Author Archives: Miriam Vince

Our Virtual Meeting for April 2021

Three Members Make A Pitch for
Their Chosen Charities!

Meeting rooms and microphones aren’t necessary for virtual meetings. The most important component of our “gathering” is the information provided by the three committed 100WWCG members who have volunteered to detail the important work their charity is undertaking and how they would make use of a donation.

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If you missed the chance to see the nomination draw, follow this link.

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Our three chosen charities are:

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1. ARCH – HIV AIDS

(Nominated by Sonia Preisler)
Follow this link to read Sonia’s presentation.

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Hope House

(Nominated by Marissa Teeter )
Follow this link to read Marissa’s presentation.

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North End Harvest Market

(Nominated by Linda Cowbrough)
Follow this link to read Linda’s presentation.

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Photo by ＫｕｃｈｉｈｉｇｅＳａｂｏｔｅｎ on Unsplash

Important Announcement!

North End Harvest Market
is the Recipient of our April 2021 Donation!

Our donation will give NEHM the opportunity to continue to safely provide much-needed food security to many struggling individuals and families during the ongoing pandemic. Their mission is to ensure that Covid is not a barrier to fresh produce for the city’s most vulnerable population.For more information, follow this link to our most recent press release.

Virtual Meeting April 2021

Three Members Make A Pitch for
Their Chosen Charities!

If you missed the chance to see the nomination draw, you can follow this link.

1. ARCH – HIV AIDS

(Nominated by Sonia Preisler)
Follow this link to read Sonia’s presentation.

2. Hope House

(Nominated by Marissa Teeter )
Follow this link to read Marissa’s presentation

3. North End Harvest Market

(Nominated by Linda Cowbrough)
Follow this link to read Linda’s presentation.

Guelph Black Heritage Society Says “Thank You!” For Our October 2020 Donation

Kween and Denise from Black Heritage Society were happy to receive 100WWCG’s October donation

Guelph Black Heritage Society is so thankful for the opportunities that 100 Women provided us.

This has made a huge impact on our nonprofit during such a watershed moment in history.

The funding has enabled us to purchase resources for the Flora Francis Library of Black Literature. Education is key for our organization and this allows education to be brought to our safe haven. This Library will be housed in the lower level of the Heritage Hall. The space will be full of resources materials and works of Black authors and books significant to the Black community and our allies.

Additionally, we were able to contract Uli Walle from Old World Woodworking to construct the new doors and transom window. This work is very precise and highly priced due to the Heritage it must upkeep. The work has started and they are expected to be installed in the spring (Covid premitting).

Thank you so much

Kween, Executive Director, Guelph Black Heritage Society

Our Virtual Meeting For January 2021

Our Three Nominated Charities Present their Request!

We don’t have a meeting room or a microphone for our virtual meetings. That said the three members selected in our nomination draw have been invited to make a brief written presentation about their charities, as part of our nomination and selection process. In these presentations, they describe the work they do and how they would make use of a donation from 100 Women Who Care.

If you missed the opportunity to see the nomination draw, you can follow this link.

Our three chosen charities are:

Guelph Community of Hearts Lifelong Learning Centre
(Nominated by Susan Wahlroth)

Follow this link to read Susan’s presentation

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Guelp h Chalmers Community Services Centre
(Nominated by Alison Jukes)

Follow this link to read Alison’s presentation.

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Guelph North End Harvest Market
(Nominated by Linda Cowbrough)

Follow this link to read Linda’s presentation

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

We have news!

Guelph Chalmers Community Services Centre Is the Recipient of our January 2021 Donation!

Money will be allocated to provide support to their very necessary Food Pantry program, which has been in great demand during the Covid-19 pandemic.For more information, follow this link to our most recent press release.

Chalmers Community Services Centre receives a cheque from 100WWCG. — Carol Dilworth presents a cheque from 100WWCG to Chalmers Community Services Centre

Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington Says “Thank You!” For Our October Donation

October 2020 Brings Our Second Virtual Meeting

Photo by israel palacio on Unsplash — *Photo by* israel palacio on Unsplash

We may not have a meeting room or a microphone, but as part of our virtual nomination and selection process, the three members selected in our nomination draw have been invited to make a brief written presentation about their nominated charities, to describe the work they do and how they would make use of a donation from 100 Women Who Care.

