DuPage women show they care with donations

In the 1954 film “Brigadoon” starring Gene Kelly, a mystical village appears only once every 100 years, then disappears into the mists.

There’s a similar concept behind the 100(+) Women Who Care, a group of women who get together four times a year — for less than an hour each time — to select a DuPage County nonprofit to donate to. Each person agrees to write a $100 check to the charity chosen by a majority of group members.

“I’ve taken to calling them the 100 Ladies of Brigadoon,” said Paul Yambrovich, community outreach coordinator for the Humanitarian Service Project, a Carol Stream-based nonprofit that received $11,300 from the 100(+) Women in August.

He says he had no idea HSP was being considered for a donation by the 100(+) Women, and was surprised when some group members arrived at his office with their donation.

“They came with a packet of more than 100 checks wrapped in a ribbon, then disappeared back into the mists,” Yambrovich said.

Sally Wiarda started the group in February 2007 after hearing of the first 100(+) Women Who Care group in Jackson, Mich. Since then, the DuPage group has given approximately $225,000 to 20 nonprofits.

“I just thought, ‘I could do this.’ I know a ton of people. You make friendships in so many aspects of life. We could get people together. We could do this,” Wiarda said.

She began getting in touch with people through letters, emails and word-of-mouth.

A total of 87 women attended the group’s first meeting in 2007.

“From there it just grew. People brought people,” Wiarda said. “It’s a labor of love from everybody involved.”

The process

The group meets at the Holiday Inn in Carol Stream in February, May, August and November. Group members write nominations for local charities on pieces of paper — and three are selected at random for consideration by the group.

Each nominator gets five minutes to talk about their charity. Then the women vote, and the majority rules.

At no time is any representative from any nominated charity at the meeting. Only group members make pitches.

“You’re in and out within an hour,” Wiarda said.

Each group member signs a form before joining, agreeing to write a check to whichever group is chosen. The exception is if someone has a moral objection to a particular nonprofit, but that hasn’t happened, she said.

Not everyone who signs up to be one of the 100(+) Women attends meetings.

“Some people never come and don’t like to come — they just like the concept,” Wiarda said.

The group is composed of women from all different backgrounds and income levels, Wiarda says. And despite current economic conditions, many people who join stay on.

“Some people are wealthy, some people aren’t,” Wiarda said. “One woman said, ‘I put $15 per pay check to the side (to save $100).’ Some people say that’s a couple Starbucks a week.”

The impact

Last month, the 100(+) Women chose to donate to Pathways for Achievement, a Wheaton charity-based taekwondo school for at-risk teens. The organization provides them with martial arts study, weekly tutoring sessions and community service opportunities.

“Charities are struggling these days,” said John Christensen, Pathways’ president. “Foundations are tapped out, and it’s hard to get people’s attention. Then something like this comes along.”

Christensen said the 100(+) Women’s donation will help sponsor teens in the program, pay for equipment and uniforms, and contribute to rent payments at the program’s Geneva Road location.

Yambrovich said the donation HSP received helped sponsor another 100 children in the organization’s Children’s Birthday Project, which provides gifts to children on their birthdays and Christmas. The money also allowed HSP to sponsor another eight people in the group’s Senior Citizen Project, which provides low-income seniors with 90 pounds of groceries monthly for an entire year.

“In 45 minutes, they make such a huge impact for some organizations,” Yambrovich said.