100 Women Who Care is making a big difference here

Kathleen Anderson writes The Sage Connection in The JOLT.

I had a nice chat with Stacee Anderson (no relation) a few days ago. Stacee lives in Olympia and is a wife, mother, grandmother and teacher.

Apparently, this wasn’t enough to keep her busy. She began looking around for something to get involved with that she could feel passionate about a few years back, and she found it.

Stacee is the founder of the Olympia Chapter of 100 Women Who Care. The premise for this organization is simple. Stacee explains, “We meet for one hour, four times a year, and each member brings a check for $100.”

She started by recruiting a few friends, and it gradually grew to over 80 members. “Still room for more,” she states emphatically.

Every member can nominate local charities, non-profits, or worthy causes, right here in the greater Olympia community. It’s fast, simple, and amazingly effective. Members who come to the meeting can put the name of the charity they want to speak about into the hat. Three names are drawn at random at each meeting. At Zoom meetings, necessitated by COVID, Stacee pulls from the hat on camera.

Next, the three selected nominating members make a five-minute presentation advocating for their drawn cause. Then members all vote on which cause to support. The top vote-getting charity then receives all the checks, made out to the charity on the spot –mailed in the case of Zoom meetings.

It costs nothing to join and  you can attend any time as a guest to see how it works and decide if the group is right for you.

“Since 2019, our Olympian group of 100 Women Who Care has donated over $60,000 to support Thurston County. We are happy with how much we have accomplished, but are excited to give even more in the future,” Stacee explained.

Stacee and the members at present currently meet via Zoom. “Not as much fun or exciting,” she said but still effective.

They will be meeting again tonight from 6 to 7 p.m. and then at the same time on:

• Wed., May 18, 2022
• Wed., Aug. 17, 2022
• Wed., Nov. 16, 2022

If you miss a meeting, you can always go to the website at 100wwcoo.org to see which charity was selected and contact Stacee if you would like to donate or join for the next round.

Listed below are some of the past recipients:

Hummingbird Studio through Kokua Services

Hummingbird Studio fosters artistic expression in a free, safe, and inclusive space allowing artists of ALL abilities to thrive. Hummingbird is a program of Kokua Services, based in Lacey, which provides supportive housing and other services to adults with intellectual disabilities. ($7,850 donated on 11/17/21.)

Dry Tykes & Wet Wipes

Dry Tikes & Wet Wipes serves families in need of diapers and wipes. This helps parents who need to use daycare, by supplying the diaper supplies those daycares require. ($8,300 donated on 8/19/2021.)

HeartStrides Therapeutic Horsemanship

Heart Strides partners humans with horses for transformative experiences that strengthen, develop, and improve lives. ($8,750 donated on 5/19/2021.)

Homeless Backpacks (renamed All Kids Win) 

Homeless students in Thurston County receive free meals while at school, but Homeless Backpacks keeps them from going hungry during the weekend. ($6,600 donated on 11/18/2020.)

Rochester Organization of Families

R.O.O.F. provides resources and services to children, youth and families. They help provide a healthy, positive, drug-free community. ($5,600 donated on 8/19/2020.)

Stonewall Youth

Stonewall Youth is a youth-led organization that empowers LGBTQ+ youth to speak for themselves, support each other, and work for social justice. ($7,700 donated on 2/19/2021.)

Thurston County Food Bank

The food bank’s stated goal is to eliminate hunger within our community, in the spirit of neighbor helping neighbor. ($8,500 donated on 5/20/2020.)

Rainy Day Ranch

The ranch offers adaptive riding and hippotherapy to children and adults with disabilities or special needs. ($6,500 donated on 2/19/2020.)

As you can see there is a wide array of needs and people to help. Money can’t solve every problem, but it can make a difference.

Kathleen Anderson writes this column each week from her home in Olympia.  Contact her at  kathleen@theJOLTnews.com or post your comment below.