GWC was blessed with 19 guests and 43 members attending our February 13th Quarterly Meeting, Greenwood Women Care – About our Planet, at Westminster Presbyterian Church.

Rachel Strayer welcomed the enthusiastic group with a special recognition of guests and referenced our program on local land conservation efforts and sustainability, noting: “If we don’t take care of the planet, its climate, and ecosystems, we undermine how our societies function, worsen our lives and, perhaps most directly, harm our own well-being. Clearly, caring about the environment is in perfect alignment with our purpose as an organization!”

Rachel then introduced our host for this venue, the Reverend Caroline Dennis. GWC is proud to call Caroline a member, and she recently became the newest member of the Communications Committee. Caroline spoke of the beginnings of Westminster Presbyterian 42 years ago and of a special partnership between Westminster Presbyterian and The Toddler Learning Center. This alliance had its beginning at a GWC meeting when Teresa Goodman spoke of Community Initiatives’ need for space for this program and Caroline responded by offering facilities at Westminster Presbyterian!

Summer Booker, Chair of the Governance and Finance Committee and GWC Treasurer, gave a fascinating presentation that outlined the history and purpose of the GWC Endowment. Since GWC’s inception in 2018, $100 of every member’s annual membership contribution of $550 has been added to our GWC Endowment and invested and professionally managed with other endowed funds held by Greenwood County Community Foundation. The GWC Endowment is intended for the long-term sustainability of our organization. Currently, our Advisory Board has voted to allow this fund to continue to accumulate and grow.

Maureen Kilburn of the Programs and Education Committee introduced Kirby Elizabeth Self, Miss South Carolina USA and a student in Harvard Extension School’s Sustainability Master’s Degree Program. Kirby shared six guidelines for sustainability that we should be mindful of in our everyday life: considering our method of transportation, unplugging unused devices, avoiding single-use plastic containers, recycling, shopping at green businesses, and eating local by growing vegetables or shopping at farmers’ markets.

Laura Bachinski, Chair of the Programs and Education Committee, introduced Peggy Adams, founder of the Upper Savannah Land Trust (USLT) and a Charter Member of GWC, who spoke of the beginnings of the USLT, founded in 2000 with her husband, L.B. Adams. Peggy introduced Rossie Corwon, former Board Chair of USLT and a GWC Charter Member who spoke of her work on the board of USLT with Wade Harrison, USLT’s Executive Director. Wade spoke about conservation easements which help private landowners protect their waters and land. Greenwood County has 18 easements, managed by USLT that protect 17,936 acres of land  from unwanted development and ensure that the natural beauty of the land will be available for future generations.

Courtney Christensen and Margaret Conrad presented two children’s books donated in honor of our speakers to the Greenwood County Library. Kirby Elizabeth Self was honored with Because of an Acorn by  Lola Schaefer and Wade Harrison, Peggy Adams, and Rossie Corwon were honored with Slow Down; 50 Mindful Moments in Nature by  Rachel Williams.

Mary Woodiwiss, Chair of the GWC Advisory Board, thanked our speakers, our venue hosts, and our Social and Programs & Education Committees. She recognized our 23 new members (so far!) and also acknowledged “each one of you who have come to share in this full, rich time together.”  Mary asked us to consider: “Who else would you like to see in the next room where we meet? Who are we missing? Consider how you can help spread the word.”  She encouraged members and guests to attend our Annual Celebration on Monday, March 18^th, and to bring guests!

It was a lovely, enlightening, and educational meeting enjoyed by all!

“Make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.”

It was a dark, cold, foreboding January night at Lake Greenwood made bright, inviting, and cozy by more than 80 caring souls who attended GWC’s first social of 2024 on Monday, January 22, in the beautiful Stoney Point Lake Clubhouse.

GWC enjoyed a near record breaking number of more than 30 guests and opportunities abounded for keeping with our Silver and Gold theme for the event: “make new friends but keep the old; one is silver and the other gold.” Approximately 50 GWC members were thrilled to see each other and meet so many guests after a GWC December hiatus. Enthusiastic greetings filled the air!

Many thanks to our Social Committee and other members who secured the locale, created evites, documented our evening together, beautifully served our refreshments and beverages, and brought friends to share in the warmth! Guests and members were welcomed with lovely smiles and words! It was a remarkable kickoff to GWC’s seventh membership year of impacting Greenwood nonprofits!

Greenwood Women Care is pleased to announce our 2023 GWC Grant Awards! Our collective funds received through annual membership and other designated contributions enabled GWC to disburse $75,000 total in grant funding for ten nonprofits serving residents of Greenwood County. In our five years of offering GWC Grants, we have made 51 grants totaling $331,800!

GWC Grants were awarded to:

Beyond Abuse   $7000  Staff training on the investigation, evaluation, treatment, and prosecution of child abuse

Faith Home   $10,000  Addiction recovery services for women 

Community Initiatives   $10,000  Materials and staff costs for expansion of obstetrics clinic at La Clinica Gratis

Greenwood Community Theatre   $10,000  Penguin Project theatre program for children and youth with special needs

Tranquility Point   $7500  Water therapy program for children and disabled, limited-mobility veterans, and 1st responders

Connie Maxwell Children’s Ministries   $7500  Fitness equipment for middle school and high school student residents on Connie Maxwell Campus

Burton Center   $5500  Tablets for Day Program serving people with disabilities and special needs

The Greenwood Promise   $7000  Scholarships for the junior and senior years for bachelor’s degree programs

Junior Achievement of Greater SC    $3500  Materials for K-12 classes in financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and work and career readiness

New Morning   $7,000  Staff training and salaries for family planning counseling and access to contraceptives at Greenwood County clinics

Please see the article about our grant awards featured in the Lakelands Connector here.

