APPLICATIONS OPEN NOW – OCT. 31
(MARION, OH) – Local women business owners and nonprofit leaders are invited to apply for the $1,000 Ida Barlow Brilliance Award offered by the Marion Women’s Club & Home.
Created by the Club in 2022, the Award supports a new or existing program which compliments the Women’s Club mission to “empower women and enrich the community.”
Deadline to apply is Oct. 31. Applications can be found on the Club’s website: MarionCountyFederationOfWomensClubs.com
Previous Ida Barlow Brilliance Award recipients are: Barb Pine for the Jer-Zee’s “Storytime” program; Jenni Hypes for “Empowerment Day” offered by Aspire Ministries; and Tara Dyer, which supported the Paul Robeson Speech Academy of the Peace & Freedom Committee.
“This award honors the life and work of Ida Barlow, one of Marion’s earliest Clubwomen, a visionary and activist,” explains Valerie Wigton, Club President. “Whether Ida was leading programs in cultural engagement, public health, or civic improvement, she always urged her fellow clubwomen to not only think about innovative solutions to community problems, but to work together to make them happen. That’s what this award is all about.”
“We are so grateful for the many local Club members, friends and donors who made this grant possible,” Wigton explained, adding that anyone can contribute to the endowed fund which is housed at Marion Community Foundation.
“American clubwomen were often described as a set of ‘busy and brilliant’ women,” Wigton added, “and the Marion Women’s Club wishes to recognize women in Marion who are similarly busy and brilliant – carrying on Ida Barlow’s legacy of innovative community problem solving and community leadership.”
Marion women 18 and over who are small business owners or who have a leading position with a local nonprofit organization are encouraged to complete the application, provide a project description (1,000 words maximum), as well as a detailed budget.
“Ida Barlow bequeathed her 1903 home to the Marion Women’s Club when she died in 1945,” Wigton pointed out. “She would be thrilled that her legacy of improving our community is living on through this award.”
Membership in the Marion Women’s Club is not mandatory.
Born in 1861 in Hancock County and growing up in Fostoria, Ida Harsh Barlow studied art at Oberlin College. Married in 1887, her husband, Shauck, was a high-level Marion industrialist with Huber Mfg. Ida was very active in the Marion Women’s Club during its formative years.
Questions can be emailed to WomensClubHome@gmail.com with “Barlow Award” in the subject line.
Recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, the Marion Women’s Club is likely the oldest continuously functioning women’s organization in Marion tracing its roots to 1895.
For more information or to become a member, search “The Marion Women’s Club & Home” on Facebook or visit MarionCountyFederationOfWomensClubs.com. To donate to the Award fund, visit MarionCommunityFoundation.org/donate.
