The Sunshine Club was a group of 11 and 12 year old girls who wanted to organize to do something to bring sunshine into the lives of other people. They had formed about three years earlier and on this date 100 years ago the Pantagraph reported that the girls had previously made a gift of a bed and its furnishings to the Day Nursery. Another year they donated a Christmas dinner and presents to a family of 7 children. They did this by earning money through their own labor. In 1915 they each earned one dollar and brought $12 together to give to the Day Nursery.
One of the girls was Maurine Noggle, the daughter of Dr. Perry Noggle. Perry Noggle made his home in Founders' Grove in Bloomington at one time, and before him, Maurine's grandparents made their retirement home in Founders' Grove. Another girl in the group, Dorothy Washburn, would go on to be a teacher and then serve in the Women's Army Corps during World War I.
But as young girls, they baked bread, or made candy, or stitched some fancy work to earn the money they would donate to make a poor family's Christmas a happy one.
The girls met with Jennie Thompson, the superintendent of the Day Nursery, to choose a family they would make their present to. Miss Thompson, a woman whose life was completely given over to ministering to the poor, must have been very happy to see these girls beginning a life of philanthropy.