Before starting the 100 Women Who Care in Douglas County, Suzanne Wexler was no stranger to volunteering to help her community. Originally from New York, she moved to Chicago with her family, where volunteering became second-nature.
“I worked with the elderly,” she explains. “I was a CASA, Court Appointed Special Advocate, for abused and neglected children. I was also the director of a homeless shelter in my town, so very involved with the homeless and food-insecure population there.”
Her impact was felt far and wide in Chicago, bringing comfort to as many people as possible. It wasn’t until her daughter was in grad school and looking for a place to live that she and her husband decided to move to Colorado.
“My husband and I were here for about 24 hours, and we said, ‘Let’s move,’” Suzanne jokes. The move brought them to Parker, right before the pandemic. It became an opportunity for Suzanne to dive into volunteering once again.
“Somebody was running a sack lunch program out of Denver, and I recruited my neighbors,” Suzanne explains. “There was so much food insecurity at the beginning of the pandemic, especially for the kids who didn’t have the school lunches.” Once the sack lunch program stopped, she and her volunteers continued packing lunches for the Help and Hope Center and have donated over 50,000 lunches to date!
Wanting to do more, Suzanne realized there wasn’t a 100 Women Who Care in Douglas County. She had been a part of the organization in Chicago and realized the astounding number of nonprofits that could benefit within the county.
“We started the group in 2023,” she states proudly. “We started with about 70 members, and now we’ve just passed our second anniversary, and we have about 190 members.”
The 100 Women Who Care organization was founded in 2006 in Jackson, Michigan, by Karen Dunigan, in response to a need for portable baby cribs for new mothers. The $10,000 price tag to purchase the cribs seemed large, but Karen realized if she could find 100 women willing to donate $100, then the need would be met, and so began the 100 Women Who Care.
“So the gist is, you get 100 women in a room together once a quarter,” Suzanne says. “We give you a free dinner at our meetings. We have three women who make a presentation on their selected charity, and they have five minutes to present the charity and three minutes for Q&A. After they are all done, we will vote by secret ballot to decide which nonprofit we want to fund as a group that evening.” Once a charity is selected, every woman in the room writes a check for $100.
For anyone who is a member of the 100 Women Who Care who couldn’t make the meeting, Suzanne sends an email the next day to show the selected charity, and payments can be made to her then.
“Two or three weeks later, we schedule a big check presentation,” Suzanne explains. “And we walk into the organization and we’re the only ones who know exactly how much is being donated.” Since the group has grown in size, the $10,000 mark has been consistently surpassed, with room for further growth.
The most recent meeting, held on November 3rd, selected The Third Place For Kids, a charity that provides a sanctuary to support families with neurodivergent or disabled children. Some previously chosen charities are The Backpack Society, Peppers Senior Dog Sanctuary, Secor Cares, and The Aspen Effect. Nonprofit organizations are all vetted by the organization, and some share presentations due to personal connections, while others may simply want to help.
“We have so many board members and executives of nonprofit organizations who are members of our group,” Suzanne says. “Two of them have gotten up and spoken on behalf of other organizations. It’s so great to see them supporting each other.”
This beautiful organization is about women supporting women while also supporting a cause, with an age range of 17 to 80 years old. Some come straight from the gym, and others dress up for a night out. Either way, the women come to support local charities and offer that help on the spot.
Registering to be a member is easy, and it involves a simple online form that is sent directly to Suzanne. It requires attending the four meetings a year, but if circumstances change, it’s no problem. The laid-back vibe of 100 Women Who Care makes it easy to love the organization and lend a hand when members can.
When asked what one of her favorite things is about the 100 Women Who Care, Suzanne says, “I like being the conduit for people who want to give to the organizations.”
“We have so many board members and executives of nonprofit organizations who are members of our group. Two of them have gotten up and spoken on behalf of other organizations. It’s so great to see them supporting each other.”