Four Sylvan Lake organizations and charities are benefitting from the charitable group 100 Women Who Care.
On Oct. 21 donations were made to Sylvan Lake Food Bank, Bethany Sylvan Lake, Community Partners and Sylvan Lake Municipal Library.
Because of the ongoing pandemic, the Sylvan Lake chapter of 100 Women Who Care had to do things a little differently with their most recent donation.
Normally the members would nominate a local charity in need and three of those nominees would make a presentation to the group, who would then vote on who to donate. This is done quarterly.
“We had to do things differently this time around, because we couldn’t all meet up and we can’t have presentations by groups,” said Linda Wilson.
The group decided to give back to the four organizations they had donated to in the past. This time, instead of asking each member to write a cheque for $100, they were asked to give what they could.
Places like the Food Bank and Community Partners asked for food and baby supplies to be donated, if possible, to help with ongoing projects.
“We gave our members the option to donate what they can, and where they would like their donation to go,” said Wilson.
Wilson says they chose to do the donation this way because so many people are having a difficult time right now, because of COVID-19, and this seemed like the best option.
“Some of our members were able to donate the regular $100 and that is great, but others donated a flat of soup or a box of diaper, or just less than the $100, whatever they could,” Wilson said.
Kim Langmaid said she is proud to see the members of 100 Women Who Care still come together and give back to their community, despite the difficult time.
“Our members really came together and gave what they could. It is just amazing to see,” Langmaid said.
The four community organizations will use the donations to further ongoing projects, such as study carrels at the Sylvan Lake Municipal Library.
Wilson is planning to hold a digital meeting of some sort in November for the group to “try and get back to normal.”
Community groups can reach out to 100 Women Who Care to be considered for a donation, but each organization must be nominated by a member and be able to give a charitable receipt to members.
“We would really like to hear from groups and organizations in the community. If you don’t know a member, reach out to us and we can put you in contact with a member who would like to nominate you,” Langmaid said.
New members are also welcome to join. Wilson says the more members the group has the more likely they can guarantee a donation of at least $10,000.
“In Red Deer they have almost 200 women participating… we are hoping to get up to 150 member so we can always guarantee that money,” said Wilson.
More information about the group can be found on Facebook, @SL100Women, or by email, sl100women@gmail.com.