With the organization's history reaching back to 1869, a few local women saw a void in the Tomball community and gathered last May to create a new chapter of national nonprofit Philanthropic Educational Organization.

"For me personally, [P.E.O. has] been meaningful because in my family it's been multigenerational," Tomball P.E.O. Chapter President Kris Dewees said. "There's this thread of the value of education for women."

The nonprofit organization fundraises to support each local chapter as well as two Texas and five international grants, scholarships and loans open to women looking to expand their educational opportunities, Dewees said.

Each chapter also helps fund the organization's owned and operated women's institution known as Cottey College, which was granted to P.E.O. in 1927, Dewees said. The Missouri-based college offers two-year and four-year degrees, she said.

"We would love to find people who would like to try to secure some of these [funds]," Dewees said. "[With] every chapter anywhere, their members would bend over backwards to facilitate anybody trying to apply for any one of these [scholarships]."

Since the chapter was organized in May, the Tomball members have created and sold decorative soaps at craft fairs and raised $1,900 to support the organization's various fundraising efforts, Dewees said.

Beverliann Morgenstern, a kindergarten teacher at Canyon Pointe Elementary School, was awarded the Tomball chapter's first scholarship Jan. 8 from a pool of national candidates. She plans to attain her master's degree in library science online through Sam Houston State University in August.

"I just feel honored—it's a little bit of stress off my back with this scholarship, and it's really cool that these women are empowering other women to go back to school and further their education," Morgenstern said.

The organization gathers every third Tuesday from 10 a.m.–noon at a member's home, Dewees said. During the meetings, the group's 27 members discuss a business agenda and partake in an educational presentation.

As a P.E.O. member for nearly 30 years, Dewees began laying the groundwork for the creation of the Tomball chapter in 2013.

"Chapters will see a need, and a person or two could peel off and help establish [a new one]," she said.

P.E.O. always welcomes new members of all ages, Dewees said.

"There is a true energy in something brand new," she said. "My hope for this chapter is that we continue to thrive."

For more information on P.E.O. as well as scholarship, grant and loan applications, visit www.peointernational.org.