Grant recipients were determined by ranked voting by our Members from October 16-18. Our Grants Review & Awards Committee gathered information obtained from the platform used for our online ballots. Using raw scores, weighted averages, and percentile rankings based on the total amount available to grant, the Committee evaluated the data and determined the number of projects to be funded and the amount of each grant.

Special thanks to the Grants Review & Awards Committee for all your efforts to: create a grant writing workshop, publicize this granting opportunity to local nonprofits, process applications, present information on grant requests to Members to help us make informed voting decisions, explain our voting process, determine awards based on our votes, deliver our 2023 GWC Grants checks to the recipients, and manage all the other aspects of this core activity of GWC!

Congratulations to our 2023 GWC Grant recipients! We are grateful for all your excellent efforts to improve the quality of our shared life in Greenwood County!

GWC’s annual informational social, “Kick Off The Vote!” was hosted by our Grants Review & Awards and Social Committees and held at the Harley Family Center on Monday, October 16. The center echoed with exuberant voices of friends greeting each other. Light and delicious refreshments awaited, served by Holley Coyle and Courtney Christensen, Co-Chairs of the Social Committee as well as other welcoming committee members. A PowerPoint of images was compiled by the Communications Committee for the reception highlighting some of GWC’s activities during the last three months: Grant Writing 101 workshop for nonprofits, our August Quarterly Meeting, “Giving is in our Genes,” A New Members Dinner at Betty Adams’s home, our September Social, “Two are Better Than One, and the creation and installation of GWC’s 2023 Uptown scarecrow, Ms. Carey Givings.

Informational segments were presented by members of the Grants Review & Awards Committee. These began with Sally Kauffmann’s expertly performed and very humorous renditions of  “You Are So Beautiful to Me, GWC” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” (including the line “How many needs are right here in Greenwood?”), executed in the manner of Joe Cocker and Bob Dylan, respectively.

Mary Woodiwiss discussed some FAQS of Nonprofit Funding focusing on:

• How do Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) generate and meet their budgets?
• Why do some NPOS request or require so much more funding than others?
• Why do GWC Grants matter?

In her review of our granting process, Mary Dula noted that we are in the very process of women’s empowerment during these days of voting on grants that will impact and influence our community. It was breathtaking to learn that GWC will surpass a cumulative total of over $300,000 in our granting history with this cycle; however, it was also humbling to recognize, once again, how much need there is in Greenwood. Our grant awards this year will be approximately half of the funding requested in this cycle.

Debbie Coesens, Co-Chair of the Grants Review & Awards Committee, recapped what happens after we vote, outlining the tabulation process. So exciting to realize that within a week or two, the most important task we do as an organization, granting to nonprofits, will be accomplished! Tabulation is an elegant process based entirely on members’ ranked votes on Survey Monkey ballots. Grants Review & Awards Committee members review this data and determine how many organizations will receive funding and how much funding each organization will receive, based on the total amount available to award in the 2023 cycle. Debbie announced that “the time is upon us” as ballot links were sent at 6:00pm, during this meeting. The ballot will remain open through midnight on Wednesday, October 18.

The power and privilege to vote is a tremendous opportunity and one that we hope all GWC members will avail themselves of exercising.

Jan Puzar, Co-Chair of the Grants Review & Awards Committee, invited any remaining questions about this year’s voting to be posed.

Rachel Strayer, GWC Vice Chair, delivered the closing remarks by introducing us to the “Caring Arms of Ms. Carey Givings”, our GWC scarecrow on display in front of The Grose Law Firm located at 305 Main St. This wonderful lady holds in her arms several scarecrow children representing past grant recipients in honor and recognition of how the women in this organization wrap our own caring arms around our community. She reminded GWC members that each of make a huge difference by being part of Greenwood Women Care.

With Rachel’s words ringing in our ears, the attending members purposefully left 2023’s “Kick Off the Vote!” with the happy realization that we are blessed to live in Greenwood and grateful for this unique opportunity to be able to make our beloved community a better place for all.

Despite threats of gusty winds, thunderstorms, and hail, nearly forty hearty souls gathered, some with tasty treats in hand, to enjoy Greenwood Women Care’s second social of 2023 on September 12^th.

GWC members and guests were graciously welcomed by Dana Riley, proud proprietor of Emerald Trading Company. Beautifully restored and remodeled and featuring three wall size murals of historic Greenwood, Emerald Trading Company was the perfect place to enjoy fellowship and a delicious repast prepared by GWC’s members whose last names begin with A – L. Dishes including potato casserole, grits, orzo salad, pinwheel sandwiches, chicken, and meatballs, along with delicious desserts, were enjoyed by all!

A station to assemble products provided by one of GWC’s 2022 grant recipients, The Period Project, into “period packs” was set up with many GWC members joining in the project. Karen Dudley-Culbreath, Executive Director of The Period Project, spoke to the group. She noted that one out 4 women lives in “period poverty” determined by such factors as rural locale or economic deprivation and has difficulty obtaining essential monthly supplies.

All attending departed under a clear sky, more enlightened and nourished in both spirit and body, and convinced, once again, that GWC is indeed “The Place To Be!”