Altrusa celebrates 31 years in Copperas Cove

By LYNETTE SOWELL 
Cove Leader-Press 

Altrusa International of Copperas Cove held a celebration on Sunday afternoon, for 31 years of making an impact in the community.
The club had a display table set up where members and guests could see the variety of volunteer projects which the club undertakes, both now and in the past. 
Club president Debbie Llacuna greeted those in attendance and spoke of some of their endeavors. 
“Our main fundraiser is our golf tournament every October, and we have a good turnout for that,” Llacuna said. “Our spring fundraiser is a quilt, handmade by Sylvia Miller.”
Lynn Waters is currently the club secretary and said she has been in Copperas Cove for about four years.
“I found out about Altrusa when there was just a little blurb in the local newspaper, and I thought I’ll go check it out. So I came to my first meeting in December of ‘18 and then joined right after that. I really have enjoyed it a lot…when we moved here, I didn’t know anyone.” 
Angea Carroll is a charter member and showed off her 30-year membership pin on Sunday and spoke about what the group means to her. 
“I’m retired, I’m widowed, and Altrusa is a way of life for me; it always has been. It was one of the best things to happen to Copperas Cove. It may not be very large. It may go up in numbers or down in numbers. But I’m glad to be here and I’m president of the foundation.” 
Altrusa’s foundation was created as a 501c3 and has a board. 
“We make sure funds raised that come in for the group, goes right to the kids. That’s very important to us. We have provided textbooks for at-risk children, books for kindergarteners,” said Carroll. “One thing that we were really proud of, that made such a difference is weekly visits with children one on one. It was an eye opener for me. I didn’t realize that some children have no reading material in their home. No one would help them. Getting a book really got them started in the right direction. 
“We realized we had to start in elementary, start at home. That’s one of the reasons we provide books for children every year, and they can have these books to keep. Sometimes, they are so shocked that they could take the book home.” 
After introductions, the reception included refreshments and bingo at the Copperas Cove Public Library’s meeting room. 
The group meets at noon on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at Giovanni’s. 
As of now, the club has 23 members and welcomes more.