The international charitable organization 100 Women Who Care will soon have a chapter operational in Sylvan Lake.
Linda Wilson, organizer of the charitable group, says she is excited for the possibilities the group will afford to local charities and groups.
Potentially the group will be able to generate $10,000 for deserving charities in Sylvan Lake and the surrounding area, three times each year.
Wilson says there is the potential for charities to walk away with even more should the group consist of more than 100 members.
“In Red Deer they have around 160 members, so a charity receives roughly $16,000 at the end of the meeting,” Wilson said.
One example of where the money could go is Habitat for Humanity Red Deer. At a meeting in Red Deer, Habitat was one of the potential donation recipients and told the group the plan for the build in Sylvan Lake and detailed what the donation would be used for.
According to Wilson, the charitable organizations must be able to specify what they plan to use the money for before any vote takes place.
“The nominator will speak about why they think the charity is the best option and then a representative from the organization will speak and explain in detail what the money will be used for,” Wilson said. “The next meeting the charity will come back and give us a follow-up report on what has been done.”
Each charity or non-profit must be able to provide charitable receipts, Wilson says.
How the group works is each women will join for one year, committing herself to three one-hour meetings and a total of $300.
Wilson says each women who is a member will write a cheque for $100 at each meeting and the non-profit or charity voted on by the group will receive all the cheques written.
Each member will nominate a charity or non-profit from the Sylvan Lake area, which can extend outwards to Eckville, which will then be put into a hat. Three potential charities will be pulled to be voted on.
“This is a great thing for women who want to be a part of the community and help out but maybe don’t have a lot of time to spend at meetings or volunteering. This is three hours and $300 a year,” Wilson said.
Jennifer Goodall is one of 25 women who have already signed up for the group. She said she jumped at the chance to be a part of something that could potentially help so many people.
“I want to be able to give back, but I don’t have a tonne of time to commit, so when Linda told me about this I thought it was perfect,” Goodall said.
Wilson and Goodall says the group is a good chance for women to meet other like-minded individuals, as well as gives businesses and charities the chance to network.
There are other chapters of this movement that have been organized to be 100 people, children, men and businesses.
The inaugural meeting of the Sylvan Lake 100 Women Who Care will be on April 8 at the Senior’s Centre at 6:30 p.m., pitches and voting be done from 7-8 p.m.
More information about the Sylvan Lake chapter can be found on the group’s Facebook page @SL100Women.