Women’s Giving Group Comes Full-Circle

On a beautiful May 19th evening, a group known as the Women’s Giving Circle met for the first time in over a year. While the evening was full of fun and time to catch up with old friends, a singular focus was on everyones’ mind… ‘How can we best serve the women and children of Washington County?’

Created in 2016 through the efforts of the leadership at Marietta Community Foundation, the Women’s Giving Circle has 49 members, all local women who share a desire to better their community.

Despite the pandemic, the WGC continued to grow its membership, and for the first time since 2019, the philanthropic group was able to celebrate together by doing what they do best… supplying resources to a local organization in need.

Before their in-person event, members were invited to submit proposals for nonprofit organizations they felt embodied the WGC’s mission.

“The mission of the Women's Giving Circle is to build a community of philanthropists and create a permanent legacy to address the needs of women and children in Washington County, Ohio and the surrounding area,” said Heather Allender, President & CEO of Marietta Community Foundation. “We want to educate, inspire, and increase the number of women committed to philanthropy to demonstrate the impact we can have in our community.”

Three proposals were randomly drawn from the submissions: EVE, Inc., Greater Marietta Community Food Pantry, and GoPacks.

The proposals that were drawn would then be presented weeks later by the submitting member at the in-person event on May 19th. The remaining members would listen to each presentation and then cast their vote for which organization they would like the group to support.

“This was an entirely new method of giving for our group,” said Lynn Ellis Lowe, President of the Women’s Giving Circle. “It was fun, it was engaging, and we accomplished a lot of good for the community. Any woman in our community with a giving spirit, who is not a part of this wonderful group of ladies, is missing out!... There is always room for more!”

As the evening came to a close the ballots were counted and the results were in… the winner of the $8,000 Women’s Giving Circle grant went to EVE, Inc.

Left to Right; Molly Varner (Giving Circle Member), Janet Wells (Executive Director, Eve, Inc.), and Heather Allender (President & CEO, Marietta Community Foundation).

“I was the Giving Circle member who submitted EVE, Inc.’s name for my proposal,” said Molly Varner, Women’s Giving Club member. “The work they do for victims of domestic abuse is so important, which is why I can’t be more excited that they were selected to win our spring grant!”

The WGC will host another event this coming fall following a similar format. The group invites any women interested in local philanthropy to attend the event to see if they would like to join. While the date for the fall event has not been scheduled, individuals interested in learning more can contact the Foundation.