The American Welfare & Works Association (AWWA) originally started in 1952 and was called the Ryukyu American Welfare Council. For the first 20 years of our organization, the board was made up of American and Okinawan women working together to positively impact the Okinawan community with the focus primarily on Japanese welfare.

In later years, after Okinawa’s reversion from a US territory to a Japanese Prefecture in 1972, the group was required to reorganize and the Japanese women were required to step down from the board. Wanting to continue making a positive impact on the Japanese and American communities, the spouses from the American forces came together to form the American Women’s Welfare Association (AWWA). The name was changed to American Welfare & Works Association (AWWA) in 2019 to be inclusive of all of its members.

AWWA is comprised of 6 member organizations from the American military bases on Okinawa: the Kadena Officers’ Spouses’ Club (KOSC), the Marine Officers’ Spouses’ Club Okinawa (MOSCO), the Navy Officers’ Spouses’ Club Okinawa (NOSCO), the Okinawa Enlisted Spouses’ Club (OESC), the Marine Thrift Shop (MTS), and the Marine Gift Shop (MGS). These groups represent a collaborative effort to raise funds in order to support the local American and Japanese communities and help improve their quality of life on the island.

In our more than 65 year history, AWWA has donated over $8 million dollars to Okinawan and American community groups. In 2018 – 2019, AWWA was able to give $41,583.31 to American organizations and $95,305.02 to Japanese organizations.

All of the money AWWA donates is generated from the profits of the member organizations’ thrift and gift shops as well as fundraising efforts. Each organization is comprised of military spouse volunteers committed to serving their community.