Having been in existence for seven years and having partnered in nearly $300,000 of financial donations, the local 100-plus Women Who Care organization is drawing to a close.
“We are so proud of the work we have done and we are incredibly grateful to the community for such incredible support,” said co-chair Tara Chernoff. “We did feel like we had, throughout those seven years, probably reached out to almost every nonprofit organization that we could find. We felt it was probably time for a break.
“We reached out to our members and asked if there was anybody who is interested in carrying on with this. Perhaps with some renewed energy and a new kind of core focus group, this could continue on. However, we didn’t have anyone who was ready to take that on at this time, so we just decided it was a good time for a break.”
Co-chair Julie Silvestrini said it seemed like the right timing to be going out on a high.
“It has been so successful, and it was really good timing to sort of wrap it up,” said Silvestrini.
The organization started in a coffee room, where Chernoff was asked if she had heard of the model called 100 Women Who Care.
“It was that question that was the spark for us,” said Chernoff. “We started talking about it and they said, ‘hey, who else do we know who could help us pull something like this off?’ So, we pulled in a few of our friends and that’s how it started.
“What was really exciting was we thought, oh, is there anyone who would be interested in putting their money out there? Everyone we asked said, ‘oh yeah, that’s a wonderful idea.’”
Chernoff said a website was quickly developed and a Facebook page was also put together.
“We threw it out to the world and asked if anyone was interested in joining,” said Chernoff. “I remember that evening, sitting at home, watching how many people would sign up. We thought, what if 10 people signed up? What if 20 signed up? All of a sudden, our Facebook page started dinging.
“All that night, all of us were sitting, or watching our phones, and the numbers kept crawling. Then it was 60, 70 and 80 members later. I thought wow, we are onto something.”
Chernoff said the fledgling organization reached 100 members very quickly. By the time they announced they were dissolving, the number had grown to 217 members.
Similar to many organizations, 100-plus Women Who Care was affected by COVID-19. Silvestrini said in the early days, it was common to have 60 people in the room on nights where donations to community organizations were decided.
“I remember having to bring in more chairs because more people were showing up than we expected,” said Silvestrini. “Then, COVID-19 hit and we had to switch to technology. After the pandemic, when it came back to in-person meetings, our attendance dwindled to 30 or 40 members in the room.”
Silvestrini said to become a member, participants signed a registration form that committed them to donating $50, four times a year. She said with that registration, participants could nominate a local nonprofit or charity to have the opportunity at some point to make a presentation to the membership about what they would like to do in the community.
“Prior to each meeting, there would be a random selection of three from the pool of nominees, and then those three organizations would be contacted and invited to come and share with our membership what they do in the community, and how they would use the funds if they were the successful recipient.”
Mindful of people’s time, meetings typically lasted for an hour, with presentations being made, votes being taken and ballots counted.
“It all happened beautifully in an hour,” said Silvestrini. “Each meeting had its own unique look into what is going on in our community and the amazing things that people in our community were doing to help each other. We had lots of laughter and lots of tears and just really impactful experiences at each meeting.”
One of the great developments of 100-plus Women Who Care was the partnership that developed with Powell River Community Forest. Silvestrini said the organization applied for and were successful in receiving donations, with community forest agreeing to help.
“What they did was they matched our member donations, so our members’ contributions were doubled,” said Silvestrini. “That was a huge contribution to be able to secure those funds and our funds, with all the money staying in Powell River to help local people.”
Chernoff said the community forest came aboard in November 2018, a year after 100-plus Women formed. She said it was really exciting to get the collaboration.
“Since 2018, basically a year after we started, the community forest has been matching donations,” said Chernoff. “It has made an incredible difference.”
Chernoff said a final tally hasn’t been calculated yet, but as of the second to last meeting, $283,707 had been donated between 100-plus Women and the community forest. She said with the final collection, it is anticipated the number will be around $290,000 by the time they are finished.
Silvestrini said she recognized at the last meeting how impactful it was for all the members and how much they loved being part of it, plus how sad they were that it was wrapping up.
Chernoff said what she loved about the group was the donations, certainly, but her favourite feature was learning about all the nonprofits in the community.
“I left every single meeting inspired and so grateful to live here,” said Chernoff. “I’m just in awe with the amount of hours and time and love that people have put into this community. It makes me think this is why I love living here.”
Along with Chernoff and Silvestrini, other members of the 100-plus Women Who Care executive included: Lori Hoy, donations coordinator; Wendy Spreeuw, treasurer; Cindy Villani, membership coordinator; Nancy Howlin, presenter coordinator; and Lynnda McNeil, secretary. Chernoff said she also wanted to emphasize how this group would not have existed without the dedication and involvement of its members.
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