P.E.O. celebrates Founders Day

FALLBROOK – The Santa Margarita Reciprocity (SMR) had the honor of hosting the annual Founders Day Social for the local P.E.O. Chapters on Jan. 21 at Pala Mesa. There were 115 women from the five local chapters that make up SMR as well as several chapters from the Temecula Valley Reciprocity and a chapter from Palomar Reciprocity who met for a delightful buffet brunch.

The program for the event was a walk in the past, highlighting the lives of the seven sisters who formed this organization 143 years ago. P.E.O. was founded on January 21, 1869 by seven students at Iowa Wesleyan College in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Today P.E.O. has grown from that tiny group to almost a quarter of a million members in chapters throughout the U.S. and Canada, with headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa.

P.E.O. is a philanthropic organization in which women celebrate the advancement of women; educate women through scholarships, grants, awards, loans, and stewardship of Cottey College, and motivate women to achieve their highest aspirations. P.E.O. is making a difference in the lives of women all over the world.

To date, P.E.O. has awarded Educational Loan Fund dollars totaling more than $130 million, International Peace Scholarships are more than $27 million, Program of Continuing Education grants are more than $38 million, Scholar Awards are more than $14 million and P.E.O. Star Scholarships are more than $1 million. In addition, about 8,300 women have graduated from Cottey College.

Each year SMR awards a senior student from Fallbrook High School a scholarship. Grant, loan, and award recipients, as well as Cottey College students, need not be members of P.E.O. For more information, visit

http://www.peointernational.org.