Funds Supported Living & Aging Well Event
BANDON – The Southern Coos Health Foundation received a generous donation from 100 Strong Bandon and a matching grant to help defray expenses for the Foundation’s newest event, Living & Aging Well in Bandon.
The Foundation received $4,000 from 64 members of 100 Strong Bandon, in increments of $50 to $200, as well as a 50-percent matching grant of $1,950 from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation.
The Southern Coos Health Foundation’s Living & Aging Well in Bandon event was held Saturday, May 4, at the Bandon Community Center. The all-day seminar was free to attend thanks to the 100 Strong Bandon donation.
100 Strong Bandon is a group of 100 women committed to the financial support of charitable organizations serving Bandon area residents. The group, founded by MaryAnn Soukup and Julie Miller and coordinated by the Bandon Chamber of Commerce, gets together four times a year for a one-hour meeting to learn about local charities. Following presentations, each member then donates $50 (or more) to the charity selected by the group, for a total impactful gift of $5,000-plus each quarter.
The Bandon group was inspired by 100 Women Who Care, a group founded in 2006 by Karen Dunigan of Michigan, as a brilliantly simple way to raise money efficiently and quickly for local charities. Since then, Women Who Care chapters have formed all over North America.
100 Strong Bandon members & partners have contributed over $100,000 back to Bandon charities since the giving circle was created in August 2018. Recipients include (“multiple gifts” indicates charities that have been recipients more than once):
- Bandon Feeds the Hungry (multiple gifts)
- Bandon Community Preschool
- New Artists Productions
- Leading Adventures for Foster Kids
- Kids’ HOPE Center
- South Coast Hospice
- Bandon Animal Rescue
- St John’s Medical Loan Closet
- Bandon Educational Foundation (multiple gifts)
- SWOCC Veterans’ Club
- SWOCC Foundation – Barbara Dodrill Scholarship
- Bandon Community Youth Center
- Coast Community Health Center
- Southern Coos Health Foundation (multiple gifts)
- Greater Bandon Association for Friends of Bandon Parks
- Bandon Rotary Foundation Project Forward
- Greater Bandon Association for Bandon Pickleball
- Bandon Arts Council
- Bandon Library Friends & Foundation
- VFW Post 3440 Christmas Baskets
100 Strong Bandon is open to women 18 years and older living in the Bandon area. The group meets on the third Wednesday of the month in February, May, August, and November. Learn more information and sign up for 100 Strong Bandon at https://bandon.com/100-strong/