Home of Charities Impacted

Rolling Total of Donations Collected To-Date: $363,637.33

October 2024

 At our October 2024 meeting, our members filled the Yacht Club and we welcomed 5 new members to 100 Women Who Care.  We have been together now, since 2016 – 8 philanthropic years Erie County charities.  Our membership and commitment continues to grow each year.  Thank you, members!!
– Roz Shepherd opened our meeting by sharing how the Great Lakes Visual and Performing Srts Academy was used from our donation of $14,300.00 in July.  All funds were used to assist students in the this Academy in the arts area at Sandusky City Schools.
  – Roz then pulled 3 charities from the fishbowl.  These charities were:
   * Norma Wible spoke for Erie County Senior Center;
   * Keli Clark presented Project Noelle;
   * Laura Steuk-Mastropolo informed us about the needs of her charity Boots to Grasses – a therapeutic horsemanship program.
Our membership selected Boots to Grasses to receive the membership donation. This program is a volunteer-based , 501C3 organization which provides the opportunity for personal growth to children/adults and military veterans facing challenges through horsemanship experience.
The total donation given to this charity was $13,500.00.

July 2024

We had a full house for our July meeting of 100+ Women Who Care.  It was a beautiful evening overlooking Lake Erie as we began our July meeting.  We welcomed 2 new members and were very pleased to have 2 women who were starting a 100 Women chapter in Ottawa County join us for the evening.

The start up Ottawa Co group was introduced to this idea by a couple of members of our own organization. There first meeting is set for this September.  We wish them the best in this new endeavor.

Annette Ferrell shared that the funds awarded Community Youth Mentoring by our membership at our  last meeting, was used for the youth, their families and the mentors for activities that would otherwise not be possible.

Annette then picked 3 charities randomly out of the fishbowl to present their charities tonight.  Those charities selected were:
– Sandusky Career Center presented by Christine Stark;
– Care and Share was presented by Anita  Kromer;
– Roz Shepherd presented Great Lakes Visual and Performing Arts Academy.  (GLVPAA)

Our membership selected Great Lakes Visual and Performing Arts Academy.  Please visit the Sandusky City Schools website for information about this charity.  The total awarded this charity was $14,300.00.

April 2024

For our April 2024 meeting, we had a great turn out of members, 3 compelling presentations and difficult decision by our membership. This made, once again, for a great 100+ Women Who Care meeting.

The three charities which were drawn randomly from the fishbowl were: 1) Anne McGookey presenting Caryl Crane Youth Theatre 2) Anita Kromer speaking for Care and Share and 3) Annette Ferrell speaking on behalf of Community Youth  Mentoring.

Our members voted and our April meeting donation went to Community Youth Mentoring. Their mission is “to create positive relationships through one-to-one mentoring and instilling  hope into those children’s futures.”  The total given to this charity was $14,200.00.

January 11, 2024

Our first meeting for 2024 was a great success!  We filled SYC ballroom and welcomed 3 new members to 100.+Women  Who Care of Erie Co.  Such a great way to start 2024!

Buffy Greenawalt began our meeting by updating our membership with how our donation was used by the Piggyback Foundation. Our funds assisted with rent payments for several families with the balance  to be used to support their mission “to do big little things to create joy for families faced with a life threatening illness or situation”.

Buffy then picked three charities from the fishbowl for presentation at this January meeting. The charities picked were:

    – Community Youth Mentoring by Annette Farrell;
     – Susie Sartor to present Sandusky Community Celebrations Council;
     – Friends of Michael’s House presented by Sally Sprunk.
Our members voted and selected Friends of Michael’s House as our Charity for January.  Michaels House is used as a location for officials to interview victimized children in a safe, child friendly space by professional individuals.  The total donated to Michaels House for January 2024 was $14,100.

October 12, 2023

This meeting, Oct. 12, 2023  marks the 7th anniversary of the establishment of 100 Women Who Care in Erie Co. Since our first meeting on Oct. 13, 2016, we have given nearly $300,000 to 26 local, worthy charities. And as of this meeting we will exceed that $300,000.00 mark.  A big THANK YOU to our members – Happy Anniversary!
Fathers Heart received our donation in July 2023.  At this meeting, they reported back that our donation was used to help with construction of their new building.  In addition, due to our donation, they met the threshold to receive a grant from the Mylander Foundation to help with this construction.
Our three presenters for our October meeting were:
    Amy Bowman-Moore for Erie Co Metro Parks;
    Amy Fox for Piggyback Foundation;

    Keli Clark for Project Noelle

Our members voted to donate to the Piggyback Foundation.  This charity helps families maintain a sense of normalcy during times of serious illness by providing help to meet the emotional, educational, physical and financial needs of the sick children.
The total donation given to the Piggyback Foundation was $14,000.

