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The Annual Women2Women 100x$100×100 Fundraising Campaign

The Annual Women2Women 100x$100×100 Fundraising Campaign

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What is the problem?
Imagine being faced with a decision…keeping the utilities on to keep your family comfortable, or paying for gas for the family vehicle and replacing worn tires, or having the urgent need for an air conditioning unit installed in your apartment window because heat makes your medical condition unbearable. Many of us are fortunate enough to have the resources to pay for our needs and we don’t have to ask friends or family or strangers to step in to help. But what if you didn’t have financial support? Who would you turn to?

Thanks To You More Than 1,400 Weld County Women Have Been Helped
During the last year W2W has had 204 requests for assistance, bringing the total number of women helped in ten years to over 1,400. These women have been referred to us by other non-profits we partner with; like United Way of Weld County, North Range Behavioral Health, Guadalupe Center, and 47 other agencies. We’ve paid for auto repairs, prescription eye wear, utility bills, dental work, housing deposits, medical care and more, for women in need. And 100% of all funds you’ve donated have gone directly to these grants. The money donated has been paid to local vendors and service providers, resulting in a positive economic local impact.

But More Women Need Our Help
Back in 2009 when 10 women asked 10 friends to give $100, Women2Women raised $10,000 and immediately starting giving a “hand up” to women in need of financial assistance. But, as the years have passed, housing needs, car repairs, schooling expenses, health and wellness expenses, and food have all seen price increases. The women we help are sometimes just a payment away from disaster. We are dedicated to helping those women with a “hand up” instead of a handout.

250 Women X $100 X 100 Days
For ten year’s one of our most important sources of funding has been through the 100 Women x $100 x 100 Days fundraising drive. Last year we went bigger and raised over $22,000.  We’re asking you to donate $100 within the next 100 days to help us help these women. But we’re also asking you to tell a friend. Or two. Or three! We hope that YOU will choose to support us during our fundraising campaign. The larger our “Purse” grows, the more women we can help. Our goal this year is to raise $25,000. That is just 250 women giving $100 by Dec. 31st. Will you help with a one-time or monthly donation? Please join us to help continue to offer one-time financial assistance to women in crises.

It is easy to donate. Just put your check in the enclosed envelope. Or make a secure online donation by credit card or PayPal.

Thank you for supporting Women2Women!

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Leanna’s Closet April Update

Leanna's ClosetOn April 26, 2017 Leanna’s Closet held their Open House to the Public to reestablish themselves back into the Weld County community after a 5 year hiatus.

Leanna’s Closet was first started in 2002 named after the late community member Leanna Anderson, and unfortunately closed in 2012 due to location issues.

Thanks to Habitat for Humanity ReStore for securing and sharing their location, and Women2Women of Weld County for allowing Leanna’s Closet to be a project under their 501c3 umbrella. The partnerships have been an easy connection to make as both charities can quickly provide their services in a minimal amount of time, resulting in making a positive local impact.

Our goals are very similar and simple; to provide a “hand up” to local women through a referral program for a one-time assistance. After 1 full year, Leanna’s closet has been able to help 98 women with professional career outfits for free.

Leanna’s closet is dedicated to assisting low income and disadvantaged women to find work related clothing for job interviews and first days on the job. Each client that comes to Leanna’s Closet with a voucher from one of our agencies, chooses 3 full outfits from shoes to accessories. All the clothing and accessories are 100% donated by women in our community.

It is truly women helping other women.

— Felecia Burke, Leanna’s Closet Board Member 

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Wing Shack W2W Community Night

THANK YOU Wing Shack!

The Community Night event held Thursday, November 30th at the West Wing Shack, 1815 65th Avenue was a great success!

We raised $782.58 for Women2Women from the 15% of proceeds that WingShack donated. The proceeds will enable us to help more women in Weld County. We’re very grateful to Wing Shack for hosting the event and for their help setting up a display table for W2W.

Women2Women’s Kristi, Liz, Sarah, and Jenna were there for 3 hours! Former Board member Kay Fortner came and sat also. Kristi and Liz wore their W2W pink “Cookin'” aprons and one of the male staff offered to buy one—he liked it! Lots of teenagers, young families and folks filled the place.

Thanks again to 65th Avenue Wing Shack for a hugely successful event!

