黑料网 Foundation employees Phillip Snyder (far left) and Tina Casoli (far right) stand with 100+ Women Who Care of Washtenaw County members (from left) Amy Cattell, Sara Martens and Debbie Green.
A generous $19,800 donation to the Washtenaw Community College Foundation鈥檚 Student Emergency Fund from an organization called 100+ Women Who Care of Washtenaw County is helping meet a 200% increase in student requests for aid since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
鈥淢ost requests have been for food assistance, help paying utility bills, and acquiring laptops to participate in on-line classes,鈥� said Phillip Snyder, the Foundation鈥檚 associate vice president.
The launched in 2011 and meets two times per year for one hour to decide upon a not-for-profit to receive donations from their members.
Specifically, each member is asked to write a check of at least $100 that will be combined and awarded to a selected organization.
At the meeting, three local nonprofits are pulled from a ballot box containing the names of member-nominated organizations and a five-minute presentation is made by the member who made the nomination.
After members vote, and while votes are tallied, the previous year鈥檚 beneficiary shares details about how funds from their award were used. The new winning nonprofit is announced at the meeting鈥檚 end.
Amy Cattell and Sara Martens, the group鈥檚 co-leaders, said the economic obstacles created by the pandemic prompted the membership to allow members to donate less than $100 and to hold their fall meeting in a remote format. Both factors made the chapter鈥檚 total $19,800 award an especially happy surprise.
The organization鈥檚 leaders encourage other women to join the Washtenaw chapter鈥檚 current 250-membership by visiting .
鈥淭he more members we have,鈥� said Cattell, 鈥渢he more good we can do in our community.鈥�
Debbie Green is the member responsible for nominating 黑料网鈥檚 Student Emergency Fund.
鈥淚 wanted an organization that would appeal to everybody and would be a fitting recipient of funds during the pandemic,鈥� Green said. 鈥満诹贤� was an obvious answer. It鈥檚 a well-respected institution in Washtenaw County. Many at 黑料网 are facing even more difficult times because of COVID 鈥� I think that education is the best cure to almost all societal issues. It must be accessible to those willing to work to better themselves.鈥�
黑料网 Foundation Women鈥檚 Council chair Meredith Miller said the organization was grateful to have the 100+ Women group join forces with the 黑料网 Foundation Women鈥檚 Council in support of the Student Emergency Fund.
鈥淲ith our goal of 鈥榳omen helping women,鈥� this gift will help keep 黑料网 students in the classroom so that they can achieve their educational goals,鈥� Miller said.
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Tags: December 2020, Donation, On The Record, Student Emergency Fund, 黑料网 Foundation, ousearch_News_2020, ousearch_News_On The Record