DON'T WAIT FOR EXTRAORDINARY OPPORTUNITIES. SEIZE COMMON OCCASIONS AND MAKE THEM GREAT. WEAK MEN WAIT FOR OPPORTUNITIES; STRONG MEN MAKE THEM

Our members meet for a maximum of one hour, four times a year. Members can nominate a charity of their choice. Once the charity has been qualified it will be added to the “Charity Basket”. At the beginning of every meeting, three charities will be chosen. The member who nominated the charity will then give a five-minute presentation on why he thinks this charity should receive the funds from the group. 

Karen Dunigan always found it interesting that one of her greatest ideas was born from something as simple and basic as baby cribs. It was during lunch one day in 2006 in Jackson, Michigan with executive leadership from the Center for Family Health, where other fundraising matters were being discussed, that the Center’s CEO mentioned a need she learned about at a staff meeting earlier that morning regarding new mothers and portable cribs. Karen’s ears perked and she told the CEO that would be something she would like to know more about and another lunch was scheduled to specifically discuss the need.

As Karen began thinking about Center for Family Health’s need, she knew there had to be a way to quickly and easily meet the financial request of $10,000 that was presented. With all of her involvement in the community, Karen knew she could call ten people and ask them to write $1,000 checks, but she also figured she knew 100 women who would each give $100. She began making phone calls and scheduled a meeting. At that first meeting, in one hour, a group of Karen’s friends heard the story and each wrote checks to the Center for Family Health, resulting in a $12,800 donation, more than requested, to supply new mothers with the simplest need: a crib.

Karen recognized that she was on to something special and that it too was in its own infancy and needed to be nurtured to grow. She founded the first 100+ Women Who Care and scheduled quarterly meetings. The rules were simple, any member could present a need in the community, the need had to be immediate and the money had to remain local. The idea was that a worthy cause benefits many in the community.

Inspired by the work the 100+ Women Who Care Oceanside we saw a need for the men to join the approximately 600 Chapters who are giving back to their communities across North America.  For more information on the origins please visit the 100 Who Care Alliance.