P.E.O. Chapter CL geranium sale supports women's education

Education, like a flower, requires nourishment and constant care to bloom into something magnificent.

A symbol of their dedication to helping women achieve the best on their academic journeys, members of the Philanthropic Educational Organization Chapter CL annually raise funds for scholarships through their Judy Riba Nelson Geranium Sale.

“The geraniums are beautiful," P.E.O Chapter CL President Elayne Semko said. "We get nothing but compliments from our customers."

Several sisters of the CL Chapter and a few helpful husbands, or "brothers-in-law," spent Thursday morning organizing, counting and delivering over 2,000 red, white, pink and orange geraniums. They met at Yates Funeral Home in Hayden as the early morning sunlight splashed over the lawn and the dozens of pots and hanging baskets arranged on the dewy grass.

"It's spring!" Semko said with a smile as geraniums and their handlers moved this way and that.

The sale, which has been a yearly fundraiser for the organization for at least 11 years, usually brings in about $7,000 that is used to provide scholarships for women pursuing higher education. Recipients range from young women just starting their college journeys to single moms going back to school or grandmothers wanting to enrich their lives through education.

"There are programs for all age levels, depending on situations," Semko said.

The $2,500 P.E.O. STAR Scholarship is specifically for high school seniors.

“I believe in helping out women,” said CL member Stacie Nelson, who organizes the geranium sale. “I enjoy the community involvement. I think that’s important, and helping out these young women; hopefully they’ll be able to make a difference later on when they get to be our age.”

While academics play a role in scholarship criteria, it's the community piece that is most critical.

“If they’re really involved in the community trying to make a difference, that’s what we like to see,” Nelson said.

P.E.O. International is a nonprofit sisterhood that has aided more than 129,000 women by providing roughly $462 million in educational assistance, via six philanthropies and a foundation, as of July 2025.

Semko is one of those women. She was in her late 30s and newly divorced when she went back to school. She received a Program for Continuing Education grant as well as an Educational Loan Fund.

"And I’ve had several members of my family go through with ELF," she said. "I have a lot of sisters and nieces.” 

Linda Tiger, who has been a member for 10 years, said as a woman, she is all about supporting women's education.

"We (P.E.O. International) own our own college in Missouri, which is amazing," she said. "We never got loans for that or anything, we raised the money to make that happen."

Along with a focus on supporting education, P.E.O. is truly a sisterhood. Tiger said she joined because of her best friend.

“It’s good friendship," she said. "It’s good fun and it’s feeling good for what we give our scholarship money to."

Geranium sales begin in February, with delivery always taking place the Thursday before Mother's Day.

Info: peointernational.org

    P.E.O. CL Chapter member Linda Tiger moves hanging baskets of pink geraniums Thursday morning during the chapter's delivery day for the annual Judy Riba Nelson Geranium Sale.
  

    Helpful husband Ted Macaulay, one of the P.E.O. CL Chapter's "brothers-in-law," carries trays of red geraniums early Thursday morning as flowers are prepared for delivery.
  

    Vibrant orange geraniums are waiting in the sunshine to be delivered Thursday morning during the P.E.O. Chapter CL's annual geranium sale distribution day.