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Women Transforming Sonoma County Through Collective Philanthropy - Nov 2019   
Carol & Nathan Rathmann from winner
Forget Me Not Farm Children's Services!

Displaying the $100,000 check with some of the farm's animals

President's Message    
 
I hope you enjoyed the Saturday Nov. 9th grant meeting! Congratulations to Forget Me Not Farm Children's Services our 2019 Impact 100 RC award winner! Runners up, SAY and SRCH each received $7,500. We are confident that all three of these wonderful organizations will have a great impact in Sonoma County.
 
If you came to the meeting, you witnessed the largest attendance we have ever had. We are delighted that so many of you take the time to come to our four annual membership meetings. To make things easier for our Events Committee (and alleviate last-minute stress) please remember to RSVP!!
 
In other news, I am delighted to announce that I will have a co-president for 2019 -- Suzy Marzalek. Suzy has served as Treasurer, co-chair of the Impact Grant Committee and is one of our founding members. Many Impact 100 chapters rely on co-presidents as their membership grows. In our case, it will allow us more time to devote to the normal duties of our office and to focus on three important areas next year:
  1. Capacity - the financial and human cost of our continued growth. We have an ad hoc committee looking into this.  They will report back to us in the Spring.
  2. Communications - how do we most-effectively keep you informed and conversely, hear from you. We will be looking at our newsletter, website, email, social networking and our orientation programs. Our Marketing and Membership Committees will be evaluating this issue and reporting back to the Leadership Team periodically.
  3. Grant diversity - how we can best contribute to all grant sectors when human services more frequently tugs at our heart strings. We are forming a task force of both grant committees and volunteers from general membership. They will provide us with alternatives in the next few months.

We will keep you up-to-date on these important issues and plan to organize a strategy session involving all members next summer.
 
Jan Gilman
President, Impact 100 Redwood Circle
Welcome To Our New 2020 Officers!

Co-Presidents - Jan Gilman & Suzy Marzalek
Carol Lynn Wood - Governance VP
Sharon Beckman -- Nominating VP
Laurie White -- Secretary
Jenny Downing -- Treasurer

In This Issue
 Upcoming Events
 
ED TALKS
Monday, Jan. 14, 2020
4:30 - 6:00 p.m.
Yulupa Cohousing
1346 Yulupa Ave.
Santa Rosa
Topic: EDUCATION
 
New Member Orientation 
Saturday, Feb.1, 2020
9:30 - 11:00 a.m.
At the home of Shirley Ward
3655 Rutherford Way
Santa Rosa
 
Member Meeting * 
Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2020  
5:00 p.m.
Charlie's Restaurant
Windsor Golf Club
1320 19th Hole Drive
Windsor
 
*Note: the food table, wine table, etc., will be in the enclosed patio with a heater.  This will leave space to spread out the tables.  
Welcom to the newest
members of our circle!

Deborah Donlon
Julie Kiil
Viola Lucero
Forget Me Not Farms Children's Services Receives $100,000!

The Impact 100 Redwood Circle annual meeting was held on November 9th to choose the recipient of the $100,000 Impact Grant.   Over 130 members were in attendance to hear presentations from the three finalists - Forget Me Not Farm Children's Services, Santa Rosa Community Health and Social Advocates for Youth.   
 
For the first time, the two runners-up were also each awarded a $7500 grant. Please join us in congratulating them!  
 
Web site is www.forgetmenotfarm.org  
Facebook - Forget Me Not Farm
Instagram - @raymondonthefarm
Twitter - @farm_forget
 
A BIG thank you to the 2019 Impact Grant committee: Suzanne Abrams, Maureen Buehler, Cathy Casteel, Ina Chun, Susan David, Jenny Downing, Jody Edwards, Vicki Groninga, MK Hicks, Ginger Kelly, Suzy Marzalek, Marianne Messer, Susan Milstein, Karen Thompson, Marty Wait, Shirley Ward.
 
Suzy Marzalek & Vicky Groninga, Co-Chairs

Updates From our Grantees
FOOD FOR THOUGHT 
Food For Thought has continued to leverage your investment in us, and we have implemented three new programs, using the lessons learned during our grant period.
  1. Medi-Cal Medically Tailored Meals Program: FFT is part of a statewide pilot, bringing meals and nutrition counseling to low-income Medi-Cal patients affected by congestive heart failure, and studying the impact in reduction of hospitalizations.
  2. Welcome Home: An extension of the Vital Nutrition Project (funded by Impact 100 RC) - FFT provides comprehensive nutrition services to people being released from the hospital at great risk of malnutrition.  
     
