Giving Meetings Postponed for 2020 Calendar Year
The Steering Committee for the 100+ People Who Care group in Barton County recently announced to its members that they have decided to postpone all remaining giving meetings for the 2020 calendar year. This announcement came a couple weeks before the group was scheduled to meet in mid-August, and after their May meeting was also postponed.
In a statement distributed to the philanthropic group’s membership, the committee released the following:
“If 2020 has taught us anything, embracing flexibility has been a constant. After careful consideration, our committee has decided to postpone the remaining giving meetings for the 2020 calendar year. As we discussed the pros and cons of an in-person or virtual meeting, our conversation centered around both the health and safety of our members and our presenting charities, as well as the financial and economic concerns for all those involved. We recognize that our members may be challenged in meeting their pledges. We also recognize that our presenting organizations are facing challenges and would be best served by receiving our group’s full donation to make the impact we desire. As we revisited our group’s mission, we firmly believe that all members deserve to hear the moving presentations of our deserving charities face-to-face, and also to nominate those charities that they want to see present at an upcoming meeting. Unfortunately, this is not possible in-person this quarter and logistically difficult to achieve with an online or virtual meeting setting.”
The volunteer Steering Committee will reconvene early in 2021 to review the climate at that time, and announce plans for when the group can resume their giving meetings again in the future. The three charities that were nominated to present back in May will remain on the ballot, but will wait to present until the group meets again in the future. These charities include Child Abuse Prevention Education (CAPE), Community Food Bank of Barton County, and the Great Bend Zoological Society.
“We hope our members, and the rest of the community, will continue to support local charities in the interim,” says Julie Mazouch, Chair of the 100+ Who Care Committee. “We look forward to gathering together with our members in 2021, but it is because ‘we care’ that we needed to make this difficult decision. We will most certainly continue this valuable philanthropic work together as soon as it is safe to do so!”
The 100+ People Who Care group was launched in 2017 and has since raised nearly $130,000 for deserving local charities with zero fundraising efforts. Under normal circumstances, members of the group pledge to donate $100 per quarter to whichever charity is voted the winner after hearing three 5-minute presentations from organizations nominated at the previous meeting. At the end of each meeting, a winner is announced and checks are made out directly to their charity, bringing in approximately $10,000 in under an hour. The program is currently being sponsored by Spectrum CPA Partners. Anyone interested in learning more or joining the group should visit www.100bartoncounty.org. You can also find the group on Facebook.
