Carrie Delafield is one of four coastal women coordinating fundraising for Impact 100 — an organization whose mission is to make a gift of $100,000 to one local non-profit organization each year. Photo by Jerry Lower
By Allen Whittemore
Carrie Delafield knows a good charity when she sees one; after all, she has been volunteering her time for many years with many organizations around the country.
However, when the wife and mother of three girls aged 7, 8 and 9 became a full-time working woman (she owns Periwinkle on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach), she found that she was too busy to commit much time anywhere else.
Then she was asked to become part of Impact 100 in Palm Beach County.
Impact 100 is gaining momentum around the country as a pre-eminent women’s organization whose mission is to make a gift of $100,000 to one charity each year.
“We can completely change a charity in one day,” says Delafield.
Delafield was instantly taken with the organization and its makeup.
“It is exactly what a charity should be: women working together for completely local causes.” Further, it fits her busy schedule. “Impact 100 allows you to give as much or as little time as possible.”
Delafield has spent her time recruiting women, who each donate $1,000, plus a small membership fee, to participate.
Says chapter founder Tandy Robinson, “Carrie has overwhelming energy, and she has done an incredible job in bringing in new members and spreading the word. Her enthusiasm is contagious.”
Both women are energized by the multigenerational nature of the 87 women who are enrolled in this, the inaugural year in Palm Beach. They are optimistic about finding the 13 recruits needed to reach the 100-member plateau.
That would mean the group would have $100,000 to donate at its first award ceremony in May.
At that amount, the “grant is transformational to the recipient,” says Robinson.
Any southern Palm Beach County nonprofit [501(c)(3)] organization is welcome to submit an application, and from these the Impact 100 subcommittee will divide them into five categories: arts and culture; education; environment; family; health and wellness. Five finalists will be chosen.
A representative from each of the finalists will give a presentation at the May meeting before the entire membership votes. The winner will receive a check that night.
The money is given without restriction. “This provides endless possibilities with $100,000,” says Delafield. “And exponential opportunities for those involved.”
The Palm Beach County Chapter was organized using the blueprints of the other 14 Impact 100 groups around the country, but “we will have the flexibility to tailor it to our local needs,” says Robinson, who lives in coastal Delray Beach.
She has had considerable help putting all of this together from Delafield, and also Lisa Mulhall of Delray Beach and Cindy Krebsbach of Boca Raton, who hope that Palm Beach County can match the incredible growth rate of the Vero Beach chapter. That group has more than 300 members and is able to present three awards each year.
“The spirit of community giving is truly awe inspiring,” says Delafield.
For more information, go to www.yourcommunity foundation.org/Impact-100-PalmBeachCounty.
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