July 14, 2023

We had a beautiful summer night at the SYC to come together to choose a charity to help support our community.  We started the evening with Tara Ohlemacher reporting that the donation of $14,700 that they received from our membership is being used by Kinship House to help pay for solid new doors, an additional exit from the building and bullet proof glass.  This will update the building to be “active shooter” safe.
The three presenters for this evening were:
Keli Clarkson for Project Noelle
Mary Dahlman for Sandusky Power Squadron
Amy Didion for Fathers Heart Food Pantry
Great presentations to inform our members of the needs in our community!  Our members voted to give our funds to Fathers Heart Food Pantry.  They provide monthly meal boxes snd weekly fresh food to families with food insecurities.  They will use our donation to help finish a larger food pantry and to also purchase food not available through Second Harvest Food Bank.  The total donation given from 100 women membership was $14,050!

April 13, 2023

Thank you to all members who attended this April13, 2023 spring meeting of 100 Women Who Care in Erie Co.
Melissa Gundlach updated us on how our record donation of 14,600.90 was used to benefit the Erie County Humane Society.  This donation is being used for medical supplies for the animals in their care.
The three charities selected from the fishbowl for this meeting for presentation were:  Sally Sprunk speaking on behalf of Kinship House; Barb Miller spoke about Firelands Habitat and Barb Hanck presented Sandusky Educational Fund (Sandusky High swimming pool).  Thank you, meeting presentors, for giving us insight into these important charities.  Our members voted to donate the member funds to Kinship House.  The record amount collected and presented to Kinship House was $14,800.00

January 12, 2023

Welcome 2023 – another year of giving to our community!  The weather was cold and rainy but our members were warm ready to help – thank you all for attending! Sally Sprunk introduced us to Hazel Foley, the director of Safe Harbour Domestic Violence  Shelter. She updated us on how our funds benefitted their charity. We the listened to three great presentations from the chosen charities: Melissa Gundlach spoke about The Human Society, Sara Godfrey presented The United Way, and Donna Brett informed us all about The Harlequins Theatre.  Thank you for informing us about the needs of these charities in our Erie County community. The members at this meeting selected The Humane Society of Erie County to receive this donation. A record high donation of $14,600.00 was given to this charity.

October 13, 2022

New members continue to attend our meetings to support Erie County charities. Thank you for becoming loyal members! Also, at this meeting, we heard first from Keli Clark of Project Noelle- the charity selected by the membership for the July donation. She updated the membership about how the donation was used to benefit those in her charity.

The charities selected to present at this October meeting were: Roz Shepherd on behalf of Great Lakes Visual and Performing Arts Center, Heidi Lockwood for Nehemiah Partners Center, and Sally Sprunk for Safe Harbour Domestic Violence Shelter. All 3 Presenters spoke passionately about their charities.

Our membership chose Safe Harbour Violence Shelter to receive the membership donation for October. The total donation awarded was $13,700.00.

July 14, 2022

100+ Women met outside at SYC on a beautiful summer evening on July14,2022. We continue to welcome new members and our donation to the selected charity continues to increase!
To begin the meeting, the membership heard from member, Sally Sprunk who introduced us to Pastor Carolynne to update the membership on how our donation from April benefitted Victory Kitchen.
The charities selected to present at this July meeting were: Project Noelle (Keli Clark), Great Lake Vision and Performing Arts Academy (Roz Shepherd) and Humane Society (Melissa Gundlach).  The membership chose Project Noelle  to receive the donation at this July meeting.  The total donation to Project Noelle from 100 Women was $14,200 – another record donation!  Thank you for supporting charities in Erie County.

