100 Women Who Care - Central York Region is marking its ninth anniversary this month of giving back and inspiring local philanthropy in our community.
The group of women, serving Aurora, Newmarket and East Gwillimbury, has been meeting four times a year for nine years, donating to one chosen local charity at each meeting. On Oct. 30, they will reach a milestone of having donated more than $400,000.
The volunteer-driven 100 Women CYR has never lost its momentum, even keeping regular meetings virtually through the pandemic, a news release said. The group was founded in 2015 by Laurie Brakeboer and a small group of women dedicated to making a difference by supporting charities doing good work in their own local communities.
The concept is simple: If 100 women donated $100, that’s a $10,000 donation to a deserving charity. There is no overhead and meeting locations are provided free of charge, so all funds donated go directly to the charities.
“We started with 46 members, and slowly grew from there. Today we have over 140 women who come together for one hour each quarter to hear from a variety of charities. Each member agrees to donate $100 per meeting," said Brakeboer. "It’s amazing to think that we’ve been able to reach such an incredible milestone, and we have no intention of stopping.
"What’s remarkable is that in our nine years, we have never donated to a repeat charity. There are so many charities doing wonderful work in our community, and we learn about new ones all the time."
The group describes their quarterly gatherings as "positive and joyful."
Members nominate charities they feel deserve support and two charities are drawn at each meeting for the opportunity. A closed vote after the presentations determines which charity will receive the donation. The membership donates via Canada Helps, which allows the charity to receive the funds immediately.
Then, at the next meeting, a representative from the charity highlight how the donation is making an impact.
"It’s extremely powerful to know what a difference we can make and how many people in need are benefiting," the news release stated.
100 Women Who Care CYR is open to new members willing to commit to a year at minimum (a total of $400 donation, four meetings). The more women who get involved, the greater the impact will be.
For more information, visit 100womencyr.ca/ or email [email protected].
