career.

For more information on the Poway chapter of the NCL, or any of these events, visit