SHAZAM!

Our first quarterly meeting of the 100+ Women Who Care in the NRV resulted in $1000.00 for the Blacksburg Interfaith Food Pantry.  Lisa Machi, pictured here, is a member of the 100+ Women Who Care who nominated the organization.

The Blacksburg Interfaith Food Pantry offers basic food supplies, once a month, to low-income Blacksburg residents or those in emergency situations, including homeless individuals and families. 

Currently the Interfaith Food Pantry is able to provide groceries each month valued at approximately $100 to $200 depending on family size and food availability. The Interfaith Food Pantry is currently serving 700 or more individuals each month. Potential recipients are screened for eligibility by New River Community Action in Christiansburg. 

We've given enough to feed about 10 families for a month through the Food Pantry.  Hopefully you feel good about your contribution.  If you aren't currently a member, but are considering it, please join us.  We can make long-lasting changes in our community with your help.

While the majority of the Interfaith Food Pantry’s clients work, minimum wage jobs do not always enable recipients to feed their families.  

We are thrilled to be able to join together as a local group of women--relatively small group currently--in order to provide such a substantial donation to our local charity.  We meet quarterly and pool money together in order to support our local charities.  Your help is much needed and appreciated.

Our next meeting is in a couple weeks, Wednesday December 10th at 6 p.m. at the Blacksburg Library.

The groups for our Second Quarterly meeting include the following:

1)  Montgomery Emergency Assistance Program

2)  Mongomery County Christmas Store

3)  Montgomery County Humane Society

4)  Save Stadium Woods

Please become a donating member and hopefully each quarter we can continue to grow until we reach $10,000 per quarter.  $10,000 is our ultimate goal--Imagine what our local charities can do with $10,000!

We need your support to help us reach this goal.  We also look forward to your input regarding nominations too...so imagine giving to YOUR favorite charities along with 100+ other woman.

Members are able to nominate their favorite charity....what organization would you like to donate over $1000 to in our community?

Join Us!  We can all make a difference!  We aren't stopping until we reach $10,000.00 each quarter.  Many other groups have done it, we can do it too!

We are also putting names into a drawing to win a FREE massage from Patsy Jansons.  Sign up now and become part of our local NRV group!

Please feel free to email us at www.100wwc.nrv@gmail.com if you have any questions or need more information.

In community,
Alexa and Beth

Not too long ago, I was meeting with a prospective member of 100+ Women discussing all things 'charity' and we touched upon unsolicited solicitations and how to protect ourselves from the overwhelming number of them (particularly this time of year!!).

As is my style, I obsessed over what to do and how to help others and came across a great organization called Charity Watchdog (www.charitywatch.com), formerly the American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP).  Not only do they have very current information regarding global needs, but they are an independent assessor of all things charity.

They have a great article on seven ways in which you can minimize solicitations.  I have printed them out and am putting them into action.  I suggest you do the same.

It is particularly important because often such solicitations are fraudulent.  We need to protect ourselves as best we can against such scams and protect the elderly as well.  Take a few minutes to read through them.  I am convinced that you will be happy you did!

Their tips include:

1.     Be selective in your giving - when you give your name is added to the organization's mailing list.  Be sure you want to be on it!

2.    Enclose a note with your donation asking the organization not to rent, sell or exchange your name, address, and giving history to others.

3.    Ask the charity to reduce the frequency of their solicitations.  If they do not respond, consider changing who you support.  If you do not want to support an organization, ask to be removed from their list.  Be sure to save mailing labels!  They contain important information that will assist you in getting your name removed.

4.    Often these organizations rent or purchase mailing lists from the Direct Marketing Association.  Contact them online (https://www.dmachoice.org/register.php)  to have your name removed or write to them at:

Mail Preference Service

Direct Marketing Association

PO Box 643

Carmel, NY 10512

5.  Contact the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, Trans Union) via toll-free #1-888-567-8688 to prevent pre-approved credit offers for up to two years and in writing to ask them not to disclose personal information for promotional purposes.

6.  To reduce unwanted telephone appeals you can complete an online form at: https://www.the-dma.org/cgi/offtelephonedave  or write to: 

Telephone Preference Service

Direct Marketing Association

PO Box 1559

Carmel, NY 10512

7.  Contact your local officials. 13 states in the U.S. are addressing the issue of unwanted mail and telephone solicitations. Check with the consumer protection agencies in your state and county concerning laws or regulations affecting unsolicited mail. Charities are often exempt from restrictions, but there are increasing efforts at the state level to reduce the burden of unwanted mail.

Good luck, be vigilant and continue to give to whom and how you want.

Having opted out of the commercialization and consumerism of the holiday season eight years ago, I was thrilled to learn of this newly created movement.  Our family no longer buys unwanted and unnecessary gifts.  We take turns selecting a charitable organization to contribute to.  Our children determine the amount they wish to give from their personal savings and we match it.  Our extended family is notified of the charity and each contributes what they can to it.  Some of us have taken to creating holiday ornaments that commemorate who chose the charity which charity it was, and the year of giving.  It's a beautiful and growing collection of ornaments.

Then, we spend time together creating memories.  Generally, we travel together.  It's amazing how much more relaxing the holiday season is, how good we feel about it, and how wonderful it is to see our children grow and develop through giving and learning about the world.

 Recently I learned of a relatively new movement, #GivingTuesday.  Its concept mirrors what 100+ Women Who Care - NRV is all about - the desire to harness the energy, caring, and power to give as a group in a single point in time.

"Started by charities in 2012, #GivingTuesday refers to the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. It began as a movement to create a national day of giving (it is now global!) to kick off the giving season as a response to the commercialization and consumerism of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. #GivingTuesday, has become an annual effort to harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners – charities, families, businesses and individuals – to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season."

We hope you will catch the power and join us at our holiday-themed quarterly giving meeting held on December 10 at the Blacksburg Public Library (6-7p.m.).  Happy holidays and best wishes for a healthy, happy, and fruitful 2015.

Alexa & Beth