The Hestia Women’s Giving Circle has awarded $75,000 in grants to 20 organizations supporting local women and girls.
According to a community announcement, the grants were distributed during the group’s 20th anniversary celebration at Pond Hill Farm in June.
Since its inception, Hestia has awarded more than $900,000 in grants specifically benefiting women and girls in Emmet and Charlevoix counties.
“We were pleased to take a look back at our history and honor the founding members,” said Hestia Chair Karen Strough-Donnelly. “We are also looking ahead to continuing our educational forums and hosting a number of social events in the coming year.”
More: Hestia Women’s Giving Circle celebrates 20th anniversary
Pictured are Hestia founding members (from left) Sujo Offield, Cameron Brunet Koch, Cathy Atchison, Susan Van Wieren, Sarah Cohen, Martha Lancaster and Denise Simon.
Planned Parenthood of Michigan and the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan were among the major grantees, as they are every year. Other recipients include the Bergmann Center, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Big Water Creative Arts, Boyne Eta Nu, Camp Daggett, Child and Family Services, City of Petoskey Youth Advisory Council, Community Recovery Alliance, Good Neighbors Food Pantry, Great Start Collaborative, the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, the NCMC Foundation, Northmen Den, Manna Food Project, Habitat for Humanity, Petoskey Robotics, PoWeR Book Bags and the Top of Michigan Trails Council.
“We were excited to award grants to several first-time grantees this year,” said Jean VanDam, grant co-chair. “In some cases, the grant amounts were relatively small, but made a big difference for some of the smaller organizations. Our grant committee carefully reviewed 30 requests and assessed which were most likely to have the greatest impact on the lives of women and girls in Emmet and Charlevoix counties.”
Members of the Petoskey Robotics All-Girl Team receive a Hestia grant. Pictured (from left) are Ariana Maldonado, Briell Burris, Madelynne Hall, Aubrey McKigney and Karen Drake.
The Giving Circle is composed of more than 100 women committed to financially supporting Hestia. Annual membership contributions range from $250 to $1,000. Nonprofits from Emmet and Charlevoix counties apply for a share of these funds in support of Hestia’s mission: to promote the economic self-sufficiency and well-being of women and girls.
The group welcomes new members. Information about the Hestia Women’s Giving Circle can be found at hestiacircle.org and on Facebook and Instagram.
This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@gannett.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at https://cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Small grants, big impact: Local groups get support from Hestia