Alison Buehler and Nelle Cohen hadn’t seen each other in months, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, when they met up for coffee a few weeks ago.
“She was working on something. … She’s always working on something in the community,” Cohen said of Buehler. “She told me about (100 Women Who Care) and I was so intrigued. I said ‘I’m in!'”
Buehler, Cohen and six other women organized the Starkville chapter of the national movement, launching it Thursday and gathering more than enough members quickly. The chapter is modeled after the one in Columbus, which started in April 2019.
The 100 Women Who Care movement began in 2006 when a woman in Jackson, Michigan, turned to her friends and acquaintances to raise $100 donations toward providing baby beds for poor mothers who had just delivered their babies.
The idea was simple: Get 100 women to commit $100 each and pool the money to provide funds for charities and organizations that serve the community. Since then, chapters have sprung up all over the country and are by no means limited to just 100 women.
Buehler said she reached out to women outside her own social circle and came up with what she saw as a good cross-section of Starkville women who could continue the outreach.
“It really took shape very quickly, and within four days we have (about) 170 women signed up,” she said.
Buehler said members can pay in installments, such as $25 four times a year, if their financial resources are limited.
100 Women Who Care chapters meet at least once a year to vote on a local nonprofit organization to fund. Anyone can submit a nomination for a 501(c)3 organization in good standing that will use the funds exclusively in the chapter’s home county, and the Starkville chapter has a handful of nominations already, Buehler said.
“Our priority in Starkville is projects that help people improve their health, home or community,” she said. “We’re looking for effective and lasting change, not so much Band-Aid projects, but things that really impact a long-term shift.”
The Columbus chapter has awarded its funds to the Golden Triangle Regional Homeless Coalition, the FORGE Foundation and most recently the Loaves and Fishes Community Soup Kitchen.
“What I like about the organization is it’s so nimble, and you can kind of turn around and meet whatever need arises,” Buehler said.
The Starkville chapter’s first vote will be March 1, the first day of Women’s History Month. Buehler said she anticipates the event being virtual in case the pandemic continues to make large in-person gatherings inadvisable.
The Columbus chapter adapted to the circumstances with Punchbowl.com, an online invitations service, when it gave its third award in March. Each nominated organization was asked to submit a video presentation, and chapter members had a week to view the videos and do any research on the organizations themselves before voting.
Buehler said the Starkville chapter will consider splitting the funds into donations to multiple causes if they receive enough money and nominated groups that would use the money wisely.
She also said she hopes the group has 600 members by March 1. Ideally “every woman in Starkville” will join, and she and Cohen said the group will have enough time to establish itself in the next three and a half months.
Both Buehler and Cohen said 100 Women Who Care brings people together at a time when people’s differences and divisions tend to be on display.
“We may not all agree on a lot of different things, but we can all agree that we really love Starkville and want to make a difference,” Cohen said. “We’re in a time where being a part of something where we can all agree on one thing is a pretty good thing. There’s something cathartic about that.”
Tess Vrbin was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 43 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
