Photo by Sherry Ferrante
Philanthropic women who pool their resources to help their communities pack a lot of power.
Impact 100 Palm Beach County has been proving just that since its inception 10 years ago. The nonprofit has given more than $3.8 million to 68 charities located between Lake Worth and Boca Raton.
The Palm Beach County group is one of more than 60 Impact 100 chapters worldwide. Each chapter starts with at least 100 women, and each member gives $1,000 annually. The donations are bundled into $100,000 grants, which are awarded to local charities that have gone through a careful application and review process.
Grants are awarded in five categories: family; environment and animal welfare; arts, culture and historic preservation; health and wellness; and education.
Photo by Carla Azzata
“We strive to connect, engage and inspire women to improve our community by collectively funding impactful $100,000 grants to nonprofits in our area that are dedicated to addressing the challenges facing our community,” says Kathy Adkins, president of Impact 100 Palm Beach County. “The more members we have, the more money we can give to nonprofits in southern Palm Beach County.”
Impact 100 PBC had 565 members in the 2020 grant year. It gave five grants of $100,000 and five smaller grants. Part of the impact of those donations: CityHouse, which supports homeless single moms, can expand its residential programs in Boca Raton; Roots And Wings, which helps children and families in need, can expand its reading program to tutor more students at two Title I schools; Florida Atlantic University Department of Music can provide music lessons to 13 middle and high school students; Delray Beach-based Community Greening Corp. can help plant 1,000 trees; and GIVT will provide disadvantaged girls with hygiene essentials.
Unfortunately, the organization’s “An Evening of Impact” fundraiser and 10th anniversary celebration scheduled for Jan. 13 will have to be rescheduled due to COVID-19. But the mission of Impact 100 PBC continues.
“Our biggest dream for Impact 100 Palm Beach County is that we educate our members about the great need in our community and that we are informed and thoughtful in how we give funds back, so we can make the biggest impact possible with our $100,000 grants,” says Adkins, who hopes to grow the organization to 600 members this year.
For information, visit impact100pbc.org or call 561-336-4623.
