- February 7, 2025
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Teresa Smith knew she wanted to give back to the community where she lived in Volusia County, but she wasn't sure how she would do that.
It wasn't until she went on a golfing trip that someone told her about 100+ Plus Women Who Care, a global concept where groups of women come together to give back. The groups meet four times each year and each member brings a check for $100 that will go toward local charities, non-profits or other charitable causes.
When Smith returned home, she started talking with other women in the area about forming a group in the region. Before long, the Volusia County Women Who Care group was formed. On Thursday, Nov. 9, around 40 women attended the group's first meeting and 30 of those women made a commitment to help with the group's cause.
That night, $3,000 was raised to be given to Volusia Volunteers in Medicine, which provides health care for the working uninsured and underinsured.
"Volusia County Women Who Care is inclusive of all of Volusia County including Port Orange," Smith said. " Our goal is to recruit women from Port Orange as well as all of the cities that make up Volusia County. All 501c3s that are presented and selected by the members must provide services to Volusia County. So the intention is to have an impact in Volusia County."
Committed members can nominate a 501c3 serving Volusia County. From the nominations submitted, three names are drawn and those three women are given five minutes each to present their organization to the group with three minutes for others to ask questions.
After everyone hears the three presentations, members have a chance to vote on one of the three 501c3’s presented. Once the votes are tallied, the winner is announced. Each committed member then writes a $100 check directly to the selected charity.
The checks are collected and delivered to that charity within 30 days. The charity is asked to acknowledge each check and to come to the next quarterly meeting and tell the group how the funds were used and the impact it had.
Smith said her goal is to have at least 100 women sign a commitment to be a part of the meetings and donate $100 each time. She hopes to reach that goal by the end of 2018.
"Our hope is to recruit more and more women," Smith said. "The more women we have, the bigger impact we can make in our community."
For more information, visit volusiacountywomenwhocare.com.
