Alissa Groll, governing board member, 100 Women Who Care
A new charitable organization for women is making its way to Cache Valley this spring. Six North Logan women, Emily Gehring, Alissa Groll, Amy Jenson, Brianne Whittaker, Lisa Blau and Jody Porter, are taking inspiration from the national 100 Who Care Foundation and aim to encourage women to contribute just over a dollar a day to charities with local ties.
The model for giving is simple. Members agree to contribute $100 each quarter. The group comes together four times a year to pick one worthy charity with local ties. Meetings are designed to last one hour. The organization with the most votes walks away with a $100 dollar contribution from each woman, providing $10,000 to a cause, if the group meets its goal of 100 members.
The group takes its inspiration from LDS church leader M. Russell Ballard who explained that a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive over its lifespan is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon. Yet, a hive produces somewhere around a 100 pounds of honey in a year. He said that, “Great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands anxiously engaged in a good cause.”
The idea is that when a group combines efforts, they can produce something substantial. This organization is a way for women to work together and make a difference, even while balancing other duties and obligations. All funds collected go directly to the nominated charities since 100 Women Who Care has no overhead.
The organization was created in Jackson, Michigan in 2006 by Karen Dunigan, and has grown to more than 350 local chapters around the world, some including men and children as members.
Dunigan, a real estate agent who called friends to address a single issue that grew to a national movement, died of cancer in 2014. She had sought to buy cribs for low-income new mothers. She raised the needed $10,000 so effortlessly that she continued calling her friends together each quarter for new projects, according to a history on the website of the alliance for 100 Women Who Care chapters.
One local founder, Amy Jensen, cited a quote from Richard L. Evans, who said, “We can’t do everything for everyone everywhere, but we can do something for someone somewhere.”
Another local founder, Emily Gehring, invites all who are interested to join. “We would love to have you join us in this effort,” she said. “As a combined group in Cache Valley we can give back in ways that truly make a significant change for good.”
Visit 100cachevalleywomenwhocare.com for more information about the group or to learn how to become a member.
