With the purpose of giving back to the community, members of the Hopkinsville chapter of 100 Women Who Care shared their mission at Tuesday’s Hopkinsville Rotary Club meeting.
100 Women Who Care is an international initiative that invites women to engage in their communities and work to benefit their local nonprofits. The Hopkinsville chapter of the nonprofit has been active since November 2022 and has already worked to benefit, multiple nonprofits.
Marla White and Beth Frerichs from the nonprofit shared with Rotarians that they were inspired to start a local chapter after Frerichs told White about how the nonprofit operates and they called upon women who they thought would be interested in joining.
White shared that the nonprofit started in 2006 when founder, Karen Dunigan who heard about new mothers who could not a afford cribs.
According to White, Dunigan called upon her friends to raise money to give mothers in need cribs so that their babies could sleep safely. The idea of around 100 women giving a $100 toward a cause became the structure of 100 Women Who Care.
White says she and Frerichs began with 15 names of women they thought would be interested and now 130 women are members of the Hopkinsville chapter.
Frerichs shared that the nonprofit has quarterly meetings at the Alhambra Theatre to discuss nonprofits they would like to benefit as well as hear from nonprofits about their needs.
At each meeting the members will compile the nonprofits that they would be interested in benefiting and of those compiled three will be chosen at random and members from the organizations will present to the members. The members will then vote through a secret ballot between the three nonprofits for which one they would like to support.
White shared that since their inception the nonprofit has benefited five local organizations which includes the local Boys and Girls Club, the Special Olympics, the Pennyrile Children’s Advocacy Center, the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen and Men2Be.
Frerichs says their organization may be called “100 Women Who Care,” but they are open to more than just 100 members and says any woman can attend their meetings. She also says their form of giving along with the quarterly meetings works to accommodate those who may have busy lives, but still want to make a difference in their community.
More information about the nonprofit is available at 100 Women Who Care Hopkinsville, Ky on Facebook. Their next meeting will be on February 5 at the Alhambra Theatre.