Submitted/Karla Andrea - Fresca Designs
100 Women Who Care Foothills has announced changes to its leadership structure.
The local group, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, is comprised of women who make four collective donations a year to charities and non-profits across Foothills County.
Members nominate organizations, then vote on a recipient, with each member contributing $100 to the overall donation.
Since its founding 2015, the group contributed $297,040 to local causes.
Terri Perrin of High River has led an initiative to restructure the group's leadership, which had historically relied on just one or two people.
Perrin, who moved to the area two years ago, was previously a member of 100 Women Who Care Comox Valley.
At the time, she worked at the food security non-profit Lush Valley Food Action Society. She pitched the organization as a recipient, and following a vote, it received $16,000.
"We happened to receive that money about 10 days before the global pandemic was declared," said Perrin. "In the Comox Valley, all food services for food-insecure people shut down. There was no food bank, no more Wheels on Wheels, all the church programs that made sandwiches, they all shut down. The farmers couldn't sell their food at the farmers' market, and restaurants found themselves with all sorts of food they couldn't serve. So because we had that money, within a week, we were able to secure a chef to cook in a commercial kitchen."
Having seen the impact that 100 Women chapters can have on their community, Perrin was quick to join 100 Women Foothills. Noticing that the co-chairs were overwhelmed with the organizational and financial responsibilities that came with the volunteer role, she offered to oversee the leadership restructure.
"In the past, with one individual doing all the work and being financially responsible for all the costs, there wasn't the transparency and the continuity that an organization like this needs in order to continue to thrive."
100 Women Foothills' new leadership team now consists of Terri Perrin as chair, Cindy Dorais as treasurer, Shanon Maksymich managing membership, and Chelsea Vogel managing the group's website.
"I felt that we needed a team approach rather than an individual," said Perrin. "We also needed documented terms of reference so that when there were changes in leadership, everybody knew what was expected of them, what had been done in the past and how different processes work."
Starting on January 1, 2026, members will pay $105 per quarter, amounting to a $20 annual membership fee.
"That will give us money to do things like print business cards, pay for the website hosting, pay for room rent when we have meetings, it adds up to a couple thousand dollars a year for which individuals and chair positions were responsible," Perrin explained. "I just felt that when I did my business analysis, that wasn't a model that should continue going forward."
Perrin estimates the current membership to be around 75 people, but she's confident that number will grow past 100 in the coming months.
100 Women Foothills has two big meetings coming up. The first will be held online on Sept. 25, and will serve as an introduction to how the group functions for any new members, as well as an overview of the group's 10 year history.
Then on Oct. 9, the group will hold its last charity selection meeting of the year at the Okotoks library and on Zoom.
More information about 100 Women Who Care Foothills is available on the group's website and Facebook page.