100 Women Who Care Salt Spring will be another option on the “giving menu” - Imagine raising $10,000 in one hour. Imagine being a local registered charity that is given $10,000! Imagine being able to spend it in the way your organization needs most!

Now imagine being part of that. All you had to do was attend three one-hour meetings a year and donate $100 per meeting. You didn’t have to do bake sales, make calls, or solicit donations from others. Yet, you know that you’ve helped an organization do great work in the community.

This is 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring Island — just one of over 600 active chapters around the world for men, women, and children who want to create positive impact in their communities. Salt Spring’s first chapter of 100 Who Care officially launches on September 26th.

Janine Fernandes-Hayden was first introduced to the idea after hearing about it from a friend involved with a similar group. She just couldn’t shake the idea. Knowing it would translate successfully to the island, she convened a spark-plug group of women: Coreen Boucher, Lina Martens, Maryann Bird, Perry Ruehlen, and Carin Perrins. Along with a handful of sponsors, they’ve spent 6 months laying the foundation of 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring Island.

The concept is simple: 100 women, one hour, $100 donation, equals $10,000 of immediate impact for a local charity each meeting.

Fernandes-Hayden said, “100 Women Who Care appealed to me as a creative way of supporting local, charitable not-for-profits who are often constrained by funding models with limitations.”

How does 100 Women Who Care work?

Registered charities with a local impact are nominated by members. For every member who nominates a charity, an equal number of nominations is placed in the charity basket. At each meeting, three charities are randomly drawn. The member who nominated the charity provides a 5-minute presentation on why they think that organization should receive the funds. After the three presentations, each member votes for her choice. The charity with the most votes is awarded all funds raised that evening. The successful organization is responsible for issuing tax receipts to each member.

Fernandes-Hayden added, “What also struck me about this model was the powerful educational component whereby, through the presentations, members are brought into direct contact with the work of our local organizations.”

The first meeting of 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring is November 8th, 2018, from 7:00 to 8:00 pm at the ArtSpring Gallery Space. Registration and social begins at 6:15, and new member orientation starts at 6:30 pm.

If you’re looking for information ahead of time, visit the 100 Women Who Care Salt Spring Island website and/or attend one of two orientation sessions to be held in the Library Program Space:
October 3, 2018 5:00-6:00  |   October 11, 2018 5:00-6:00