HARNESSING THE POWER

Power of 100 Organization Holds Inaugural Event

Words by Meagan

However, an unexpected donation is about to change the entire direction of one local organization - and there are over fourteen thousand reasons why.

On October 14, 2015, a new organization in town held its inaugural event. The Power of 100 Red River Valley - Women Who Care is an organization made up of like-minded women, all of whom hope to impact the community in an overwhelmingly positive way, and its first event took place at Dakota Medical Foundation in Fargo.

The Power of 100, according to its website, is an idea borrowed from similar organizations around the world. Over 100 chapters exist, founder and executive member Sandra Buchholz said, in approximately 40 different states.

“To start this, I gathered some of my closest friends who also seemed passionate about the idea, which is how I got the twelve founding members,” Buchholz said. “We wanted to meet strong, goal-oriented women and make a difference in the community. Our mission in starting this movement was to help those charities and focus on those

charities that don’t generate much funding.”

In short, the group meets four times over the course of one calendar year and, each time, every member or team pledges $100 to a single charity. The hope, then, is that one charity receives a donation of at least $10,000 following each event. More than 100 women are allowed to attend, of course; in fact, at the October 14 event, 167 women were registered, raising a total of $14,900

“I think that there are a lot of women who want to do good work in our community and want to work with charities and nonprofits,” Buchholz said. “However, they might not have the time or the budget to do so. But, if you gather 100 women together for an hour, that donation can make a huge difference.”

For those who want to be involved but can’t commit to the annual amount of $400 in donations, two-to-four-member teams may be created, meaning that the donation would be split among the team members at each event. All active members and teams are encouraged to nominate a charity of their choice for consideration.

At each event, three charities will be drawn at random from the nominations. The member that made the nomination will have a chance to explain the selected charity’s mission, as well as what the charity would use the donated funds for, if chosen.

Following the final charity’s presentation, all members and teams vote for the charity they find most deserving; finally, the twelve executive members count the votes and announce the selected charity. Each member then writes a $100 check, made out to the charity itself.

Inspire Innovation Lab, located in the Moorhead Center Mall, was the recipient of the first-ever donation. The organization provides hands-on learning, aiming to provide professional development tools, student programming and other learning opportunities related to STEM fields. Inspire Lab currently has an after-school program that encourages students to “tinker and innovate.”

“One of my passions is to have a place for kids to just hang out after school,” Inspire Lab founder and executive director Carrie Leopold said while accepting the donation. “And this morning, someone said to me, ‘There’s just more.’ And I didn’t understand what that meant until right now, because all I can think right now is, ‘There’s just more.’”

According to Leopold, the donation money will go towards securing transportation to the afterschool program.

The Power of 100 will meet in October, January, April and July each year, donating to a different charity at each event.

“This movement might not stop sex trafficking, animal abuse or bullying. It might not eliminate the horrible things that happen in our lives and in our world,” Buchholz said, “but, I hope that it will help others to see hope. In a world full of bad things, something like this just brings some sunshine.” [AWM]

The twelve executive members of the RRV Chapter of The Power of 100 are Alison Zima, Christy Dauer, Jamie Satrom, Jenaah Nyhof, Kristin Miller, Lacey Koep, Laura Wolf, Lindsey Gunderson, Rachel Gehrig, Sandra Buchholz, Stephanie Grosz and Susan Gartin. If you would like more information on how to get involved, please visit www.powerof100rrv.com or e-mail powerof100rrv@gmail.com.