100+ Women Who Care – Cornwall & Area – A night filled with Purpose and Passion!

A great description of an event that I attended this past Wednesday evening (November 13th) at the Best Western Parkway Inn.

The event I am talking about is the annual event called “100+ Women who care – Cornwall & Area” organized by two local Realtors, Jo Ann Langstaff and Donna Chisholm Forget, who are with Keller Williams Integrity Realty.

How does this event work?

Well, a group of 100+ women come together each donating $100 which totals $10,000 and they listen to 9 local organizations who have 3 minutes to present a program that they are working on and need funding for.

Upon listening to these presentations, each of the ladies in the room who have donated $100 get to vote on a project that they feel the funding should go towards and once these votes are tallied up the winner is announced.

Presentations were made by:

The Agape Centre – Lisa Duprau presented “Operation Backpack” where last year 109 students from a local elementary school were supported with a total of 4,400 backpacks, dropped off every Thursday, containing food for 2 breakfasts, 2 lunches and 2 snacks. Lisa was requesting funding to be able to continue this programme to support even more children from going hungry.

Habitat for Humanity – Breckyn Caers talked about their “Critical Repair Programme” They were looking for initial funding for this programme which helps individuals keep their homes safe. Habitat assesses the repairs needed, completes the work and the home owner makes interest free payments and the money goes back into the pot to continue helping keep people safe in their homes.

Centre 105’s presentation was by Taylor Seguin. They were looking for $2,500 to help replace the shelving in their food storage area and be able to purchase more laundry detergent for the laundry services that they offer to people in need.

Rachel’s Kids Park of Hope was next with a presentation requesting funds to help with Phase 2 of “The Park of Hope” to help with the installation of more sensory activity stations.

Laurencrest Youth Services requested funding for their “Intersection Programme” which helps guide pre-criminal youth to a more positive direction in life.

Ontario SPCA and Humane Society requested funding to help vaccinate dogs against the Parvo Virus which is highly contageous and can be deadly if not treated and is spreading fast in our community. They were asking for $3,000 to help save the lives of 200 animals whose owners can’t afford to vaccinate their pets.

Maison Baldwin House was next and they are working with the very serious issue of Sex Trafficking and Human Exploitation that is very evident in this area. This is something that is affecting girls as young as 12 years old and something that a lot of girls are unaware of. They are looking at funding to cover the cost of a billboard which will be placed on highway 401 in a location where these girls who are trapped can see it and can reach out for help at Baldwin House, a safe space. Awareness is also happening with a new project called “Blending Art and Awareness” where students will be invited to design an impactful message on a pair of white jeans.

Fondation de l’hopital Glengarry Memorial Hospital Foundation made a presentation for funds for a CT Scanner. A piece of equipment that would aid in a more timely diagnosis instead of patients having to wait for many months before they can receive treatment for life threatening illnesses.

St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre was looking for funding for their new Rehabilitation Centre Programme so that they can add a very much needed Recreation Programme to aid with physical, spiritual, educational and social needs.

One of the comments that stood out for me was that evening was, even though only one agency would receive funding , all agencies were in fact winners as they are getting a chance to give information and are raising awareness in the community.

After the votes were tallied it was the Agape Centre who received $10,000 funding for “Operation Backpack” and Lisa announced that this programme will be up and running by the end of the month. Seen in the header photo are Lisa Duprau and Brenda Deruchia of the Agape Centre, showing how much food volunteers at the centre pack into each of the Back Packs that will be funded by the donation from the 100+ women who care ensuring that a large number of children will not go hungry.

Maison Baldwin House came in second place and will also receive some funding for their Billboard from donations that are still being received. Girls who are trapped will have a way to reach out for help and girls who have already been helped to escape these rings will be helping to come up with the correct wording to put on this sign.

Congratulations again to Realtors, Jo Ann Langstaff and Donna Chisholm Forget for organizing such a wonderful and important event, to all their sponsors and to the 100+ women who attended because without them there wouldn’t be this $10,000 of funding and of course congratulations to all the organizations who made us aware of these important programmes and projects that they are working on.