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Community Corner

Weho Moms Club Is Fun for Kids and Mothers

This incredible resource offers support, friendship and charitable opportunities.

If you, or someone you know, feels isolated after the arrival of a new baby, be a best friend. Guide them to a nonprofit organization created by Mary James, an at-home mother in California who got tired of being home alone and desperate to find friends for her children to play with. Moms Club: Moms Offering Moms Support began in 1983 and now boasts more 2,100 chapters across the U.S.

Recently, our very own West Hollywood Moms Club received four awards in the following categories for 2009-2010:

  • Outstanding speaker program
  • Outstanding newsletter
  • Outstanding service
  • Outstanding field trips

Joanne Palmer founded the Weho chapter when her now middle schooler was a toddler. "I am thrilled to see the club running…with a new website even," she said. "To this day I am still friends with the moms of my years. These are friends I will keep in touch with forever, even though many have moved across the country."

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Every second Friday of the month, Weho Moms Club meets at for an all member meeting. There are rotating guest speakers (this month featured a headache specialist), club business and of course, snacks. Children are free to crawl, run, sleep or cry while moms eagerly catch up and share anecdotes.   

The heart of the club belongs to the weekly playgroups in which more than 70 members divide into small groups of about six to eight children; moms rotate hosting duties at their homes. To my delight, I've watched my son grow with the same group from toddler to preschooler. Although the children attend various schools at this point, we continue to meet weekly for the friendship and support. We have survived to share many tales from the crib, including projectile vomit, scratches, collisions, meltdowns and missing brain cells.

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My personal favorite is the monthly moms night out. Whether it's going to the movies, eating dinner at a trendy spot or gathering for a stitch and bitch knitting session, there is time allotted just for moms to fun—sans kids. Plus my husband and son bask in an evening all to themselves.

Moms Club gives back to the community with numerous service projects: the clothing drive Baby2Baby; a Sova Food Pantry annual food drive; donation drives (Humane Society, Soles4Souls); and educational outreach. The group hosts a craft table at West Hollywood's First Saturdays in the Park. There are also all family outings such as the annual Halloween Party and Mother's Day Brunch.

Every month, members devour a newsletter with articles by the club's very own roster of talented women and funded by local businesses. For a $30 annual membership, Moms Club is one extraordinary, affordable resource.

 

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