April 14, 2022

Finally, after six months we were able to gather together for our meeting.  We had great attendance and continue to welcomed new member!  At this meeting we welcomed eight new members!
Laura Mastropolo spoke first and informed us about how the donation given to them in October was used
for Boots to Grasses. The donation helped to cover 100% of costs for participants in the Sensory Barnyard Program for teens and adults facing challenges.
At each meeting, the decision as to who will receive the membership’s donation is a difficult choice. Each speaker is passionate about their charity they are presenting.  Tonight was no exception.  We heard three exceptional women present: Ron Shepherd spoke on behalf of Great Lakes Visual and Performing Arts Academy,  Judy Corso presented the Merry-Go-Round Museum and Sally Sprunk informed us about Victory Kitchen.  Our membership voted that this meeting’s donation should go to VICTORY KITCHEN.  The total collected and presented to Victory Kitchen was $14,000.00.  This is a new high donation for the members of 100+ Women!
January 2022 rescheduled to Feb 2022 due to pandemic.
Feb 2022 cancelled due to weather

October 14, 2021

We had a beautiful, warm, night outside at the Sandusky Yacht Club for our last meeting of 100 Women Who Care in 2021!  We also welcomed 17 new members! Anne McGookey updated our membership about how Cancer Services was using the donation from our members from our July meeting. We then listened to the 3 selected charities for the evening.  Anita Kromer spoke on behalf of Care and Share, Laura Steuk-Mastropolo presented for Boots to Grasses and Rosalyn Shepherd informed us about the need for Great Lakes Visual and Performing Arts Academy.
Our membership chose Boots to Grasses for  the October donation with the  total collected for this charity was $13,175.00.  With this donation, our grand total collected for area charities has exceeded $200,000.00!

July 8, 2021

Our 5th anniversary meeting was a great success!  It was heartwarming to finally be able to meet in person, after the year-long virtual meetings due to the pandemic.   We were also able to welcome 25 new members to our organization at this meeting.  The charities that had been selected by the  membership of 100+Women Who Care in the past 5 years, were also at  this meeting with display boards about their charities.   It was truly a great celebration!

We opened the meeting with a moment of silence for our member, Lauralee Krabill.  She recently passed away from cancer.  Lauralee presented and was selected for the donation from April’s meeting for Sandusky Career Center.   Representatives from Sandusky Career Center spoke on her behalf about how the donation from our April meeting would be used to benefit this charity.

The decision of which charity to support is always difficult, especially after hearing three compelling presentations at this July meeting.   For this meeting, Shelly Chesbro spoke on behalf of Cancer Services, Sally Sprunk spoke for Victory Kitchen and Barb Miller presented Firelands Habitat for Humanity.  Our membership voted to donate to Cancer Services for this July meeting.  The total collected for Cancer Services was $11,450.00.

 

April 8, 2021

This  virtual meeting had Evelyn Quinn from Project Noelle update us on how the funds were used that were presented to them from our January meeting.   Project Noelle supports children and families in Erie County that have been impacted by the drug epidemic.  Funds are used for support groups, special gifts and emergency help when families are supporting more members of a household because of the death of a parent due to this pandemic.

During this meeting our membership heard from 3 charities.  These charities were presented by very passionate speakers: Christine Boesch spoke on behalf of OhGo, Tara Ohlemacher presented Kinship House and Lauralee Krabill provided information about her charity, Sandusky Career Center.

After voting, the membership selected the Sandusky Career Center to receive this meeting’s donation from 100 Women Who Care.  The donation will be used to purchase needed equipment for the skills lab to benefit the programs for Medical Assistants, LPN’s and RN’s.  The total donated to the Sandusky Career Center was $9,250.00.

January 14, 2021

Our January 2021 virtual meeting began with an update from the Sandusky State Theatre – our charity from October 2020.  The work on the State Theatre continues because of the July 2020 storm.  Insurance will pay to restore the theatre to the way it was prior to the storm.  Our donation will help to update and upgrade the theatre to enable bigger production companies to entertain at the State Theatre.

At our meeting we heard compelling presentations from three very committee members.  There were Judy Corso spoke for the Merry-Go-Round Museum; Sharon Barnes presented Kinship House and Keli Clark informed use about her home grown charity – Project Noelle.  Our membership voted to support Project Noelle.  The mission of Project Noelle is to help children that have been affected by the opioid crisis.  They help the children and their families through various programs. The total collected for this organization was $9,850.00.

Thank you to all our members who continue to support our community, especially through this pandemic.  We will meet in person once the local health organizations deem it possible to meet with no restrictions.

