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This good deed is simply done
(by Barbara Christian - October 17, 2012)
This good deed is simply done
Let me tell you about my up-street neighbor, a wonderful woman who works in one of what we have come to call “the helping professions.”
The thing is she doesn’t stop caring about people when she leaves work. Looking out for the wellbeing of others extends to her private life, her philanthropy and sometimes at the grocery store where we both shop. I’ll explain that later.
Here are two things friends and even casual acquaintances know about my neighbor: gloomy is not one of her character traits; enthusiasm is. Did I mention she has the energy of a hummingbird on high-fructose corn syrup?
If you are waiting to know this woman’s name, forget it. I didn’t ask her permission. If I had, she would have nixed it, and that would have denied me the opportunity to talk about her heartfelt passion. One that could be yours too. Everyone needs a little heartfelt in their lives. Agreed?
About the grocery store. It is there one day not long ago that she hailed me down. I was on her list, she said, then, like a preacher in a revival tent, launched into a pitch about something that absolutely needed to get into the newspaper. It was late. I was tired and skeptical.
There, among the pumpkins and the cabbages, she described the group and what it does. It is not club in the traditional sense. This one meets four times a year to take care of a single agenda item.
“We don’t have refreshments, no officers, and we are in and out in an hour,” she said. Sounds good ... but, thought the weary skeptic.
It’s called 100 Women Who Care of the Western Reserve, she continued. It meets quarterly to hear three or four women make presentations for a near-and-dear cause or charity, one which serves the Western Reserve region.
The women vote for their choice among the worthy candidates, ballots are counted, a simple majority rules, the beneficiary announced, and each of the 100 women or so in attendance writes her check for $100 made out directly to the charity.
In July, the local 100 Women beneficiary was Providence House, which provides emergency housing for babies and children.
The goal is 100 women, 100 checks of $100 each. Do the math. It’s a lot. What is collected at each of these meet-ups is more than can be raised through most traditional long-range fundraising efforts.
If $100 at a time is beyond your comfort level, my neighbor tells me teams of four or five are welcome. They write their checks in sums totaling $100. Easy-peasy.
The process is, she assured me, just that easy. Then my neighbor dug into her purse, came up with a card and thrust it into my hand. It directed me to a 100 Women website, which explains it all in detail.
Could the newspaper, she pleaded, please let people know? Then she was gone, wheeling her cart toward the exit.
I put the card in my purse, finished my shopping, loaded my bags into the car and drove home, thinking how elegant simple the 100 Woman concept really is and how readers should know about it.
The 100 Women group meets every fourth Tuesday of every fourth month from 7 to 8 p.m. in Chagrin Falls Township Hall. The next one is Jan. 22. All women are invited, if only to watch how philanthropic magic happens.
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