Each year, AAUW/Logan County tries to do at least one fundraiser to provide scholarships and support for local educational programs and students. In its 28 year history, the branch has raised more than $45,000 toward this goal. Fundraisers have included holiday auctions, book sales, and a cruise raffle among other events. The most successful–the Trivia Bee for Education–continues today. The branch co-sponsors the Bee with the Bellefontaine Examiner.

AAUW/Logan County challenges teams to brush up on current events and quirky information and then compete in a trivia bee. Proceeds from the Benefit Trivia Bee support several educational endeavors, including a scholarship for one local middle school girl to attend Camp GEMS (Girls in Engineering, Math and Science) at Ohio Northern University. Remaining funds will be divided equally between the AAUW/Logan County general fund, the AAUW Educational Foundation, and the Logan County Education Foundation.

The first Bee was launched in 1998 when several AAUW/Logan County members were searching for a new fundraising idea. Martha O’Connor was branch president at the time, and Peggy Dishop was branch Educational Foundation Chair. The committee decided early on that media sponsorship was critical to the success of the endeavor. O’Connor is employed by the local newspaper, the Bellefontaine Examiner, and so it fell to her to seek the Examiner’s support. The newspaper looked at the event as a community project and eagerly agreed to co-sponsor. In effect, that meant that the newspaper promoted the event through advertising and news articles while the AAUW/Logan County committee did the organizational work.