The Prairie Godmother Fund of the Golden Belt Community Foundation recently received more than $10,000 in charitable donations. Prairie Godmothers was voted the winner of the Nov. 6 giving meeting for 100+ People Who Care of Barton County. The endowment funds exist to provide one-time emergency grants to women in Barton County whose needs cannot be met by another charitable organization.
“Prairie Godmothers was founded five years ago by a group of women who wanted to create a sustainable source of grant making to help women now and forever,” said Melanie Calcara, one of the founding advisory board members. “In our first year, we raised over $100,000 and this year we had set a goal to increase that total endowment to over $250,000. With the help of a generous donor for matching funds, this gift will now be doubled and we should be able to reach that goal by the end of the year! We are so grateful for their support.”
When a woman in Barton County has a critical, unmet need, she can reach out to any Barton County nonprofit agency, school, church or government agency and ask if they are willing to complete an application on her behalf. Applying organizations simply need to create an account using the GBCF grant portal to apply. The Prairie Godmother advisory committee reviews the applications and, if approved, funds are paid directly to the vendor or service provider.
As the local endowment celebrates its fifth anniversary, members are also celebrating their impact with more than 140 emergency needs being met during that time. The donations from members of 100+ People Who Care Barton County will be added to the endowed funds, with a match coming from The Nichols Charitable Foundation for a total of more than $20,000 in increased assets. Those assets will earn interest and the grants are given out of those interest earnings so that the principal is never depleted. This creates a permanent, sustainable source of grant making that will impact women in our community for years to come.
To learn more about The Prairie Godmother Funds, visit the website https://goldenbeltcf.org/prairie-godmothers or like the organization’s Facebook page.
The next giving meeting for the 100+ People Who Care group will be held at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2019, at the Best Western Angus Inn Courtyard. At that time, representatives from The Prairie Godmother Funds will return to provide an update on how the organization is utilizing the $10,000+ gift. Members will also vote to select and nominate local, charitable organizations to receive future funds. More details can be found at www.100bartoncounty.org or on the group’s Facebook page.
