Yesterday was the 3rd annual Women's Fund of Winston-Salem luncheon. It was the 2nd one where I have been Chair of the Events Committee...and the last. Though I have enjoyed getting to know the women on this board and I cannot tell you how gratifying it is to see all these women gather for this event, I have got to move on. It is a lot of work and for the most part, it have fallen to two of us to plan the event. Though I am stepping off the board for now, I have no intention of leaving the Women's Fund. It's just time for someone else to take care of this event and hopefully keep improving it. I heard several ladies say yesterday that this was the best one yet which makes me very happy. We want people to leave feeling like they have been to a celebration...to feel inspired by the good they have done for their community. I think we achieved that yesterday. We opened the event with a beautiful young women who works for the Winston-Salem Foundation. She sang "The Greatest Love of All" and I could not stop smiling at her. On a daily basis, when you walk into the Foundation office, she is who greets you. She has the most beautiful gospel voice...a gift from God.
The lunch was meticulously chosen by my events partner. She worked with the chef and together, they came up with a fabulous Mediterranean chicken salad with orzo, sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese. Add a little tomato, onion, artichoke heart marinated dish on the side, a couple of dates and a flower for garnishing and it was a beautiful plate. We just didn't want the usual salad with grilled rubber chicken.
After the meal, we had Willa Brigham, a storyteller, tell our story...about the Women's Fund, philanthropy and social change. She was incredible.
Finally, the main purpose of the luncheon...we announced the award of our grants for the year. We gave nine grants totaling just over $182,000.
- $20,000 to support efforts to help homeless women overcome barriers to housing and self-sufficiency.
- $3,220 to serve girls ages 11-16 with a variety of workshops and programming to motivate them to pursue their education and dreams and build their self-esteem.
- $15,620 to provide hands on science education to 250 5th grade girls in economically disadvantaged schools in Forsyth County.
- $20,000 to train guardian ad litum volunteers to represent the interests of children in domestic violence cases.
- $30,000 to assist women in accessing services and programs to enable them to become more self-sufficient and reduce their dependence on emergency aid programs.
- $30,000 for a mentoring and education program targeting girls ages 11 to 19 who have been emotionally or physically abused or live in other situations without a strong adult support system.
- $5,000 for a program to help impoverished women increase their financial literacy and assets.
- $28,436 to fund a bilingual community outreach worker to provide an array of services and resources to Latina teen mothers to help them stay in school.
- $30,000 to provide an arts based education and mentoring program designed to empower, educate and support girls in developing positive solutions to their problems and challenges.
This is what women can do.
We can change the world.
