Spouses Group Aids Atlanta Shelter

The thrift trade group, America's Community Bankers, will leave behind a memento of its annual convention here - about $100,000 for a home for battered women.

The money for the Fairhaven Inn was raised by the spouses, mostly wives, of the group's executives through the sale of handmade crafts, a raffle of donated prizes, and a concert by singer Lou Rawls.

The spouse's group, Housing Partners, has raised money for housing causes in five other cities. In Boston, where the thrift group met last year, it raised $70,000 for a shelter for homeless families.

Chairwoman Diane Montgomery said the group was formed because the wives of thrift executives wanted to do more than shop and play golf at conventions. Now, she said, they work hard at the meetings, but they recall with some envy their previous leisure.

In 1997, the thrift trade group will meet in San Francisco, and the wives will raise money for Clara House, a two-year housing and job readiness program for homeless single mothers and their children. The charity was chosen through a vetting process that began a year ago, Ms. Montgomery said.

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