A new charitable group dedicated to supporting nonprofits in Island County is currently seeking new members before its next donation cycle begins.
The 100+ Women Who Care About Whidbey was formed earlier this year by a tight-knit group of women, including Traci Winn, her daughter Hailie Meehan and friends Sonya Simmons and Alex Ellis.
“Having grown up on Whidbey — and my mom grew up there as well —we’ve always been looking for ways to give back,” Meehan said.
Her mother was inspired to start the group after hearing about 100+ Women Who Care About Snohomish County.
There are groups all over the nation with similar names.
The group is open to individuals who identify as women. Whidbey residency is not a requirement — Meehan herself lives off-island, and she has invited several of her college friends to join the group.
“Anyone who wants to contribute funds to Island County is allowed to join,” she said.
Twice a year, members of 100+ Women Who Care About Whidbey donate $100 to a nonprofit that is selected by popular vote.
Nonprofits can either be nominated or can apply for consideration, and three are randomly selected to give a brief presentation. Following the presentation, group members vote for one of the three organizations and the one with most votes receives the donation.
Nonprofits on Camano Island are also invited to apply for consideration.
Last month, the HUB in Langley was chosen and given $9,600 in donations.
The next cycle of donations is this October. Meehan said there are already six nonprofits in the mix, and the group currently has 109 members, meaning the next nonprofit chosen will receive over $10,000.
“It really does make such a big impact when you pool all the donations together,” Meehan said.
If they choose, people can even give more than $200 per year.
“We just wanted to make something that was easily accessible to people and didn’t require a lot of time and wasn’t a financial burden to a lot of people,” Meehan said.
• For information or to join 100+ Women Whidbey, visit 100womenwhidbey.com/.