  3. Bags of Love: Ready-to-eat groceries specialized for seriously ill homeless members of our community.
Carolyn Johnson, Carol Orme & Thea Hensel join ED Ron Karp at FFT's donor appreciation event
 
With your help, we have already taken our tried-and-true model of food as medicine , and scaled it to reach many more people in need. We are currently wrapping up a strategic planning proc es s that will guide our growth in the short, medium, and long-term future. We look forward to keeping you app rised of our progress in this effort, and at this point wanted to share two highlights from the plan: 
  • By 2022, we will establish a second facility in centrally-located Santa Rosa, in order to serve more clients, recruit more volunteers, and promote ourselves as a more prominent county-wide agency.
  •  By 2029, we will serve between 2,000 to 2,500 clients.
HOW YOU CAN HELP : Dining Out For Life
Dine out on Thursday, December 5th and 25-100% of your purchase will be donated to Food For Thought! Restaurant list:  fftfoodbank.org/dofl-restaurants
 
We are looking for a few more Dining Out For Life Ambassadors for lunch shifts. If you are interested in volunteering, please sign up online:  fftfoodbank.org/dol19-ambassador-form  or contact Helen at (707) 887-1647 x 103 or HelenM@FFTfoodbank.org.
 
 
VOICES 
THANKSGIVING DINNER:
VOICES is preparing for our annual Thanksgiving dinner on Nov. 26th. We've loved Impact 100 RC's support and amazing cooking in past years and we'd love to have you involved again. It is truly a special event for our youth who may not have a typical Thanksgiving dinner. 
Please help us spread the word about food donations! Any donation/dish would be greatly appreciated....here are some suggestions:
 
Turkey, Ham, Sweet Potatoes, Stuffing, Cranberry Sauce, Dinner Rolls, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Deviled Eggs, Green Bean Casserole, Pumpkin Pie, Apple Cider, Sparkling Ciders, Hot Cocoa, Tupperware/Storage Containers, Yams & Marshmallows

We'd love to have Impact 100 RC members sign up to drop off dishes on that Monday 25th or Tuesday 26th. Please feel free to call or email me 707.538.1668 or email Kelsey 
 
HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE:
We'll have a Holiday Open House in December that is directed towards youth but adult supporters are welcome to join! We haven't set a date yet but it's usually around the 20th of December and I'd love to welcome you there. 

We're also participating in Giving Tuesday for the second year on December 3rd. We raised over $10K last for youth last year so we're going to try it again! If you haven't already heard about this and would like to, I'm happy to send your email address to Amber Twitchell as she sent out Save the Dates.
 
RUSSIAN RIVERKEEPER  
Russian Riverkeeper's fall Watershed Cleanup resulted in the removal of 25 tires and t ons of garbage. This great group of volunteers followed a canoe route from Healdsburg t o Wohler bridge in canoes donated by Russian River Adventures.  
 
The nonprofit also conducted a post-fire assessment on Pine Flat Rd. after the Kincaid fire. Good news; the burn intensity was lower than 2017 when most tree canopies were completely burned. This time the canopies are intact or lightly burned, resulting in lower erosion rates. Fewer structures burned, resulting in less toxicity in fire runoff as well.
 
 
ARTSTART  
Artstart has moved, and we are ready to show off our new home!  We welcome all of our supporters and friends to come see our creative space, take a look at what we've been working on, and consider donating to purchase wish list items off of our Artstart Giving Tree. Work by our talented teen apprentices will also be on display and available for purchase.   

Please join us for local beer from our neighbors at Old Possum Brewing Company, light refreshments, and fun!  
 
When: Sunday December 8th, 2019 from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
For Questions or More Information:  Phone: 707 546-2345, E-Mail: info@artstart.us   
 
We hope to see you there!
Share Your Talents With the Marketing Committee! 
We are looking for a few good women!   
If you have experience with Constant Contact, Powerpoint, Adobe Photoshop/Illustrator/Elements/design software, PR/Media Outreach, Wordpress/Content Management Systems, Social Media Content Generation and Management (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), or photography, please email Ann Marie McGee,   Marketing Chair.

Are You a Volunteer for one of our Grant Recipients listed below? 
We would love to know that?  Email Ann Marie McGee with the name of the organization and your role!  Feel free to share a photo or two of you "in action".  This information is great "content" for our newsletter, website and social media sites! 
 
