United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council awards local grants
The Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way of Thurston County has awarded grants to eight nonprofit programs helping local woman and girls.
The council awarded a total of more than $50,000 to the eight nonprofits. The awards were announced Friday night at the council’s Power of the Purse, its primary fundraiser, held at Indian Summer Golf & Country Club.
The council is the local arm of a national organization focused on empowering girls and women. In Thurston County, the group has more than 70 members from diverse backgrounds and professions.
Twelve local agencies submitted grant applications, which were then reviewed by a volunteer committee of council members. Finalists were then invited to make a presentation to the committee.
“The number one factor in our consideration was, does this fit our mission to empower women and help them become financially stable and independent?” said committee member Maria Robinson in a news release. “They were all great applications, and we want to help everybody, but we had to keep that focus.”
This year’s recipients are:
▪ YWCA Women’s Economic Empowerment Program: $15,000 for the job skills program.
▪ Family Support Center’s Pear Blossom Place shelter: $9,000 for computers and other supplies.
▪ CIELO’s Transforming Lives Stitch by Stitch: $8,744 to expand its sewing skills program.
▪ Boys & Girls Club SMART Girls Program: $5,994 for staffing, supplies and field trips.
▪ South Sound Parent to Parent Effective Communication Workshop: $5,000 for leader fees, supplies, child care and other costs.
▪ Dry Tikes and Wet Wipes: $4,550 to support the free diaper program that supplies families and nonprofits.
▪ Safeplace’s Child & Youth SPEAK Program: $1,000 for the support program for children.
▪ GRuB’s Kitchen Garden Project/ Project MAMA: $1,000 to send children to summer camp.
This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 3:32 PM with the headline "United Way’s Women’s Leadership Council awards local grants."