Dining For Women

“We remember the women about whom we’ve learned, the ones they strive to nurture, and the organizations that are trying to nurture them. By eating together, we remember and honor those women. And we express the hope that through our efforts, they may find more sustenance for their lives. May we all be able to feast together some day.”

Once a month, this affirmation finds itself resonating through a Johnson County home just before 15 East-area moms dig into a potluck dinner. After a night full of glasses of wine and catching up on topics like their children’s college or high school lives or the last social function they attended, the moms gather together on a living room couch to watch a video relaying that month’s powerful message. 

Instead of going out to buy dinner and drinks, the women each bring dishes and donate the money they would’ve spent on a night out to the Dining for Women organization. Their donations go directly to women facing problems like financial dependency and lack of education. 

These women make up a Dining for Women chapter –– the first in the Prairie Village area. Dining for Women is a national non-profit organization that raises money to provide resources and support for young women and girls around the world. These chapter members, along with 8,000 others around the U.S., meet on a regular basis –– most of them monthly –– to share a meal together and watch heartfelt, inspiring videos about women overcoming barriers around the world.

While the night is centered around camaraderie and socialization, there is a more powerful message behind each meeting about serving others as well as an opportunity to become more educated through the Dining for Women organization and give back to other parts of the world. 

“It isn’t just social, certainly we like that part of it, but it is a nice way to sort of combine education, fellowship and doing some charitable work,” East mother Lisa Veglahn said. “It meets a lot of those different qualifications all in one evening which is great.”

Through educational videos, presentations and documents, the members learn about the month’s featured grantees. The documentaries open the mothers’ eyes to young girls in Africa struggling with food insecurity and women struggling to be financially independent in India, according to East area mom and chapter member Libby Cunningham. 

In February, they watched young girls in Tanzania without access to feminine supplies in their underdeveloped community being taught about their bodies and reproductive rights. In April, they watched young girls in Mauritania resorting to prostitution to escape poverty being taught dance as an outlet for their struggles. 

“[The videos] show these women want to be educated, they want to have jobs, they want to be responsible for their own lives without needing a man,” Cunningham said. “They are often fighting the religious aspect of it, the political aspect, the remoteness. It puts everything in perspective. You think, ‘Man, I really have it good’ or ‘Man, my daughter really has it good.’”

The group was started by chapter leader Sybbie Fox. She loved the idea of combining a fun social night with giving back a small portion to others, especially struggling women around the world. She gathered friends she believed would enjoy the charity and activism of being a part of the group. 

And although these Johnson County women don’t have a direct connection to the issues the grantees face, they feel like they’re all able to find a way to relate in their own way.

Chapter member and East parent Maria Worthington identifies with the grantees due to her background in education. As an educator to others, she sees a worthwhile impact in educating these less fortunate nations in order to leave a sustaining impact.

“One reason this group appeals to me is because I am an educator and I have three daughters. I can identify when there are students in need,” Worthington said. “And I am able to see my daughters faces in some of these grantees. It gets me thinking how fortunate we are.”

Learning about what the grantees face has helped chapter members appreciate how fortunate the community they live in is. Through their participation in Dining for Women, they’ve gained a greater sense of world awareness and feel inclined to serve their communities in other ways.

“I really come away with feeling like I have learned so much about issues that are facing women and girls around the world,” Veglahn said. “I feel like I have made a very small, but hopefully meaningful part in making a difference in some of those girls lives.”