1815 65th Avenue, Greeley (970) 356-4651
1815 65th Avenue, Greeley (970) 356-4651

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W2W Board Members Honored at 2017’s Celebrating Women Gala

Current board members, Patty Gates and Jean Daviet were recently honored at the 23rd Annual “Celebrating Women Gala” hosted by Friends of A Woman’s Place on October 21, 2017.

Patty and Jean join 9 other past W2W board members including Stephanie Torrez who was also honored this year. Please join us in congratulating them for their well-deserved honor! Patty and Jean’s bios from the event program are included below.


Patty Gates – Business Leader

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Patty Gates

Patty Gates helped paved the way for Greeley’s future. How? By instilling her time, heart, and passion throughout the community. A Greeley native, she fully invested herself serving not only our city, but the county as well. Every organization with which she been involved has become stronger, more focused, and better positioned in the community. Each institution has benefited from her leadership, vision, and devotion.

Having studied Business Administration at the University of Northern Colorado, she honed her skills in the banking industry. Patty established herself as an experienced lender over the course of 30 years, accompanied by devotion to her customers, colleagues and employees. During a time when there were very few women in Senior Management, Patty was blessed to have had three great mentors during her career. These men gave her the opportunity to learn and grow professionally. She started as a consumer loan officer in 1984, helped establish 1st Choice Bank in 1992, and set up its real estate loan department. 1st Choice grew to $450 million and was acquired by Wells Fargo, at which point Patty decided she wanted to remain with a local bank instead of climbing the national bank ladder.

When FMS Bank entered the Greeley market, it identified Patty as the best person to represent the institution. She currently serves as Branch President & Chief Operations Officer for FMS. Her warm personality and sense of humor allow her to connect with people at every level. Her hard work is widely recognized by the community.

Patty’s leadership skills have contributed to a diverse group of organizations as board member and chair of the board. She takes her role seriously and works her way up through the organization to serve as the chairperson, a position where she excels. Organizations lucky enough to have been led by Patty include the Greeley Chamber of Commerce (two years as chair), Greeley Stampede Committee (two years as chair), Women2Women, A Woman’s Place, and the American Cancer Society and its Leadership Council. She has also served on the Business Advisory Committee for School District 6. In 2015 she was named a Woman of Distinction in Finance by Bizwest, and in 2016, Patty was named Citizen of the Year by the Greeley Area Realtor Association.

Greeley Chamber President Sarah MacQuiddy, says, “Patty’s dedication and industrious nature bring a Carol King song to mind – “Nobody Does It Better.” She is a powerhouse of energy and dedication.”

Patty’s proud mother, Lea Prothe, continually marvels at Patty’s accomplishments. She attributes much of her selflessness and desire to give back to the community to the example set by Patty’s father, Leonard Prothe. With Patty reigning as the oldest of three siblings, she was a leader from the get-go. From organizing a summer baby-sitting service to extracurricular activities, she was a perpetual motion machine.

Sharing a loving and successful family with John Gates, she can be seen with her family enjoying football and cheering for the Broncos. As a mother of two, and grandmother to six, Patty’s family takes precedence in whatever free time she can carve out of her dynamic life.

Patty’s presence and influence within our community bring stability and performance to every facet of life here. With the future in mind, Patty encourages and challenges others to take pride in their community, and to get involved. Don’t leave it to others to shape Greeley’s direction. Get in there and get it done!


Jean Daviet – Visionary in STEM

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Jean Daviet

A dozen women nominated the elegant Jean Daviet – expounding on her virtues and generosity to others; including her two daughters, Karen and Jennifer. They shared: “We’ve always been proud of Mom. She pursued an Engineering degree when women weren’t welcome in that field. She worked hard proving women were just as capable as men and achieved a high level of professional success in math, science, computer programming, and project management, which blazed the trail for future generations of women.

“Learning and education are always a priority. She established a library in our elementary school that didn’t have one. She instilled the importance of our heritage by travelling to Lithuania, where her father’s family originated, to teach English classes.

“She demonstrates the importance of ‘family” including our father in every family holiday and vacation over 30+ years, never making it awkward for us, after they divorced. She’s hosted countless Nana-Camps teaching her 15 grandchildren to cook, sew, play chess, stand up for what’s important to them, and to appreciate each other. She loves them, and her four children unconditionally; we are blessed.”

