Generous Hearts by Susan Bonnett Bourgeois
the name Camellia City Chicks with Checks and it is dedicated to harnessing the power of generous women to improve lives in their community. They believe they are abundantly blessed to live in the Slidell Community and that to whom much is given, much is expected. “A few of us had been members of other giving circles that focused on a broader region. We would sometimes be disappointed because we felt like the changes that our dollars brought were in communities other than our own, so we decided to start one in our own backyard,” said founding member Dr. Jill Donaldson.
Chicks with Checks Slidell women circling back with collective giving
Laurie Panzeca, Jenifer Besh, Nicole Burke, Wendy Keller (Organizer with Our Friend’s Closet, the first gift recipient), Stephanie Berault, Jennifer Whitehouse, Kendra Wadleigh, all of Camellia City Chicks with Checks. 68
CREATING TANGIBLE, deliberate and immediate impact: This is the benefit of collective philanthropy groups like Giving Circles. They help to alleviate concerns and uncertainty for an individual giving back because it’s a collective effort that empowers members to really give in a strategic and intentional manner. They are afforded the opportunity to research, discuss and truly understand the issues that are impacting their community at exactly that moment in time. Neighbors coming together to pool their resources and direct them to the needy is by no means a new idea. But the popularity of Giving Circles has skyrocketed over the last decade with nearly 150,000 members in the U.S. alone, and that number is expected to grow to 350,000 in the next five years, numbers that will generate more than $1 billion in donations. In Slidell, that collective giving power goes by
Inside Northside
Like minded, enthusiastic and proactive, each of the 52 members (and counting) commits to donating $400 per year to the organization and meet quarterly to interview local qualified nonprofits about their mission and impact on the people of East St. Tammany Parish. Eligible nonprofits are nominated by members and vetted before being invited to participate. At the end of each meeting the members hold a blind vote, and the winner gets all of the donations for that quarter. Membership dues, donations and funds are collected and distributed by the Northshore Community Foundation. “We love the way that this group is structured. Having it housed at the Foundation makes it so much easier for us to do the actual giving part and not have to worry about the back office work. It also allows members who prefer to stay anonymous donors to keep it that way,” said Stephanie Berault, one of the founding members. Having now donated to eight organizations in the East St. Tammany area, their first collective gift went to Slidell nonprofit Our Friend’s Closet, which donates basic care items to local underserved students in the Slidell community. “We get all of our funding through private donations with 100% of the collected funds going directly to providing basic care items to less fortunate students in our community. The generous donation from Camellia City Chicks with Checks allowed us to add to the number of schools we serve thereby increasing the amount of students we are able to help. We started with two schools in January 2017,
photo courtesy: CAMELLIA CITY CHICKS WITH CHECKS
How It Works
