2012 Women Who Care Support Local Organizations

2012 Women Who Care Support Local Organizations

Women Who care disburses their 2012 grant checks to four deserving
organizations. Women Who Care(WWC) was established to provide a vehicle for
non-profit organizations to apply for funds to strengthen the quality of life
for families in our local communities. The organization is a project of the Elk
County Community Foundation who provides administrative support for the group.
To date, the group has given $43,400 to local charities since its inception in
just three granting cycles.

This year’s grant recipients are Elk County Children and Youth Services,
Guardian Angel Center, Johnsonburg Borough, and Penn State Extension
Office/4-H. Each group had to not only submit a written application but also present
a 5 minute summary of their project to the current membership, who then voted
for the project that they felt was important to them and the community. Members who were not able to attend were
provided an absentee ballot.

Elk County Children and Youth Services will
provide children with a need a bed and bed linens. There have been children
sleeping on couches and floors. It is a fact that children who get a good night
sleep do better scholastically. Providing a bed for a child means a sense of
security, and something the child can call his or her own. They received $6000 for this program.

Guardian Angel Center will pilot a
disposable diaper program. During the
first 24 months of life an infant uses approximately 3400 disposable diapers at
a cost of $.25 – $.50 each totally in excess of $1000. They are ready to and
will be able to make diapers a regular item for distribution in 2013 with their
$1500 grant.

The Johnsonburg Borough currently
maintains two playgrounds. They have been working to upgrade the Johnsonburg
Community Center Playground’s handicap accessibility and due to increase usage
of the East End playground, they plan to upgrade the equipment at that location
with the help of their $2,500 grant and the help of the Johnsonburg Rotary Club.

The Penn State Cooperative Extension office and the 4-H program will be instituting a Robotics
Club in the community. Monies awarded by
this grant will be used to purchase LEGO Mindstorm Robotics Kits and computers
and software to run them. This $6,000 project
specifically focuses on a need in our community. Local businesses have expressed a need for
more engineers and problem solvers. The
Robotics program will help interested youth build on these skills and hopefully
create interest in engineering and science careers

The WWC Steering Committee is announcing a Holiday,
“Donor Advisor for a Day “membership drive” for the 2013 Granting Cycle.

This year we have an additional $400 in granting money
available. The Steering Committee is offering
an incentive for new and renewing members.
All paid or partially paid memberships by Dec 20th for the
2013 year will be entered into a drawing to be a “Donor Advisor for a Day” . The Winners will be able
to give their favorite charity a special Holiday donation. One new member and
one renewing member will be chosen randomly and will have a $200 donation to
give to their favorite non-profit/501c3 !!

The more membership money we have the more grant money we
can give out to our community! Besides
paying the membership dues, the only other expectation of a member is to vote
on the grant applications either at our annual meeting or by absentee proxy.

All women are invited to become a member of WWC. We would like membership Commitments for the
2013 Granting cycle in by December 31, 2012 but will accept memberships through
the spring provided all dues are fulfilled by June 1, 2013. These dollars will
determine the amount available for grants for the fall of 2013. An
application form is available on the Elk County Community Foundation’s website
www.elkcountyfoundation.com. Look for
the Women Who Care tab on the right side next to the news releases.

Pictured are from left to right is:

Carole Harshbargar, WWC Steering Committee; Jane Bryndel,
WWC Steering Committee; Cly Hornung, Guardian Angels Center; Natalie Aiello,
4-H; Ron King, Johnsonburg Borough; Barb Duffy, WWC Steering Committee; and
Char Floravit, WWC Steering Committee.