STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
The Little Black Dress Club will roll out its new format tonight at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden. And the get-together is open to all women interested in making the Wood River Valley a better place to live.
The philanthropic club is inviting any woman who is interested in spreading the love around to join in and help pick a worthy cause to make a gift to when it meets at 5 tonight—Monday, Oct. 2—at the garden at Highway 75 and Gimlet Road.
A time of mixing and mingling will follow after participants have taken care of business.
The Little Black Dress Club is now following the format set by 100 Men Who Care, meaning you do not have to be a member of the club to participate.
Any one attending tonight’s meeting can nominate a nonprofit organization located in Blaine County to fund. The names will be put in a bowl and five will be drawn.
Those who have nominated one of the nominees that’s drawn will then be allowed to give a short presentations on why the organization should receive funding and what the funds will be used for.
The presentations will be made by the attendees, not by staff members of the organizations being nominated. Attendees will then vote on which organization they want to gift in a closed ballot.
Attendees will each donate $100 and the pooled donations will be given to that organization. Those who cannot attend but would like to participate can send a $100 check with another participant or mail a check to the organization selected for funding.
“By choosing one, we are trying to make a bigger splash,” said Swartling. “This new format is a popular way to do it. There’s a group in Boise doing this.”
“Having been a recipient of 100 Men Who Care, it’s so nice to have someone get up and say, ‘I’d like to represent your organization at this meeting. What can I do? What do I need to know?’ ” noted Jeanne Liston, executive director of The Hunger Coalition.
Coming together has the additional benefit of introducing different nonprofits in the community to attendees.
“Part of what I love about this organization is coming together and finding out about the groups I knew nothing about,” said Susan Giannettino.
Previously, the club followed a format where women solicited applications from organizations wishing grants. Then, members gathered to listen to representatives of those organizations make pitches.
The new format requires no previous commitment or ongoing involvement, said Swartling.
Little Black Dress Club Wood River was founded in 2009. Since, it has donated $106,806 to local nonprofit organizations, with the idea that women can make big positive changes in the community when they come together to pool resources.
The club plans to meet three times a year to make grants under the new format. For more information, go to www.lbdcwr.org.
THE MEN WILL MEET NEXT WEEK
100 Men Who Care will hold their final meeting of 2017 at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, at the Sawtooth Botanical Garden.