THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602270128
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KATHRYN DARLING, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 74 lines
A SOCIAL AND civic club started in Norfolk as a friendship between three women, celebrated its 50th anniversary in February.
The organization, known as Chums, now has 33 chapters nationwide. The national theme ``Listen to the Children,'' guides each chapter in determining its community's needs. Then the Chums develop fund-raisers and scholarships to help fulfill those needs.
The Norfolk chapter, along with the Hampton, Newport News and Chesapeake Chums, celebrated their 50th anniversary at a Founders Day celebration Feb. 18.
The idea for Chums came about on a cold, rainy night in February 1946. Mary Ward Barnes, Joyce Tate Brown and Theodora Jackson Cora were sitting in Barnes' drafty red Thunderbird convertible. The war was officially over, each of the young women had a boyfriend serving in the military who wasn't home yet, and segregation was still the norm. That particular night, the three friends couldn't think of anything to do, so they decided to form a social club and name it after their friendship.
``We were friends,'' Brown said. ``We hung out together; we did everything together - we were chums.''
Hence the name of their group.
Brown said the trio first became friends during their college days at Virginia State in Petersburg and continued to ``run around together'' when they returned to Norfolk, teaching and living within a three-block radius of each other.
Although the organization began as a social club, Chums soon gained a new emphasis.
``We wanted to make ourselves aware of the things needed in our community,'' Brown said.
The group began raising money to provide toys for day nurseries and to help college students with their tuition.
``We thought we should do something for the community and the students who needed help in furthering their education.'' Brown said.
Chums' first fund-raiser, according to Lena Van Arkadie Dabney, who served for many years as the group's historian, was a contest for kids in 1947. The child who raised the most money by selling popularity tickets won a bicycle. The fund-raiser was so successful that it helped fund a number of scholarships for Norfolk State students.
In 1952 the group decided to expand, and in 1953, Brown's college roommate, Flora Walden Chase, began a chapter in Washington. The organization has continued to grow.
Chums groups exist in many U.S. cities such as Washington; Detroit; Mobile, Ala.; Jackson, Miss.; New York and Philadelphia, as well as Chicago, Cincinnati and Los Angelos. In April, a Chums chapter will be started in Houston.
Both the national organization and the individual chapters raise money for charity and for scholarships. At the national level, children are the focus of fund-raising efforts, and each chapter is required to do at least one major fund-raiser a year. The Norfolk chapter, which has 23 members, raised $1000 for the Children's Defense Fund last October.
Chums members said they try to identify community needs, then determine what to do about them. When Chums first started with civic work, the group provided toys for day nurseries. Over the years, the Norfolk chapter of Chums' fund-raising efforts have benefited the NAACP, the United Negro College Fund, Community Hospital, Prince Edward County Free School association, sickle cell anemia research, and Eastern Virginia Medical School. MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call Kathryn Darling at 446-2286. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
From left, Jean Fountain, Chums national vice president; Jean
Braxton, national secretary; Myrtle Byrd, registered agent; and,
sitting, Joyce Tate Brown, one of Chums' three founders.
by CNB