Just in case you missed the opportunity to see the nomination draw, you can follow this link.

Our three chosen charities are:

1. Guelph Community Foundation’s Youth Hub Flow Through Fund
(Nominated by Cyndy Forsyth)

Follow this link to Cyndy’s written presentation.

2. Guelph Black Heritage Society
(Nominated by Barb Tremblay)

Follow this link to Barb’s written presentation.

3. Grand River Conservation Foundation
(Nominated by Rebecca Whitney)

Follow this link to Rebecca’s written presentation.

Our Virtual Meeting For October 2020

Our Second Virtual Meeting Brings Members Together For Another Opportunity To Give Back to Our Community!

For the second time this year, 100 Women Who Care Guelph was unable to connect in person due to Covid-19 concerns. In spite of the challenges, we persisted in our determination to give back to the Guelph charities. As part of our “virtual” nomination and selection process, members representing three charities selected in our nomination draw, provided written presentations which were reviewed and voted upon by members. It’s great to know that in these difficult times, 100WWCG continues to “think outside the box” in our efforts to give back our community.

Just in case you missed the opportunity to see the nomination draw, you can follow this link.

Our three chosen charities are:

1. Guelph Community Foundation’s Youth Hub Flow Through Fund
(Nominated by Cyndy Forsyth)

Follow this link to Cyndy’s written presentation.

2. Guelph Black Heritage Society
(Nominated by Barb Tremblay)

Follow this link to Barb’s written presentation.

3. Grand River Conservation Foundation
(Nominated by Rebecca Whitney)

Follow this link to Rebecca’s written presentation.

Drum Roll Please!

Guelph Black Heritage Society is the Recipient of our October 2020 Donation!

Money will be spent two ways:

Change Starts Now, is a response to the increased demand in our community to learn about Black History, anti-racism, discrimination and diversity, both locally and globally. Funds will help sponsor educational programming events at Heritage Hall, as well as on-line. In addition, GBHS is in the process of developing a resource library at Heritage Hall and has reached out to local school boards about making these valuable resources available to local teachers and students. These resources can easily be shared with everyone in Guelph-Wellington and beyond.

Funds will also be used to provide a new front door for Heritage Hall. The GBHS is committed to restoring Heritage Hall to make it safe, environmentally friendly and accessible. There is great symbolism in funding this door. When closed, a door provides safety and protection for those within. When open, a door says “Welcome”.For more information, follow this link to our most recent press release.

Food4Kids Guelph Says “Thank You!” for our January 2020 Donation

100 Women Who Care Guelph

When the 100 Women Who Care Guelph team entrusted Food4Kids Guelph with its quarterly donations in January 2020, our volunteer-run charity was over the moon. While the funding was extremely valuable for our small charity, your support and encouragement was, too.

Receiving the extra money from 100 Women meant that we could immediately enroll more children in our weekend food bag program and reduce our waiting list. In fact, our 180 enrolled children soon grew to 200 by March and we were on track for even more growth. Then Covid-19 struck.

With schools closed, we were unable to deliver our weekend food bags and we immediately switched to mailing grocery gift cards to the children’s caregivers, in the amount of $15 per child per week.

Sadly, the Covid closures also forced us to cancel our signature fundraising event of the year, our “Closing The Weekend Gap Breakfast” that was already well planned and scheduled for April 28. Ouch.

We were also “stuck” with a lot of pre-purchased, shelf-stable food on our shelves which we donated to Guelph’s wonderful Chalmers charity to supplement their free food bags. We also lent some of our equipment like freezers and delivery trolleys to other agencies providing food deliveries during Covid. The response of Guelph agencies for food-security has been remarkable.

