VERO BEACH – The women of Impact 100 are abuzz with excitement as a new season of giving gets underway with hopes of having even more women join their ranks at the annual Membership Breakfast to be held on Wednesday, Nov. 9, at the Quail Valley River Club on A1A.
The guest speaker will be Faith Daniels, who at age 27 was one of the youngest national news anchors ever, anchoring such programs as the Today Show, CBS This Morning and Dateline NBC. She has covered everything from Desert Storm to the Olympics and won several Emmy awards along the way. Ms. Daniels is the president of Debra of America, a non-profit foundation focused on the treatment and cure for a rare disease known as “EB.” She learned about this disease through her research while reporting on it. She will talk about how she turned her philanthropic passion into action.
Daniels, a close friend of Impact 100 President Sue Tompkins commented, “I’ve really been impressed with what I’ve heard Impact 100 has accomplished in such a short time. The results really speak to the strength in numbers.”
Registration is at 8:30 a.m. followed by breakfast at 9. Since seating is limited, early reservations are required. Send $25 check payable to IRCF/Impact 100, P.O. Box 643968, Vero Beach, FL 32964.
For further information call Martha Lemasters, 231-4262.
In three short years the all-women group has awarded grants totaling more than $785,000 to non-profits in Indian River County. Last year’s recipients of $100,000 grants included The Learning Alliance, Treasure Coast Community Health, Inc. and the Hibiscus Children’s Centers. In accordance with Impact 100’s new policy of distributing all membership money each year, three other semifinalists were each given $16,000 grants, including the Educational Foundation of IRC, the Senior Resource Association, and the Ocean Research & Conservation Alliance (ORCA).
“Our goal this year is to reach a membership of 400 members in our fourth year providing a whopping $400,000 available to our community,” explains President Sue Tompkins. “That’s only 52 more women to make it all possible. Since we are an entirely volunteer organization every penny donated goes directly to the grants.
“These are exciting times…our goal is to encourage women to at least come to our Membership Breakfast and ask questions, meet our Board, and rub shoulders with our members. We’re looking for more than “a few good women”… we want 52 more philanthropic women who will stand together with us to address the needs of our local charitable organizations. Even if a woman comes alone…she won’t be lonely…there will be a Board member assigned to each table to welcome her and introduce her to others,” adds Tompkins.
Impact 100 wouldn’t be as successful without the commitments of three important affiliations: The Indian River Community Foundation provides professional advice and administers the Impact 100 fund. The Wilmington Trust Company is a corporate partner, providing underwriting for administrative funds, training sessions and the two meetings a year. The Robert F. and Eleonora W. McCabe Foundation provides professional advice and support for all efforts and events.