Photos courtesy of Amy Weimer
If 100 women each give $100, the group can donate $10,000 to a worthy cause.
Many people have a desire to give back to their community, but often don’t know where to start. Westerville residents, Tania Slack Peterson and Katie Coakley, however, discovered an organization whose sole mission is to reach out and help the greater Columbus community called 100+ Women Who Care. This group of local women inspired Peterson and Coakley to create their own version for the Westerville community – 100+ Women of Westerville.
“We had been talking about these groups that existed and we felt like there were a lot of disparities and unmet needs in Westerville,” Peterson says. “We thought that we would get a group of women together and see if anybody was interested, and they were!”
The premise is that if 100 women each give $100, the group can then donate $10,000 to a worthy cause. The group meets four times a year, making it possible for the community to give back financially to even more organizations. What makes 100+ Women of Westerville so appealing to the community is just how easy it is for members to give back.
“Katie and I are both parents and we both work, so we thought, ‘Wow, four times a year? We can make that happen; we can commit to that,’” Peterson says.
Members can form teams of two or four, lowering their annual donation to anywhere from $200-$400. This allows members to participate at a level they’re comfortable with, and although the group has yet to hit the $10,000 per meeting goal, it has engaged with well over 100 women so far.
“We’ve been able to build an incredible community through the group. Our members have participated in lots of service projects for the organizations they’ve found out about that have pulled at their heartstrings,” Peterson says.
Oftentimes 100+ Women of Westerville decides to dedicate volunteer hours, especially to nominated groups that have yet to receive funding. The City of Westerville reached out to Peterson and Coakley to see in what ways it could support the women and their involvement in the community.
“Our meetings have become a nice central place to recruit people for service events and to see if anybody has the resources or the time to lend their talents to a service project,” Peterson says.
Along with the City, Meza Wine Shop, a retail shop and wine bar in Uptown Westerville, has opened a line of communication with the women’s group. Not only does it provide the space for the group to host its quarterly gatherings, it also sells wine at the meetings and donates half of the wine pours to the organization that garners the most funding votes.
“We are really thankful for having such a lovely space to meet, and the owner has been a huge supporter of our organization, and that’s been wonderful for us,” Peterson says.
Joining 100+ Women of Westerville is easy; all that is required is the submission of a member commitment form via email, or simply show up at a meeting. All are welcome to attend to see if it’s something in which they want to become involved, and once an individual has donated, they are considered to be in “good standing,” and can nominate a cause that’s important to them at the following meeting.
“It’s a very democratic group with a lot of transparency. We count our votes out in the open and everybody knows that night what cause to write their check to,” says Peterson. “We collect the money and give it to the receiving organization and ask that it be recognized as a donation from 100+ Women of Westerville.”
The best part? Meetings are not limited to only 100 participants; all are welcome and no meeting is mandatory.
Just this past February, when officers Eric Joering and Anthony Morelli were killed in the line of duty, one member chose to nominate their families as recipients of the group’s fundraising. This year alone, 100+ Women of Westerville has had the opportunity to support several deserving organizations including: Nellie’s Champions for Kids, Westerville Public Library Foundation and, most recently, the Star House Foundation. As for 2019, it’s unclear what philanthropic causes members will nominate, but Peterson and Coakley are eager about the possibilities.
“We have provided the space and time for women to come together, talk about what's important to them and support our community – and in a way that works for them,” says Peterson. “Having a women’s giving circle has brought people together and put momentum into our community in a way that might not have been there previously.”
If you are interested in joining 100+ Women of Westerville, its next meeting will be held on Jan. 14. Visit www.100womenwesterville.com, for more details.
Mallory Grayson is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
