The Homer chapter of 100 Women Who Care is a group that convenes four times each year with local women committed to donate $100 each quarter to a non-profit organization or project serving the southern Kenai Peninsula area. According to their membership website, “our membership is making real changes in the lives of those living on the Kenai Peninsula through our combined donation each quarter.”
Catriona Reynolds, group coordinator explained more about the structure of the group:
It’s not a structured organization but a national concept, 100+ chapters, that include groups of women, men, youth and more who gather to combine individual funds for a group donation. In Homer, there is also a men’s chapter, the Gary Thomas group that was organized a few years after the women’s group started in 2018.
Reynolds explains the simple process for choosing fund donations:
“Three of the people who are already established as members present for five minutes about an organization or a program that they very much care about, we listen to those, so we learn lots about things that are happening in the community. We listen to those presentations, and then we vote for which one will be the recipient that quarter. At that point it's pretty instantaneous. We'll then write a check or a couple people will pay cash to the recipient.”
The most recent meeting of Homer’s chapter took place early last week and voted to donate this quarter’s funds to the Homer Independent Press to generate more local news coverage. Director Donna Aderhold provided a Zoom presentation to the organization with this group explanation:
“When a group of us realized that what we thought of as our hometown paper was owned by an outside corporation that did not have Homer's interests at heart, we created HIP, an online local news source, because community journalism is important. It's important because people want and need to know what's happening locally. Local news written by local reporters leads to voters who know what's on the ballot and increased election turnout, more civic engagement and neighbors who care about each other. Subscription to HIP is free, and we want to keep it that way. We want the press to be free, but it takes funds to bring you the news, and we gladly accept tax deductible donations.”
The other two organizations considered for donations this quarter were Kachemak Ski Club needs for the Homer Rope Tow and the Duffy Legacy Fund at the Homer Foundation. 2025 recipients were the Anchor Point Food Pantry, the Homer Senior Center, Homer Farmers Market and the Homer Cycling Club.
Reporting from Homer, this is Emilie Springer.
