On the evening of Monday, November 15, 100+ Women Who Care Salt Spring Island held its fourth meeting, beginning its second year of raising money for charities with a local impact.

Members had nominated 16 local charities prior to this meeting, of which three were randomly drawn during the meeting: Little Red School House Society, Salt Spring Island Public Library Association, and Salt Spring Arts Council.

Three members gave passionate and informative presentations, explain why they think that their nominated charity should receive the collected donations. Judy Nurse presented for Salt Spring Island Public Library Association, and much to Judy’s delight, the majority of members voted for the library.

Judy Nurse commented: “As one of the 150 people who volunteer at the library, I want to tell you that we are thrilled to receive the gift of $19,100 from 100+ Women Who Care. Thank you so much for this wonderful support for our programs and resources. I look forward to reporting back on how we are using the money to enhance the lives of everyone in our community."

Karen Hudson, Chief Librarian at the public library, added, “Words cannot express how grateful I am to the 191 Women Who Care who selected the Salt Spring Island Public Library last night. Thank you to everyone for your support of our wonderful library! The library has plans for this exceptional funding to be put towards databases for e-books and e-audio books as well as a new subscription of Ancestry that patrons will be able to use in the library.”

Since its inaugural meeting in November 2018, 100+ Women Who Care has raised nearly $60,000 to benefit the community in various ways. Currently, there are 191 members. The meetings continue to be held at ArtSpring, where members raise nearly $20,000 in less than an hour.

If you’re not familiar with this model of philanthropy, it’s a simple concept: 100+ women, one hour, $100 donation, equals $10,000+ at each meeting, three times a year. More details are available on the group’s website: 100womensaltspring.org

The next meeting date is February 24, 2020. Nominations are now open for the next meeting and end 3 weeks before the next meeting.