The Power of Peers: Two Giving Circles Support Children’s Home & Aid Programs

Over the years, Marie Eledge and her friends wrote many checks to support each other’s businesses, including Pampered Chef, Stella Dot and Cabi home parties.

Her husband joked, “Why don’t you women just exchange blank checks?”

That was just the nudge Eledge needed to begin forming 100 Women for Good: Bloomington Normal.  Founded to make a positive and meaningful impact on Bloomington-Normal, members pledge to meet three or four times a year, choose a local nonprofit to support and personally commit $100 at each meeting to go directly to the worthy organization.

For 2020, 100 Women for Good partnered with Children’s Home & Aid where Eledge has served on the Advisory Board since 2017. To date, the group has raised more than $32,000! Funds will be used to provide diapers, household supplies, PPE and other essentials to families served by our Home Visiting Crisis Nursery and Scott Early Learning center.

“The power of the women in the group is incredible,” says Marie. “All of us are dedicated to learning about the services being provided to those most in need in our community and how we can make a difference.”

A similar group in the Chicago area, called Pitch Your Peers, also chose Children’s Home & Aid as a recipient of its first grant, $25,000, which will support the hiring of a trauma-informed Occupational Therapist for the Rice Child & Family Center in Evanston.

Pitch Your Peers Chicago is the third chapter of this national non-profit whose mission is to engage women in philanthropy to collectively fund grants to local charitable initiatives.

Jennie Pastor, co-founder of Pitch Your Peers Chicago said, “Our goal when forming PYP Chicago was to create a group of women who share a passion for volunteerism and philanthropy that can learn from each other about important local causes. The group then awards a significant grant to really have impact.”

Children’s Home & Aid and the Rice Center were nominated by volunteer Erin Quinn, a longtime member of the Woman’s Board and a passionate advocate for the needs of children.

“I am beyond grateful to this group of extraordinary women for choosing the Rice Center to receive the $25,000 grant,” she said. “It is humbling that with our grant our group is helping to make a difference in the lives of the children at Rice, and is contributing to the advancement of mental health.”

Thank you to these generous community leaders for their support! For more information about how your group can support the work of Children’s Home & Aid, please contact mkelly@childrenshomeandaid.org.