October 8, 2020

This meeting marks our 4TH ANNIVERSARY as an organization making an impact by donating to charities in Erie County, Ohio.
The meeting began with an update from Heartbeat of Sandusky – our July recipient of the funds from 100 Women Who Care virtual meeting.
At our second virtual meeting on Oct 8, we heard from 3 presenters: Patty Krewson presented The Sandusky State Theatre, Sharon Barnes spoke about Kinship House and Boots to Grasses was given by Laura Mastropolo. Each charity gave compelling information about their charities. The membership chose The Sandusky State Theatre. We collected a total of $ 10,000.00 and they will use it to help widen the stage to be able to bring Broadway type shows to Sandusky. This widening of the stage, be done along with the current reconstruction that is underway. The west side of the Theatre building was destroyed during a storm in July 2020.

July 9, 2020

100 Women Who Care held our first virtual meeting due to corona virus. Thank you to Megan Clayburn for her Technical guidance in organizing this meeting. The Charities selected for presentation at this virtual meeting were: Meals on Wheels presented by Norma Wible, Sandusky Career Center School Practical of Nursing presented by Laura Lee Krabill and Roz Shepherd presented for Heartbeat of Sandusky. Heartbeat of Sandusky was voted to receive the donation for this meeting. Heartbeat of Sandusky is a pregnancy center dedicated to bringing hope, help and healing by giving emotional support and unconditional love.  The amount awarded to this charity from  100 Women was $9600.00.

April 9, 2020

Due to coronavirus, 100 Women Who Care Erie County did not meet.

January 9, 2020

Our January meeting began with an update from Young Life, our charity that was awarded the donation in October 2019. Kim Springer and Carolyn Wiseman presented a video message from Dan Bender. the current head of Young Life in this area. Dan thanked 100 Women Who Care for the donation but was unable to attend because of a Young Life conference. The video also showed students enjoying Young Life activities and testimonials from several youth about how it impacts their lives. The donation they received will be used to hire an Assistant Director for Young Life. This will allow them to expand their membership to area schools.

The membership then heard from three charities drawn from the fishbowl. For January meeting the charities presented were Sandusky Imagination Library, presented by Anne McGookey; Kendra Faulkner spoke in support of OHGO; and Melissa Gundlach presented the Humane Society. All three charities have been awarded our donation in the past, but per our guidelines, it had been over one year. Our membership chose OHGO to be awarded the donation. The money will be used to fund food pantries at 3 Sandusky City Schools. The total donation for January 2020 to OHGO was $10,400.00.

October 10, 2019 Meeting

Happy 3rd Anniversary! Since our first meeting on October 11, 2016, 100+ Women Who Care in Erie County has donated $132,762.33 to worthy charities in our community. Thank you to all our members.

At our October meeting, we continued our tradition of hearing passionate members advocate for their worthy charities. Kim Springer presented in support of Young Life. Judy Smith and Margy Rutger presented for Back to the Wild, and Roz Ahner and Amy Didion spoke for the Chris Smith Memorial Fund. Our membership voted to donate to Young Life. The total awarded to Young Life was $10,050.00.  Congratulations to Young Life!

July 12, 2019 Meeting

At our quarterly meeting on July 12, 2019, we heard from 3 nonprofit charities located in Erie County who presented their needs to the membership of the 100 Women Who Care.

Mary Ellen Hart spoke in support of Boys and Girls Club of Erie County, Kim Springer spoke for YoungLife, and Roz Ahner presented the Christopher  Smith Memorial Charity. The membership chose THE BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB OF ERIE COUNTY. The total presented to the Boys and Girls club was $10,500.00.

We also welcomed 3 new members to our chapter of 100 Women Who Care of Erie County. We would also like to thank Nikki Hykes for her monetary contribution to 100 Women, which enabled us to furnish light appetizers before the meeting. Your donation is greatly appreciated Nikki! Anyone else wishing to donate for our organization’s miscellaneous expenses can speak to one of the 4 of us (Mary Ann, Pat, Linda, or Martha) at the meeting or write to us at 100wwcerie@gmail.com. We are an organization with no income stream, no bank accounts, and exist to serve the charitable needs of Erie County through the generous donations of our great membership.

April 11, 2019 Meeting

Our April meeting started with Sharon Barnes updating our membership on how Kinship House were using the funds given to them at our last meeting in January. She stated that the funds were being used to assist with the operating budget for Kinship House. She emphasized the important work that the staff provide, and highlighted the planned building improvements.

Then the 3 charities chosen to present at this meeting were: Serving Our Seniors, presented by Sue Dougherty; Cinderella’s Closet, presented by Ann Burr; and Sandusky Artisans Recovery Community Center, presented by Kara Groff Messenberg. All three of these charities presented are doing valuable work in our community.

