We Won Non-Profit of the Year!
Caring Women’s Connection was awarded the Non-Profit of the Year Award by the Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce for 2018. This award is based on the following criteria: Nominee’s involvement in, and support of the chamber, as well as the community; commitment to quality of life in the community; growth of the organization; innovation or how the nonprofit sets itself apart from other nonprofits; and accomplishments.
The mission of Caring Women’s Connection (CWC) is to build connections with its members, the community, and charities they support, and to raise money through fundraising events and donations to help charitable organizations serving women and children and other community programs in need in Lake County.
CWC brings together members of the public as well as corporate members to work together volunteering and raising funds and items for those in need. Their fundraising drives for families in shelters include: back to school backpacks filled with school supplies for children, undergarments for children/ young adults (the tidey-whitey drive), food for Thanksgiving dinners, holiday gifts for families, and cleaning supplies for those entering their first residence on their own.
CWC hosts social events to have members of the community get to know each other and businesses in the area while raising funds. The two largest fundraisers they host are the Love Fund Live Auction in Fall and the Spring Luncheon and Fashion show featuring local boutiques in April. This is a great way to have the businesses interact with the members to get to know one another through volunteering, raffle/ auction items, and sponsorships.
CWC coordinates volunteer opportunities to commit to a better quality of life in our communities by serving dinner to those in need at Emmaus House, distributing flowers to hospitals and assisted living facilities as well as bringing birthday cakes to the children at the local shelters.
CWC is unique as a not-for-profit as it has no paid staff. The money and resources that are donated are used to serve those in need. CWC is active member in LZACC, with members serving on the board of directors, a 3 of the recent past presidents are members, and participates as a member on the chamber ambassador committee and in a networking group. They raised $83,000 last year and was able to give it to those in need through the scholarship and grant programs.
The judges of this award included Chamber Executives from Niles, Edwardsville/Glen Carbon, DeKalb and, The Illinois Association of Chamber Executives carefully reviewed, ranked and scored the nominations to select the winner in each category. CWC ranked high in the areas of Chamber support and commitment to quality of life in the community.