Thanks to the Active 20-30 Club of Greater Sacramento No. 1032, a little crab means a lot of dough for two local charities.

This year marked the club’s 23rd annual Crab Feed. Every year, the event sells out, attracting around 650 guests. This year, the charity dinner raised more than $25,000 for the River City Food Bank, Sacramento’s oldest,continuously-serving food bank, and CCHAT Center Sacramento, a school for children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

“Each year, we’ve gotten a little bit better,” says Lawana Welch, club president. “And I think it’s because we kept building off of those years and learning different things and learning from our mistakes.” The Active 20-30 of Greater Sacramento No. 1032 traces its roots all the way back to the men-only 20-30 Club of Sacramento No. 1, which formed in Sacramento in 1922. The Sacramento “20-30-ettes” formed in 1940 as an auxiliary women’s club, with only wives of the members of No. 1 allowed — but marriage to a male 20-30 member is no longer required. In 1991, the 20-30-ettes chartered their own club to form the Active 20-30 Club of Greater Sacramento No. 1032. It still operates as a women-only club.

This year, Sacramento No. 1032 raised around $4,000 more than last year’s crab feed. Welch says that getting sponsorships and more donations — such as drink sponsors — for such events can make themmore successful.

“We’ve partnered with a lot of local businesses who have sponsored us every year,” Welch says. “Just building those relationships and working through those relationships each year has really helped us.”

Membership has also increased over the past six months. The club recently changed its membership rules, and shortened the trials for prospective members from a six-month trial to only three months. The result has been almost double the amount of incoming members.

“We’re getting a lot more people exposed to the club, and quicker,” Welch says. They found that people would quit after months spent volunteering at events if they still couldn’t achieve member status. The club currently has 77 members and 16 prospective members.

The crab feed is one of several events run by the group. It also manages a Community Service Scholarship program for female high school seniors, through which it awarded seven scholarships this year.

Last fall, the club decided to try something new, and put on a Kicks Fore Kids FootGolf Tournament — a game that lies somewhere between soccer and golf. The tournament raised $5,000 for the Boys and Girls Club of Sacramento. On Aug. 27., the club will host the Sactown Urban Dash, a scavenger hunt around Sacramento. The proceeds will benefit Sacramento Girls on the Run.

“This sounds cliché, but the children are the future, in a literal sense,” Welch says. “And I think if you give them a good start in the community and help them out and show them that even once you become our age you can still give back to your own community … it just keeps the cycle going.”

If you are a female between the ages of 21 and 39, and are interested in joining, you can reach the Active 20-30 of Greater Sacramento No. 1032 at info@sacwomens2030.org.