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One hundred women, one hundred dollars each, one non-profit program equal a $10,000 impact on the Midland community.   Last year, Bobbie Arnold, founder of the club, called a few friends who called a few friends and the Midland 100 Club was born with 35 members.  It has grown to 102 members.

This isn’t your regular club.  There are no monthly meetings.  It’s not a service organization.  There are no fundraising dinners or events.   What it is is a response from busy women who want to make a difference in a big way. 

Here’s how it works.  The members meet for an hour 3 times a year.  At the beginning of each meeting anyone who wants to put a name of a non-profit organization (501C3) or program into a hat can do so.  Three names are drawn and the people who submitted the entries are asked to stand up and make a simple oral presentation about their submission.  There’s a Q & A session after each presentation.   After all three presentations, the members vote on which one will get the club’s donation.  Then each woman writes a check for $100 made out to the charity.  That means record-keeping is minimal as the non-profit organization then responds directly to the donor. 

One of the owners of SPACE, Kathie, is a member.  Other SPACE employees will be joining in the near future.  Kathie reports that the first meeting she attended resulted in a donation of $8700 to MidMichigan Regional Medical Center’s Mammography Fund.  The donation covers the cost of breast screenings for women who can’t afford the service.

The most recent meeting last week resulted in the Midland Emergency Food Pantry Network “Backpack Buddies” program receiving the donation.  This program provides a backpack filled with nutritious food to children on Fridays so they will have something to eat over the weekend.  The children return to school on Monday nourished and ready to learn.  The backpacks are used by children enrolled in the free or reduced-cost lunch programs and Midland schools.   

 In a Saginaw News article in September, Bobbie Arnold said, “It’s a simple way to let others help: not a lot of money, not a lot of time.  But the effect of three gifts a year multiplied by the number of members will in time grow to be truly significant.”