WORDS FROM OUR RECIPIENTS
Learn about the non-profits we have given to so far, and what they've been able to do with our collective donations!
MAY 2021
THE HUB YOUTH CENTRAL
The HUB Youth Central was our first non-profit chosen, and we donated $9,600!
The HUB is thriving in no small part thanks to the support we have received from 100 Women Who Care about Whidbey! During the summer we operated our youth center two days per week. Beginning in September returned to our normal pre-Covid schedule of M-F after school. It has been so wonderful to reunite with our youth and resume all the wonderful activities we love. There is much joy expressed by our kids!
Providing food is our priority. Our cooks serve hot dinners, healthy snacks and treats to our youth. Another priority is easing the strain of mental health problems our youth have withstood during the long year in quarantine. We are here every day helping teens problem solve, access needed services and regain a sense of normalcy. It is wonderful to have them back in school but they also is an additional stressor. We help kids navigate their way through these turbulent times we are living through.
We can’t thank you enough for choosing to help The HUB as your first priority as a philanthropic organization. The work you are doing together is so helpful and needed during the challenges we face during this pandemic. Your help certainly made our work possible. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Shelly Benton
Program Manager of The HUB
OCTOBER 2021
KIDS FIRST - ISLAND COUNTY
Donated $12,950!
The Kids First team is jumping with joy & with gratitude to you, the members of 100 + WOMEN OF WHIDBEY! By virtue of your collective support, we are in process of expanding the 2022 delivery of current programs designed to link children with opportunities that are part of a normal childhood, opportunities that they would likely be unable to access, otherwise. We are also readying to launch new programs early into the New Year (Jan-Feb 2022). Your support will allow Kids First to remain responsive to children’s emerging needs during the 2022 year and beyond.
Current programs include:
Outreach program: a foundational program that aims to respond and meet children’s individual needs and aspirations. This month to date Kids First has been able to meet requests submitted on behalf of #4 children/youth, as follows:
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Enrollment in a series Cheer Gymnastics lessons for (2) preschool-age siblings.
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WA Husky gear for a teen who attended his very first football game during the 2021 Apple Cup.
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Christmas presents tailored to delight an #8YO child who is in-care.
Adventures in Reading: Your support is allowing us to build our selection of books for this program that aims to nurture a love of reading by ensuring children’s year-round access to a variety of activity and reading books.
2022 Initiatives will include:
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Care Packs: Aiming to help ease the journey for children/ youth as they newly enter ‘dependency status’
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Wheels 4 Kids: Linking Island County children (tots to teens) with a bike they can call their own.
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Spring Break Activity Boxes: An assortment of educational & recreational activities to meet children’s interests during Spring Break, especially helpful for children experiencing a change in placement.
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Celebrating You: Ensuring that every child receives a special gift on their birthday. It looks like 4th-5th graders (Coupeville SD) will be designing birthday cards to go with each gift.
These 2022 Initiatives are already generating a response from individuals who want to volunteer their time talent and heart for children and youth. Special thanks to members Sonya Simmons and Anne Masters. Sonya has rallied the support of her husband and the Simmons Towing Team who have offered their assistance in assembling and delivering bikes to kids. Anne has offered her multiple talents to support the development of a social media/awareness campaign along with programing designed to promote job/career -readiness for teens.
You embody the awesome power of collective good-will that is inherent within a community that cares. We join in heartfelt gratitude and with wishes for your comfort and joy during this Holiday Season and throughout the New Year!
Patti Carroll for fellow members of the Kids First Board of Directors
Linda Abbot, Joan Johnson, Kathy McLean, Gwendine Norton, and Karen Vojtecky
MAY 2022
SPIN CAFE
Donated 12,220!
SPiN Café is so very grateful that you chose us as a recipient for a grant! The monetary gifts you gave help ensure that our operation continues serving the island's homeless and near homeless population. One of the primary functions of SPiN Café is to provide lunches and other nutritious foods for our guests. As you already know, inflation has made the cost of food skyrocket—and that includes our operation. We purchase many of the items that we serve for breakfast and that are included in the daily lunches that we and our partner churches serve 7 days a week. Your donations will provide a whole year’s worth of milk, cereal, bread, lunchmeat and cheese, fruit and a variety of beverages and bottled water.
We are seeing more and more individuals come into SPiN Café for lunch and at our dinner service three days a week. Food insecurity is very real, especially for people who have little or no income. SPiN Café serves a need in our community that isn’t filled anywhere else—we are a community and resource center for people who have very little, who are at the margins of our society. We couldn’t do what we do without generous organizations and individuals like you!
Michele Chapman
Executive Director of SPiN Cafe
OCTOBEr 2022
I SUPPORT THE GIRLS - WHIDBEY ISLAND
Donated 12,000!
Your generous donation is helping I Support the Girls - Whidbey Island collect and distribute essential items, including bras, underwear, and menstrual hygiene products, allowing women and folks experiencing homelessness, impoverishment, or distress to stand tall with dignity.
Update from late January:
So far we have spent almost $1,800. Thanks to 100 Women Whidbey we were finally able to join the Oak Harbor Chamber of Commerce. That will allow us to spread the word farther and faster than we have in the past. We have been purchasing pads and tampons until they are coming out our ears!!! We spent six hours yesterday finding room for everything! They are here at a distribution center and our volunteers have started delivering them. We have also been able to respond to the schools who have been requesting them! This week we will be delivering pads to the IC jail, the foster care system of IC and to many others. And it's all because of you and 100 Women Whidbey.
Kate Mistler
ISTG - Whidbey Island
MAY 2023
Growing Veterans - Whidbey Outpost Farm
Donated $17,000!
($12,000 directly from our group + $5,000 match from the Shulze Family Foundation)
Together, we were able to raise $17,000 for Growing Veterans - Whidbey Outpost Farm! Our collective donation will help Growing Veterans deliver on their mission to tackle mental health by combining agriculture with veteran peer-support and community engagement. We can't thank the Schulze Family Foundation enough for their generous grant of $5,000 - their willingness to match qualifying collective donations from 100 Women Who Care groups like ours is truly a gift!
We presented our donation to Growing Veterans on June 2nd and got to check out their farm space in Greenbank! They need a new storage shed and farming supplies to help them work the land over the summer and store their tools, and they are SO thankful that our donation will help with that. They will provide an update in a couple months so we'll share that out with the group as soon as we get it. Thank you again for your support!!
OCTOBER 2023
COUPEVILLE FARM TO SCHOOL
Donated $18,230!
($13,230 directly from our group + $5,000 match from the Shulze Family Foundation)
Together, we were able to raise $18,230 for this awesome non-profit, our largest donation yet! Huge thank you to the Shulze Family Foundation for the $5,000 grant on top of our group's collective donation! Coupeville Farm to School's garden program currently serves about 497 students (K-5). With your generous donation, they can work towards expanding this program to serve all 900 students in the district, including middle and high school students. This would provide after school programming through Big Brothers Big Sisters and kickstart a composting initiative that would feed the sustainability class's composting beds, the school farm, and the school gardens.
When we presented the check to Coupeville Farm to School, we had only received $12,800 but a few more donations rolled in after. They will provide us with an update in a few months!
