Linda Talbott

The 75th Annual New York State Convention of the P.E.O. Sisterhood will be held at Ithaca College on June 13 to 15. Linda Talbott of Spencerport, New York State Chapter president, will preside. P.E.O. is an international philanthropic educational organization, which has provided thousands of women with opportunities for higher education. Many women from Monroe County have been recipients of their various grants and scholarships. Nine chapters from Ithaca, Binghamton, Newark Valley, Oneonta, Elmira and Oxford will host the 2003 convention. The convention will attract over 200 representatives from 77 chapters in New York and will center on the theme "Celebrate Women of Vision." The Keynote speaker at convention will be W. Joyce Goff from Nebraska. Goff is the 1st Vice President of International Chapter.

There are over 250,000 members in over 5,800 P.E.O. chapters in the United States and Canada. Eight chapters are in the Rochester area. Talbott is a member of Chapter BE, Albion and a former teacher in the Churchville-Chili Central School District. P.E.O. was organized as a college sorority on the campus of Iowa Wesleyan College in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa in 1869 but later changed to a community organization for women. The purposes of P.E.O. are educational and philanthropic, accomplished through five international projects. The Educational Loan Fund is a revolving loan fund at low interest rates. The International Peace Scholarship provides scholarships to foreign graduate students who return to their home countries with skills to improve those nations. Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri has been owned by P.E.O. since 1927. The Program for Continuing Education grants assistance to women who need to resume educational studies.

The P.E.O. Scholar Award offers assistance to graduate students in the U.S. or Canada. Applicants for each of these projects are recommended and sponsored by P.E.O. chapters, which provide support in addition to monetary aid. Four NY State scholarships are also available. Further inquiries about the international financial aid programs can be directed to the P.E.O. Executive Office at 3700 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa 50312-2899 or www.peointernational.org.