The members selected SANDUSKY ARTISANS RECOVERY COMMUNITY CENTER as our charity to support in the second quarter. This charity, also known as SARCC, is a peer-driven, peer supported, grassroots nonprofit, bringing recovery to those with substance use and/or mental health disorders. We were happy to present $11,150 to this charity.

We also welcomed 7 new members to 100 Women Who Care in Erie County. Thank you for joining us to help our community.

January 10, 2019 Meeting

At our Jan 10, 2019 meeting, Melissa Gundlach updated our membership about the upgrading  being done at the Humane Society to expand and make the facility better improved for the animals and their caretakers.  Melissa gave examples of the success stories for animals being united with their forever families.

Three charities were then chosen for presenting that night: Firelands Area Young Life
Presented by Carolyn Wiseman, the Nehemiah Partners Center presented by Lisa Peterson and Kinship House presented by Sharon Barnes.  Our members chose Kinship House as the recipient of this meeting’s donation.  Kinship House provides children and their families a safe, child friendly, home-like environment for supervised visitation and exchanges.  The professionals offer support, guidance and assistance to families facing crisis including divorce, abuse, domestic violence. The total collected for this charity was $11,100.00.

October 11, 2018 Meeting

At our Oct 11th meeting, OhGo updated our membership about how they used the funds from our donation from the July meeting. OhGo received a matching grant and will use the grant and our donation to buy a bus to strip and convert into a mobile pantry so the people will shop inside instead of in the elements. Thank you OhGo for your continued work in helping members of our community.

Then our members heard three compelling presentations. We also welcomed 10 new members to our group. What a great evening for 100 Women Who Care!

Jackie Clark spoke to us on behalf of Kinship, Norma Wible presented First Presbyterian Church Community Breakfast, and Melissa Gundlach spoke on behalf of Humane Society of Erie County. Our members voted to donate to the Humane Society. Our total donation given to the Humane Society was $10,250.00 and it will be matched from the Dorn Foundation to help with the building projects at the facility.

For more information on these worthy charities, please visit their websites:
Kinship – kinshipinc.info/

Website in process for First Presbyterian Church Community Breakfast

Humane Society:
Humanesocietyoferiecounty.org

July 12, 2018 Meeting

We began our meeting hearing from Norma Wible, who updated us on how Care and Share used the donation from our April meeting.  The big, walk-in freezer used to store food for their clients, broke shortly after we delivered the donated money to them.  Therefore, most of the donation was used to fix the freezer.  Norma was very grateful for the donation and felt it was a God moment.

We then heard from 3 local charities for our July meeting: Kim Springer spoke on behalf of Young Life Firelands Area.  Melissa Gundlach presented The Humane Society of Erie County and Christine Boesch talked about OHgo. All three charities presented compelling information about their charities.  The membership of 100 Women  Who Care chose OHgo as the charity to receive the funds from this meeting. The total was $9,550.00.   OHgo is a locally born charity that is committed to inspiring  life-long contributors to society by facilitating acts of kindness within the community, delivering goods through a mobile service to disadvantaged families, and offering learning experiences within their local environments that encourages every individual to become a catalyst for positive change. The funds are needed to help convert a current bus into a handicap accessible bus.

April 12, 2018 Meeting

We started our April meeting with an update from the prior recipient of 100 Women Who Care’s membership donation. Roz Shepherd spoke on behalf of SCAASP. Part of our donation was used to bring Alec Simon to Sandusky High School and Middle School for a school assembly where he spoke on bullying. Other funds will be used for SCAASP’s Back to School Rally in August, 2018.

On Thursday, April 12, our members listened to three compelling and informative presentations. Ann Bur spoke on behalf of Cinderella’s Closet, Norma Wible spoke in support of Care and Share and Susan Murray presented Boys and Girls Club of Erie County. In the end, our members chose Care and Share as April’s chosen charity. The total presented to Care and Share was $9,700.00.

January 11, 2018 Meeting

At our Jan 11, 2018 meeting we heard from Peggy Miller, Cancer Services of Erie County, Oct 2017 recipient of the funds from 100 Women. Member, Kris Quartermaine, gave her testimonial to how gracious, kind and supportive the team from Cancer Services are to those who need support throughout their cancer journey.

