100 women making a difference
ZANESVILLE − 100 Women Who Care Muskingum County demonstrates the power of mathematics to make a difference to local charities. Simply, 100 women giving $100 each can add up and have a huge impact on an organization.
The group is a type of charity known as a giving circle. There is little to no overhead, meaning that the donations have maximum impact, said Melanie Klotzbach, founder and current president of the group. The only organizational structure is an email list and a Facebook page. “Every donation goes to charity,” she said. Expenses, like room rental, are covered by meeting sponsors.
The inspiration to start the group came from Klotzbach’s mother, Pat Bolton, who is a member of a group in Louisiana. The 100 Who Care Alliance is an umbrella organization for the various 100 Who Care groups. The first group was started in Jackson, Michigan, in 2006, according to the alliance’s website.
In August 2019, Klotzbach sent out a letter to friends and people she had met through her work fundraising for a variety of organizations, inviting women to join the group. That October, they met for the first time.
That first meeting, 150 women showed up, checkbooks in hand. The organization gave out $15,300 to Homeless Hands, a Zanesville organization devoted to helping the homeless. Eastside Community Ministries and the Zanesville Parkinson’s Group each received $500.
Amy Dillon, of Amy’s Totes of Hope, was awarded $10,400 in October. Amy’s Totes of Hopes provides totes full of things like water, lip balm and lotions to make cancer patients chemotherapy sessions a little more bearable. It also offer hopes, and with things like adult coloring books and word searches − something patients can do during their sessions.
With the additional funding, Dillon said she would be able to get more items for the totes, and “branch out and work with Genesis Healthcare to provide gas cards and hotel vouchers for people in Muskingum County who have to travel further, or people who need help locally if they have to stay.”
“I am so appreciative and overwhelmed,” Dillon said. She became a member of 100 Women to help other organizations in the future.
The most recent recipient was the Muskingum County Literacy Council, which was awarded $11,450. That money will go to help the council pay for membership in the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. The library gives free monthly books to children from birth to age 5. “It means providing two months of providing books to 3,600 preschoolers in our county, delivering a book directly to their house,” said Becky Hill, treasurer for the council. It will also help fund the council’s Family Reading Festival on May 13. “All the money will be used to put books in the community,” she said.
Members nominate a charity before each meeting. The charities must have been established for at least year, and a registered 501c3. Each nomination goes into a bucket, and the meeting’s sponsor picks three prior to each meeting. The three finalists are announces to the group, usually three or four weeks before the next meeting. Representatives from the three organizations pitch their charity to the members at the meeting. Members vote, and the winner gets the largest prize, at least $10,000. And if more than $12,000 was donated that month the two other finalists receive $1,000.
“When you group that many women together, it makes a much bigger impact,” Klotzenbach said. “Together we can make a difference is kind of like our theme.”
The group partners with the Muskingum County Community Foundation, who vets the charities, and acts as a pass through for the money. That simplifies the process of the donation.
The group meets three times a year, an so far has given away more than $120,000.
Klotzenbach said the meetings allow members to see the impact of their donation, and learn about lesser known local charities. Each meeting, the past winner gives an update to the group, to talk about how the money was spent, or future plans for funding. Then the three finalists give a brief presentation about their charities.
Klotzbach said she knew about half of the people at that first meeting, and about half had joined through word of mouth from other invitees.
“We are creating a community, new members every month are joining us,” she said.
Member Kelly Ashby said the group is a great way to network, as well as give. “It is a great way to give, not to take the place of other charitable contributions, just an extra thing to be a part of.”
For information about 100 Women Who Care Muskingum County, visit the group’s Facebook page.
ccrook@gannett.com