100 Women Who Care of the North Shore uses strength in numbers to support good causes

There may be a finite number of women involved, but the possibilities seem limitless.

For the past five years, a large group of North Shore women have held quarterly meet-ups to open their cheque books and their hearts.

100 Women Who Care of the North Shore is designed to make an immediate, direct, and positive impact on the lives of people in the community, according to Mary McGivern, the organization’s co-chair.

Four times per year the group of more than 100 North Shore women selects a local charity and each person donates $100 to the selected organization, for a minimum $10,000 total donation each session.

“The concept is very simple,” says McGivern. “Collectively, we can make such an impact on our local community with a $100 donation from each of our members. Individually it’s not going to make a huge difference, but collectively it becomes $10,000 and we meet four times a year.”

At every one-hour meeting, members are allowed to nominate a local charity of their choosing. The nomination forms are placed in a box and three are randomly selected. The member who made the selected nomination is then compelled to give a three- to five-minute presentation on the charity in order to sway the other members, according to McGivern.

“Our members are allowed to nominate any charity that supports the North Shore,” says McGivern.

Following the presentations, the group votes between the three nominated charities and the one with the most votes is the organization that receives the group’s donation at the end of the night.

“It’s a simple, easy process to do so. It doesn’t require much time commitment, four hours a year basically,” says McGivern.

At the 100 Women Who Care of the North Shore’s September meeting, the group choose to support the Whole Dyslexic Society after a new member nominated them. The Whole Dyslexic Society supports workshops for teachers to help better understand how a student with dyslexia learns, according to McGivern.

“We had no idea that some of these grassroots organizations even existed on the North Shore. I think that’s a lot of it for us – is just learning what supports are out there.”

100 Women Who Care was founded in 2006 in Jackson, Mich., as a simple way to raise money efficiently and quickly for local charities. Since then, local chapters of 100 Women Who Care have sprouted up all over the world. The North Shore chapter was started in 2014 by Delaina Bell, then executive director of the West Vancouver Community Foundation, along with other founding directors Susan Beck, Nancy Farran, Barbara McMillan and Fanny Patterson.

McGivern and Naomi Chard have co-chaired the North Shore chapter for the last two years.

“We hit our 100th member at our September meeting,” says McGivern, who notes the group is always looking to add more members.

Another example of a charity that 100 Women Who Care of the North Shore recently contributed to is North Shore Meals On Wheels, “whose budget is almost non-existent.”

Funds from 100 Women Who Care helped Meals On Wheels buy thermal carriers to ensure their meals arrive hot and ready to eat, says McGivern.

“We really want to make sure it’s for something specific, it’s not just going into the general pot. That’s part of the pitch that the members have to make,” she says.

The group’s next meeting is slated for Monday, Dec. 2 at Amica Lions Gate in West Vancouver at 7 p.m.

“People are welcome to come to the meeting to check us out,” adds McGivern.

Those interested in joining the group’s next meeting are asked to register before Nov. 27. Visit 100womennorthshore.com/meetings for more information.