The 3 presenters for our meeting were: Melissa Gundlach presenting the Humane Society of Erie Co; Sue Daughtery presenting Serving Our Seniors and Roz Shepherd from SCAASP.

This quarter, the membership chose to support SCAASP (Sandusky Churches Adopt A School Partnership).  The organization works with area churches to support the city schools in various ways: classroom help, assistance with book fairs, teacher support and presenting a values program monthly at the high school. SCAASP’s biggest project is the Back to School Rally each August.  At the rally, children are able to participate in various educational activities, free dental care screening and receive a free book bag filled with school supplies.  There is no paid staff in the organization.  Roz stated that the funds will be used for training and the supplies for the Back to School Rally. Part of this donation also went to a very timely high school/junior high school assembly about bullying presented by Elec Simon.  The total presented to SCAASP was $10,000.

October 12, 2017 Meeting

At our meeting on Oct 12, 2017 we heard three powerful presentations: Gloria Gentry presented New Perspective Foundation, Lisa Peterson presented The Nehemiah Center and Peg Miller presented Cancer Services.  Our members chose Cancer Services as the recipient for this meeting.  The Total  given to Cancer Services was $9,787.20.

Also, At this meeting, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of 100 Women Who Care In Erie County.  Thank you to all who attended and share our vision to empower women in Erie County to make an impact in the community we live in.

July 13, 2017 Meeting

Three interesting charities were presented at our July meeting:

Peggy Bertsch spoke on behalf of Erie County Special Olympics, Ann Bur presented Cinderella’s Closet, and Melissa Gundlach spoke for the Humane Society of Erie County.

The membership voted to support ERIE CO SPECIAL OLYMPICS and the donation total amount collected for this charity was $10,275.13. This charity is a private non-profit organization that provides athletic training and competition programs for mentally challenged citizens of Erie County.

April 13, 2017 Meeting

We heard from three interesting and informative presentations at this April meeting:

  1. Al’s Clinic – presented by Lori Schlessman
  2. SCAASP – presented by Nancy Kamp
  3. Firelands Symphony – presented by Cindy Hare

The members selected Al’s Clinic as the recipient of this meeting’s donation in the amount of $10,500. Al’s Clinic is a charity started by Lori and John Schlessman in memory of their son, Al, who was tragically killed on April 13, 2003 in an arson fire at an Ohio State University house. This charity was created to reach out to area youth, continuing Alan’s legacy and preserving his memory. The first Al’s Clinic became a reality only 3 months after his death, thanks to the tremendous support of the community. Now contributions are making sports affordable for Sandusky area youth. The family of Alan, continues to have the goal of teaching the youth new skills while putting smiles on their faces, as Al would have done.

Mr and Mrs Schlessman also established a scholarship fund in memory of their son, Alan. Consideration is given for leadership, academic competence and desire for higher education for participating in golf, basketball or tennis and peer programs.

January 2017
Kendra’s House, Inc.

At our second meeting in January the three nominated charities were:
Kendra’s House
Cinderella’s Closet
Boys and Girls Club of Erie County

Kendra’s House was chosen by the membership. Kendra’s House provides a safe, empowering home for at risk girls from 13-17 years of age who come from dysfunctional homes. These girls will be expected to work as a team and learn what a healthy family feels like. While attending school, volunteering in the community, receiving therapy, and setting goals for their future, these girls will be re-writing their stories. This will be the only residential home for at risk girls in Erie County and will certainly have a positive impact in our community. Kendra’s House received $10,100.

October 2016
Imagination Library

We consider our first meeting of 100 Women Who Care in Erie County a big success. Over 80 Erie County women joined this great organization to hear about three charities presented by members.  These charities were: Back to the Wild presented by member, Martha Mariea, Make a Wish, presented by member, Amy Grant and Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, presented by member, Anne McGookey.

The group selected The Imagination Library as the first selected charity to receive the donation from 100 Women Who Care in Erie County.   Money and membership forms continued to flow in, and one week later we presented Anne McGookey and The Imagination Library with $10,000.

The Imagination Library is a project of the local Kiwanis Club of Sandusky with Anne McGookey leading this effort.   The purpose is to supply 12 books a year to every Erie County child from age birth to 5 years of age.  This program currently provides books to about 940 children a month in Sandusky and Perkins Township, but will expand soon to another 300 children in Castalia and Huron.  This program is affiliated with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, which subsidizes some of the cost of the books.  The idea is supply books to every child regardless of the family’s income.