Women making a difference
Group has donated more than $140,000 to 11 different charities
They say it’s better to give than to receive.
And give they shall — more than 100 local women will gather tonight in Sydney to decide which registered charity will receive a donation of at least $10,000.
The 6:30 p.m. meeting at Casino Nova Scotia marks the 12th time that the 100 Women Who Care CBRM group will hand out a significant donation to a non-profit, charitable organization within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
Chapter co-founder Deana Lloy says that since it was established almost three years ago, the organization has contributed more than $140,000 to 11 different charities.
“It’s been going great — our members really enjoy the networking and just love the feeling of being together with like-minded women who really want to give to the community,” said Lloy.
“And that’s their gratification because no one in the group really wants to be recognized — it’s even hard to rally them for group pictures because they’re really there out of the goodness of their hearts.”
The group meets four times a month with each member bringing along a cheque made out for $100. They then listen to short presentations from three different charities before voting on which one will be awarded the donation.
The first beneficiary was the Sydney-based Every Women’s Centre. In June, 2014, the centre was presented with a cheque for $13,600 that it put toward two projects — Hands Earning Respect for Self and the Almost Home Women’s Shelter.
According to Lloy, the group’s membership hovers between 115 and 152 women.
“We gain some, we lose some, circumstances change, people move, they get a new job or they lose a job,” she said.
“There are women who join our group to find out which charities they want to support on a regular basis — so they’ll join for a year or two and get exposure to 12 or 24 charities and then they’ll choose which ones they want to branch off with, so we’ve had quite a bit of that turnover, but with as much turnover as we have had with people leaving, we probably have had twice that number join us.”
With the five-figure donation being a game-changer for many charities, it comes as no surprise that the 100 Women Who Care group has not had to look far for potential recipients.
To be considered, a group must be a registered charity, must be able to provide tax receipts to members, must promise that they won’t solicit or database members for future solicitation, and they are required to attend with an update after three months.
Only members can nominate organizations and, once vetted, the names of three charities are pulled from a hat. Then on meeting day, those groups will make a presentation before the 100 Women Who Care members cast their votes and determine the recipient.