By Daryl Major

Local Women Who Care chapter nearing $50k in donations

Mar 12, 2017 | 10:12 AM

NANAIMO —  Since last June, a group of over 100 mid-island women have donated more than $48,000 to local charities.

The interesting part of the fund raising is that the group only meets once every three months, and only for an hour. 100 Women Who Care Mid-Island spokesperson Vicki Swan said every member brings their cheque book and the name of a group to raise money for.

“In that hour, what we do, is we draw three different charity names out of a basket,” Swan said. “And the different members who nominated those charities get up and pitch to our group about why we should support them and then by secret ballot we vote on which charity we want to support.”

Once the charity is chosen, Swan says each group member writes a cheque for $100.

This past Wednesday, March 8 was International Women’s Day. Coincidentally, the group raised $13,700 for the Haven Society in Nanaimo which helps shelter and support victims of domestic violence.

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Since its inception, the local Women Who Care group has helped a lot of people, according to Swan.

“We’ve raised about $48,000 dollars since we started,” she said. “And we started last June so we’re coming up to our anniversary soon. I think that to mark our success we’ll be giving even more money away.”

Ladysmith Resources Centre Society, Nanaimo Hospice Society, and Ladysmith Family and Friends have been past donation recipients.

Swan said they’re always looking for new members and people can get information at their website.

Currently there are close to 400 active 100 Women Who Care Chapters throughout the world. On Vancouver Island there are four chapters, in Victoria, Cowichan, Oceanside and mid-island.

daryl.major@jpbg.ca