PORTLAND, Maine — Chilly temperatures and dark skies on November nights in Maine can make it difficult to want to leave the house. It's not enough, though, to stop a group of inspiring women from the southern Maine region, who get together four times a year for an important cause.
On Nov. 6, members of the 100+ Women Who Care Southern Maine group celebrated nine years of existing and—by virtue of that—giving back to the local community. The group now has 345 members and has invested more than $529,000 into southern Maine nonprofits. It all started when founder Deb Bergeron put a call out on Facebook about her idea nearly a decade ago.
"It’s just the power of women coming together. That was my vision when I started this," Bergeron said.
Here's how it works: Every quarter, these women gather together in person and via Zoom for a meeting. Three of their names are selected by a random drawing, and then those women get to give a five-minute presentation about a local nonprofit they're representing. After a brief question-and-answer session, the other members vote on who they want to give to — and then, the nonprofit with the most amount of votes gets a $50 check from every member.
"Veterans, domestic violence, children with disabilities, animals — runs the gamut," Bergeron said about the kinds of nonprofits the group has supported.
Bergeron said now with so many members, they're raising about $13,000 per winning nonprofit. Then, the Schulze Family Foundation typically donates another $5,000. The other two nonprofits that present but aren't selected still get $1,000 each.
"Women are busy. This is a way people can take an hour and really make a difference," Bergeron said.
On Thursday, the nonprofit the group voted for was Greater Portland Family Promise, which works exclusively right now with asylum seekers (primarily from Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) to help them with housing and other needs.
"I've been coming for the past year, just putting our name in the hat, really hoping that we would win," Michelle Lamm, the executive director of GPFP, said.
Lamm said the money is coming at a good time. When she took on her role in 2020, it took about three to six months for asylum seekers to find housing. She said now, that's closer to 12 to 18 months.
"We are running short on money for food and bus tickets and quarters for laundry and financial assistance. This is going to make the world of difference," Lamm said.
Lamm said the hope is the support from Monday night will continue in a ripple effect.
"Hopefully this will help attract new donors [and] people [will] continue to give afterwards and write checks; and hopefully people that didn’t know about Greater Portland Family Promise will now be connected to us for a lifetime," Lamm said.
Former NEWS CENTER Maine reporter Peggy Keyser, now the advancement director of the Maine State Society for the Protection of Animals, represented the MSSPA a couple of meetings ago when it received the money.
"It was really exciting. It was a really big deal," Keyser said, noting last year, the MSSPA spent close to $115,000 in veterinary bills alone. The nonprofit helps to rehabilitate horses that have often been mistreated.
Keyser said for a small amount of money each, the women involved in 100+ WWCSM end up having a huge impact.
"Every topic is compelling. Every organization that presents is very compelling," Keyser said.
Bergeron said her goal is to get up to 500 members. If you're interested in signing up, you can click here to learn more.