By Rebekah Elliott
When Bozman resident Ginny Berliner was invited to a Women and Girls Fund luncheon seven years ago, she had no idea her afternoon venture would lead to an ongoing involvement with the Easton-based nonprofit organization.
At the time, Berliner owned an antiques store on Harrison Street in Easton. One morning while she was working at the aptly named “Ginny B Antiques,” a friend of hers stopped by unexpectedly and insisted she attend the Women and Girls Fund’s annual luncheon.
“She said to me ‘close the shop, you’re coming as my guest,’” she says. “I actually had no idea what the Women and Girls Fund was and I was blown away by what they do in our community.”
The organization, she explains, pools together resources from individuals to serve the needs of women and girls across the Mid-Shore. Some of the problems the Women & Girls Fund works to combat are teen pregnancy, homelessness, abused and neglected children, poverty, low self-esteem, drug and alcohol abuse, lack of affordable housing, and limited access to proper transportation and day care services, just to name a few, according to the organization’s website.
“They make such a great difference in so many lives,” Berliner says. “They offer girls and women across the Mid-Shore so many opportunities for a better life.”
Berliner was so impressed with the organization, she signed up immediately to volunteer. At first, she helped publicize events and later added luncheon coordinator to her volunteer duties. Soon after, she agreed to arrange floral centerpieces for various occasions, despite her lack of formal training in that area.
“One thing just led to another and, you know, if a job needed to be done and I thought I could do it, I’d do it,” she says.
With such tenacity for the organization and its mission, it’s not surprising that Berliner has been asked a handful of times to sit on its board. Yet, she continues to decline due to her preference for staying out of the limelight.
“I like volunteering for the Women and Girls Fund. It makes me feel good. It’s really very selfish; I’m doing it for my own benefit,” she says, with a laugh.
Most recently, Berliner has stayed busy preparing for the Women and Girls Fund’s October 4th event at the Avalon Theatre, featuring Sue Monk Kidd, author of The Secret Life of Bees, and her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. The two, Berliner says, will discuss their recently published mother-daughter memoir Traveling with Pomegranates.