It soon became clear that Covid was making family struggles even more dire, so Food4Kids Guelph made a difficult decision. That was to “blow our budget” by dipping into funds already raised for the next school year so that we could provide grocery gift cards to our families throughout the 2020 summer months as well. We realized that this decision would deplete our carefully planned budget by some $40,000 and that it could mean starting the 2020-21 school year supporting fewer children. However, we felt it was the right thing to support families when they needed it most.

And then our little team of volunteers got to work, as hard as we could. We applied to every possible grant program and reached out to our donors.

With great relief we are happy to report that since April we have raised $40,000 and then some. Our program is back on track financially and now aims to support up to 300 children in the next school year. Our hearts are happy, and we are sleeping much better!

Thank you so much for supporting Food4Kids Guelph. As I am a regular member of our 100 Women Who Care Guelph team, I will gladly share updates at future meetings.

Sincerely,

Terrie Jarvis

Program Coordinator

Food4Kids Guelph

Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington is the Recipient of Our Second Donation of 2020!

Our July Virtual Meeting Was a Great Success!

100 Women Who Care Guelph may not have been able to meet in person this quarter, but we weren’t deterred from finding a way to give to a deserving local charity. As part of our “virtual” nomination and selection process, three charities selected in our nomination draw have made written presentations and members have reviewed them and voted. The process was remarkably smooth and feedback from members has been positive. It’s great to know that in these difficult times, 100WWCG can still “go the distance” to make positive change within our community.

The three charities nominated were:

Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington (Nominated by Karyn Kirkwood)
Guelph Community Foundation’s Youth Hub Flow Through Fund (Nominated by Cyndy Forsyth)
Lakeside Hope House (Nominated by Lorna Ronald.)

Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington is the Recipient of our July 2020 Donation!

The contribution from 100WWCG will be used to support their Free to Grow at Home initiative, providing kits that will get kids’ hands and feet moving, spark their imagination, and support their learning and healthy childhood development, while also providing some respite for parents who have been parenting and teaching 24/7 during the COVID shut-downs.

Our donation will be put to work immediately through the purchase of supplies from local retail partners, to bring nutritious food, fun, creativity and learning to kids this summer. For more information, follow this link to our most recent press release.

Carol Dilworth of 100WWCG presents our donation to representatives of Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington.

Food4Kids Guelph Says “Thank You!” For Our January Donation

As is the tradition at our quarterly meetings, the winning charity which is the recipient of the previous quarter’s donation, addresses the meeting and updates the group and provides an update on how the funds received have been used. Terrie Jarvis, the Program Co-ordinator of Food4Kids, has provided a written transcript of her expression of thanks.

Follow this link to see the text of her presentation.

What’s Next?

Like everyone else, the steering committee of 100 Women Who Care Guelph is working hard to plan for how the group proceeds in the future, given the changing situation related to COVID-19. We are in discussions with the Delta Hotel, to firm up our meeting dates for 2020-21. As soon as we have information about “in person” meetings, we will notify everyone by email and post information on the Upcoming Meetings page on our website.

Meanwhile, we would like to thank all of our members for their patience and support during this incredibly challenging time. The Guelph community is the major beneficiary of your commitment to give generously, even when life is complicated.

Thanks for all you do,

Sharon, Tannis, Miriam, Lisa, Carol, Peggy and Dianne
The 100 Women Team

July 2020 Brings Our First “Virtual Meeting”

Our Three Nominated Charities Make Their Pitch!

Due to ongoing COVID 19 concerns, 100 Women Who Care Guelph decided to replace our “in person” July meeting with a “virtual” nomination and selection process. To that end, we invited nominations for local charities to make presentations to our group. New nominations were vetted and previously qualified charities were also considered. Sharon and Tannis drew names from a hat and created a video announcement which was circulated to members.

Just in case you missed the opportunity to see the nomination draw, you can follow this li nk.

We may not have a meeting room or a microphone for this meeting, but as part of our “virtual” nomination and selection process, the three charities selected in our nomination draw have been invited to make a brief written presentation to describe the work they do and how they would make use of a donation from 100 Women Who Care.

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Karyn Kirkwood presents on behalf of

Children’s Foundation of Guelph-Wellington