Jean is a woman of strong faith who knows her Bible and loves God! She is active in her church and gives her Savior credit for every good thing that’s happened in her life. Jean has been a leader of Greeley Republican Women. Her knowledge and understanding of bills and laws, and unbiased discussions about politics, never judging, but simply discussing the facts, draws deep respect.

Jean is well traveled. She understands all women are on their own journey and those journeys are diverse. That diversity makes us capable and interested in learning opportunities, which Jean encourages. She mentors young women using exceptional knowledge gained from a lifetime of experiences helping others.

Jean is devoted to the Habitat for Humanity home owners. She served as president and a board member through tumultuous times and she continues to support the current Board and staff while donating time doing taxes for Habitat families. Jean and friends built a Habitat home last year honoring the ‘Love of her Life,” Dave Daviet! This loving couple challenged each other’s intellect, respected one another and delighted in managing their investment portfolios; buying stock for their grandchildrens’ college educations. They did well and through those investments Jean has donated to many organizations that have impacted lives in our community.

At 75, Jean is an “active” retired professional involved on the boards of Women2Women, the League of Women Voters, and Northern Colorado Women in Business. She supports the ARTS, loves opera, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra and takes great satisfaction from introducing guests to the ‘concert experience’ at the Union Colony Civic Center.
Jean welcomed a young man diagnosed with autism into her home. Taught him work skills using his God given talents doing odd jobs – boosting his self-esteem. Her husband Dave provided him with a treasured male role-model. His mother Linda says, “They helped Ryan’s critical thinking to develop a CAN-DO attitude.”

Another couple expressed their gratitude to Jean for guiding them through the tedious process of starting a nonprofit agency.

Jean always reflects on how blessed she has been in life and is constantly looking for ways to share those blessings with others. She does all this ~ simply because she can!

Source: 2017 Celebrating Women Gala program, A Women’s Place


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2017 – Stephanie Torrez

Past honored W2W board members:

1994 – Hope Cassidy
2009 – Holly Bressler
2010 – Ann Lacefield & Chalice Springfield
2011 – Nancy Teksten
2012 – Kay Broderius
2014 – Liz Clark
2015 – Kristi Helzer

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Greeley Tribune: Broderius-Gates: Weld Women2Women kick off annual fundraiser

Can you believe that 1,035 women have been assisted financially by a nonprofit that started in a kitchen in 2009?

It’s true. Weld Women2Women started raising funds for Greeley-area women needing a helping hand in March 2009. So far $426,324 has been given to women in Weld County.

Having to ask for help can be a scary and difficult position for many. Women2Women has made it possible for women to apply for funds through one of 45 collaborating local agencies and quickly have their requests granted, often within 48 hours. The money is paid to the bill holder/vendor. All that is required of the recipient is they recognize this is a one-time gift, and that someday when they are able, they pass forward an unpaid act of kindness. It’s a simple as that.

To protect confidentiality, Women2Women doesn’t share the personal stories of its clients. But by listing a few of the items paid for, you can fill in the blanks. Car repairs, car tires, rent deposits, dental work, textbooks, stoves, beds, cribs, bus tickets and more have been supplied. We have helped women through a crisis, get to work, secure a job, care for their children, finish their education and more.

The annual fundraising “tradition” of 100 Women Giving $100 in 100 Days kicked off Sunday. In the beginning, 10 women sat around a table and agreed to each ask 10 of their friends to give $100 to the new nonprofit. In just over 31 days the goal of $10,000 was met and almost immediately funds were given to the first applicant — a single mom and college student who needed urgent financial assistance.

Our 100 x $100 theme for 2017 is “What’s Cookin’ in the Kitchen at W2W?” The recipe for success will be donations from our donors. We are certain our wonderful, caring community of Greeley and Weld County will provide the ingredients that again will contribute to this worthy nonprofit. Won’t you please help? Our goal is to raise $25,000 by Dec. 31, so we can continue meeting the needs of women in crisis in 2018.

You can learn more at http://www.Weldw2w.org or WeldW2W Facebook where you can contribute. You also can send a contribution to Weld Women2Women, PO Box 336962, Greeley, CO 80633.

Thank you for supporting this important organization.

— Patty Gates is president of Weld Women2Women; Kay Broderius is founder and administrative director.


Read the original article at: http://www.greeleytribune.com/news/opinion/broderius-gates/

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