The city of Wilkeson’s Federation of Eagles is expanding at the end of this month to include a new, all-womens Auxiliary.

The group started forming in March and has now grown to around 71 new members, said Linda Youmans, one of the Wilkeson Auxiliary’s Grand Charter Deputies.

Just like Aerie members, the Auxiliary works with various national and local charities and helps out with nearby residents and communities.

“They’re just open for so many things to do,” said Youmans.

One of the charities the Auxiliary aims to always be helping is the Buckley Food Bank.

“People from Wilkeson, Carbonado, and the rural areas, they all go down to the Buckley Food Bank,” she said. “It’s the closest one to them.”

According to Youmans, there used to be an Auxiliary in the city way back when, but ended in the mid-1980s. Getting another Auxiliary back together, Youmans said, is very exciting.

“They’re a good group of people,” she said. “They’re going to make a difference.”

The Auxiliary will be officially chartered on Sunday, Aug. 28, when several state officers and the state’s F.O.E Auxiliary president, Carol Wright, will come to welcome in the new branch.

The first part of the ceremony, which is only open to Auxiliary members, starts at 10 a.m. to around noon or 1 p.m at the Wilkeson F.O.E No. 1409 building.

After the official chartering is complete, the building becomes open to the public for lunch around 1 p.m.

Youmans said chartering isn’t something that happens much anymore, so to be a part of it is a rare and special thing.

All Auxiliary members who are a part of the group when it is chartered become founding members, she continued.

“If you get your name on a charter, that’s forever,” Youmans said.

The Auxiliary meets twice a month on the second and fourth Monday of the month at the Wilkeson Town Hall at 7 p.m.

After the group is chartered, it will meet in the F.O.E building on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., but which Tuesdays of the month have yet to be determined.