Catholic Charities
Food for Thought
Forget Me Not Farm Children's Services
LIME Foundation (NextGen Trades Academy)
PDI Surgery Center
Russian Riverkeeper
Santa Rosa Community Health
Social Advocates for Youth (SAY)
The Living Room
V.O.I.C.E.S.
Women's Recovery Services WRS
 
Ann Marie McGee, Marketing Chair 
NextGen Update 
The NextGen committee hosted a lively social event on November 13 at Perch and Plow. We were pleased to welcome a group of younger women that included new members, almost new members (applications submitted) and prospective members. We enjoyed celebrating the recent Impact 100 RC Grant winner, Forget-Me-Not Farms, and sharing our own experiences with Impact 100 RC. 
 
The women especially enjoyed getting to know each other and discovering a shared p assion for  supporting our community. Impact 100 RC's women-led, collective-giving model resonated with them in a powerful way. Special thanks to members Diana Rich, Robin Warren, LaSette Sewell, Patricia Cavanaugh, Kristin Nelson and Suzy Marzalek for providing the introductions to our guests and new NextGen members. 
 
Do you know a younger woman who would like to learn more about our growing Impact 100 RC NextGen program? We'll be having another event soon and would love to introduce them to our group. Email contacts to Robin Wendler, or call  707-889-4497.

Robin Wendler, Chair  
Membership Committee   
Our Impact 100 RC membership continues to grow and we currently have 221 members. 
 
We estimate that about 130 members and 7 guests attended our very successful November 9th General Meeting at Charlies.
 
The next New Member Orientation is Saturday, February 1, 2020, from 9:30- 11:00 AM, at the home of Shirley Ward.  Sarah Dove will be sending out an email announcement inviting new members to RSVP and Shirley Ward will contact the Leadership Team.
 
Please watch for an email announcement for the next Cocktails and Conversation "No Host" casual get together for members and interested guests.

Bev Curry, Co-Chair Membership Committee  
Education Committee
Next ED Talks on the education sector   
 
Plan to attend the next ED Talk on Monday, Jan. 14th, 4:30 - 6pm, Yulupa Cohousing in Santa Rosa. Kellie Noe is Manager of the Sonoma County Upstream Investments Policy Initiative of the Sonoma County Human Services Department. She will discuss EDUCATION with an update of the needs in this area.
 
The Initiative aims to promote effective and prevention-focused approaches to ultimately uproot poverty and reduce long-term monetary and societal costs to Sonoma County.
Watch for a detailed invitation coming soon. Mark your calendars!

Thea Hensel, C-Chair Education Committee 
 
Leadership Team Charters New Task Force
 
The Impact 100 RC Leadership Team has chartered a Task Force to look at the Impact Grant and the Community Grants and determine if changes are needed in the following areas:  
  1. Categories/Sectors - Currently the categories/sectors for both the Impact Grant and the Community Grants are arts, education, environment, health, and human services.  The Task Force will examine how these categories/sectors are used and if any changes are appropriate as we move forward. 
  2. Criteria for the grants - such as the size and geographic service area of the agencies
  3. Size of the grants going forward as our membership grows to more than 200 members
The Task Force will be comprised of three members from the Impact Grant Committee (Vicki Groninga, Maureen Buehler, Ina Chun), three members of the Community Grant Committee (Carol Newman, Chris Chang-Weeks, Carol Orme) and three members from the general membership.   
 
The Task Force will meet beginning in January and complete its work in April.  The work to be done will include researching other Impact organizations, gathering input from the membership, creating proposals for possible changes, and bring the proposals to the entire membership for a vote. 
 
If you are interested in serving as one of the three members from the general membership, please send an email by December 4th to Vicki Groninga .  

Impact 100 RC Leadership Team 

Learn More About SAY; Runner Up for the 2019 Impact Grant
 
The SAY Finley Dream Center operates the only short-term shelter for young people ages 18-24 nestled between San Francisco and the Oregon border. The Dream Center supports Sonoma County youth who have no one and no place to turn to when they are at their most vulne
SAY representatives at our Nov. 9 meeting
rable. In addition to the short-term shelter, long term housing, counseling, and case management are offered to at-risk youth, including victims of sex trafficking.  
 
SAY Interim CEO Elizabeth Goldman invites you to tour the SAY Finely Dream Center to learn more about the counseling, housing, and career services she and her staff provide to the youngest members of our community on Wednesday, December 11, at 12:30 pm. Please RSVP by emailing  Susan Boyle or calling her at 707.544.3299, ext. 255

Vicki Groninga, Co-Chair Impact Grant Committee 
 
Contact our Newsletter Editor:
If you have questions or suggestions for The Impact 100 Redwood Circle Communique, please contact Editor, Jan Houts at impact100newsletter@gmail.com