The Gazebo Gazette
LONG BEACH (GG) — On Saturday, February 1, 2025, members of P.E.O. Chapter B-Long Beach celebrated P.E.O. Founders’ Day at a luncheon and program at the St. Martin Community Center in Jackson County, hosted by P.E.O. Chapter AA – Ocean Springs. Chapter B presented the program, sharing facts about the original seven members and what P.E.O. has accomplished since its beginning 156 years ago.
P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869, by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Through membership, the P.E.O. Sisterhood has brought together more than a half a million women in the United States and Canada who are passionate about helping women advance through education, while supporting and motivating them.
P.E.O. is a philanthropic educational organization. True to the mission of promoting opportunities for women, education continues to be the primary philanthropy of the P.E.O. Sisterhood. Since its inception, P.E.O. has helped more than 125,000 women pursue educational goals by providing nearly $432 million in grants, scholarships, awards, and loans in addition to the stewardship of Cottey College, located in Nevada, Missouri.
Organized in 1930, Chapter B-Long Beach serves as Mississippi’s second oldest chapter and remains very active in the community. For more information about P.E.O., visit peointernational.org and/or peomississippi.org.
Photos: Members of Chapter B-Long Beach participated in the Founders’ Day Celebration on February 1, 2025. (L to R) Deb Kurts, Gail Donald, Cindy Mitchell, Charlotte Oliver, Linda Carden, Belinda Tipton, Lee Anne Bryant, Grace Gingles, Kathy Cook, Mary Westmoreland, Dominique Perryman, Shirley Gay, and Betsy Bullard; not pictured: Malette Ramsey and Carol Reeves. Submitted by Long Beach PEO.
