‘Women Who Care’ give Bethlehem Inn $18K
On Thursday afternoon, charter members of 100+ Women Who Care of Central Oregon presented their first official donation to the Bethlehem Inn, a homeless shelter in Bend. This new fundraising organization handed over checks totaling $18,155.
“The Inn was thrilled to have the opportunity to share our story with such a dynamic group of women, who have such compassion for our community,” says Gwenn Wysling, Executive Director of the Bethlehem Inn.
Wysling says the agency will target this money specifically for homeless families with children. “These funds will directly support 12 families for a month with a warm, safe place to sleep, nutritious meals and access to critical services to help them move forward with their lives.”
The women of Central Oregon responded so overwhelmingly to this new “upside down” model of fundraising the group raised nearly doubled the initial fundraising goal.
“The women of Central Oregon are extraordinarily generous,” says Lisa Connors, co-founder of the chapter, which is the first in Oregon. “We hoped we’d have 100 members at the first meeting and we were thrilled to have had 190 members in attendance. We now have 245 members and we are very happy to have had such an enthusiastic response.I love that when we collaborate, we are going to be able to make such a significant impact on the local non-profit community.”
Based on the 100 Women Who Care model, one hundred women come together for one hour to raise $10,000 or more for a worthy cause. Each voting member may nominate one charity. The group selects three charities at random, then together the women elect a single cause and each member writes a $100 check to the chosen charity.
On Wednesday, September 24th, charter members of 100+ Women Who Care of Central Oregon poured into the OXFORD Hotel in downtown Bend for their first meeting where they elected the Bethlehem Inn to receive their first donation.
“It’s thrilling to see your $100 donation magnified by the number of women in the room,” says co-founder Lisa Shropshire. “Together we can make a profound difference for a worthy cause. We are so pleased to be able to present the Bethlehem Inn with a donation much larger than we had dreamed possible. We look forward to a long future of helping non-profits in Central Oregon.”
Money raised by 100+ Women Who Care of Central Oregon stays local. To be eligible a non-profit must serve Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson counties.
100+ Women Who Care of Central Oregon meet four times a year. They meet next on December 2nd at the OXFORD Hotel in downtown Bend. Registration begins at 5:30, the meeting begins at 6:30 and ends promptly at 7:30.
Learn more about our chapter on our website. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get updates on upcoming meetings and how our money is working in our community.
