The February 2023 Impact Award was awarded to Fill the Pot Ministries and $5,189.50 was donated to their charity. Our generous members also donated $2,500 to Love Hard Foundation and $1,700 to the Utah Diaper bank.

Fill the Pot Ministries  - Received $5,189.50

Our mission is to provide love, charity, and hope to the disenfranchised and homeless community. Fill the pot provides hot meals, weather permitted clothing, hygiene items, and service opportunities for the community. Over 300 people any given Sunday is loved on and provided for. 

Love Hard Foundation - Received $2,500

Advancing awareness, cultivating success and strengthening mental health resources for our student population through our programs and services.   By empowering the youth of today with more mental health resources, every student will have the necessary tools to become healthy, resilient adults. Transforming their trauma into triumph. 

Utah Diaper Bank - Received $1,700

At the Utah Diaper Bank, our purpose is to raise awareness of diaper needs in Utah, create diaper distribution networks and partnerships, and provide diapers to community service partners and families in need throughout the state. 

Impact Award Winner: Hearts Knit Together

April James shared the story of her mother, who founded Hearts Knit Together.   Here volunteers seek to love and support those in our community who have suffered violence or abuse.  Loving hands, all unpaid volunteers, create kits for families in crisis- kits with more than just the basic hygiene necessities but with many extras that shout to each person they are loved, of great worth, and will not only survive but thrive in the days ahead. They were given a total of $7,589.

People Helping People

Kathryn James shared how her organization helps fight poverty in our state by helping underemployed women, mainly single moms, learn how to upgrade their job skills, become more valuable employees, and set higher expectations for themselves.  They received $3,800 from the group.

Unity in the Community

Unity in the Community is a grassroots organization run by caring unpaid volunteers who want to help our immigrant population succeed.  They teach English classes, citizenship preparation, and basic math classes.  Through word of mouth, they also find and succor those immigrants in need.   Annette Miller runs this empowerment project out of her own home, with the untiring support of her husband.   On the day of our meeting, she was busy starting the first day of classes for immigrants.  Her husband, who was planning on presenting, came down ill.  Generous members of the group still donated $1,300 to their cause. 

The May 2022 Impact Award was awarded to both Murray Children’s Pantry and The Best Seat In the House.  Waste Less Solutions was our third highlighted charity.  In all, $15,450 was raised for these three charities. 

Murray Children’s Pantry’s original mission was to provide meals for children who were out of school during the summer.  With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and online schooling, it soon became apparent many kids needed support during the school year as well.  Now anyone in need of food, any time of the year, is welcome.  Their motto is, “No one should go hungry.”  

Best Seat In the House was started by Ivan Gonzalez about five years ago when he found that many families’ incomes are consumed by medical expenses and their budgets don’t allow them to provide some of the activities regular families take for granted.  Ivan creates events for children dealing with significant health issues and their parents to help them, if just for a day, enjoy just being a kid.  

Waste Less Solutions is a grassroots effort to reduce food waste and get healthy food to members of our community that don’t have access to good food, including fresh fruit and veggies.  They have an education arm to help decrease food waste, in addition to a food diversion program to help keep good food from going to waste. 

The winner of our February 2022 Giving Circle Impact Award was The Refuge, a place to turn when one experiences domestic violence or sexual assault. One victim who was helped by The Refuge put it this way. “Your caring hands to hold and comforting smiles helped me more than you will ever know. I felt like I was not fighting this battle alone.” Ashlee Taylor, The Refuge’s executive director, stated, “We are very honored to be chosen as the Impact Award winner. Thank you so much for your support and for this amazing opportunity. This donation will go so far in helping survivors secure safe housing.” Our giving circle donated $3,915 to support their efforts.

The Road Home provides emergency shelter, support services, and housing assistance to the homeless here in Salt Lake City. Their core values include respect and compassion for those they serve, as well as treating all equally and with dignity. “We see people moving from despair toward home and inclusion (in our community.)” Our giving circle donated $2,550 to support their efforts.

Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity has a vision of a world where everyone “has a decent place to live.” Not only do they help build affordable houses and help people take ownership through compassionate and innovative financing options, but they also help our indigent neighbors revitalize their homes so they can continue to live in their own homes. Our giving circle donated $2,550 to support their efforts.

Together we can do so much more!

Thanksgiving Heroes

I can’t imagine going without food, particularly over Thanksgiving.  Rob Adams, the founder of TGH here in Salt Lake City, has felt that fear as a child and made it his mission to make sure other families don’t feel that anxiety over the holidays.  Each needy family is given enough for a Thanksgiving feast and food for the next five days.  If you want to feel gratitude, according to Rob, there is no better way than giving to those in more need than yourself.  Our donation of $6,700 will help just over 80 needy families in Utah feast on Thanksgiving weekend.

Little Lambs Foundation for Kids

Ted Chalfant was sitting at his kitchen table, talking with his wife about how they could serve the most vulnerable in their community.  They decided to focus on foster kids, who often are pulled from their homes on short notice, often after a traumatic event.  They assembled comfort kits for the children- a backpack with age appropriate supplies- and teamed with state social workers to make it happen.  Their inaugural year they donated a few hundred backpacks.  Now they provide about 3,000 annually to kids throughout the state- a token to help each child feel loved.  Ted shared the story of a young girl whose comfort kit included a backpack, blanket, stuffed animal, coloring book, glitter, and crayons made all the difference in the world to her.  Our donation of $5,650 will go towards more comfort kits, some diapers, and other needs for foster kids around the state. 

Friends for Sight 

Friends for Sight focuses on the 58,000 children in Utah who struggle in school due to poor eyesight.  Finding them is half the battle, as often they and their parents aren’t even aware of the problem.  Volunteer Optometrists and Ophthalmologists go into the community screening for strabismus, amblyopia, and refractive errors and then provide the needed resources, free of charge if necessary, so kids can be kids again. Katie from Friends for Sight said our donation of $2,750 “will give 115 children right in our neighborhoods critical vision care including screenings, exams, follow up care and prescription glasses.”

Stand4Kind.  The goal: End bullying through kindness.  The group arranges school assemblies, staffs a text or call “tip line,” provides training for students in identifying and supporting kids at risk for suicide or abuse, and sets up student-run Ambassador Clubs which promote kindness in their schools. Their work helps reduce the suicide rate among school kids. Their goal this year is to reach six hundred schools.  Currently, they have funding for three hundred schools.  We provided funding for seven more.  http://antibullyingcoalition.org/programs/

Noble Horse Sanctuary.  Their mission: to reduce the suffering of horses.  The Sanctuary will “rescue, provide emergency relief, rehabilitation, and if needed life-long care or adoption of abused, neglected, or unwanted horses. Perhaps just as important is the opportunity for healing the Sanctuary is for the volunteers who work there.  There is no paid staff, including the founder.  https://www.noblehorsesanctuary.org/about-1/

Circles of Comfort.  A Utah-based charity founded by Vickie Walker, whose husband was killed in the Trolley Square Shooting.  Her son was also injured in the attack.  Her organization helps provide guidance and support for victims of violence during the difficult days immediately following a crime. They use evidence-based methods, including a unique “can of comfort” to help survivors cope in the aftermath of tragedy. https://circlesofcomfort.org/about-us/our-story

The INN Between Have you wondered what happens to the homeless man or indigent mother who is struck with a life-threatening health tragedy?  Before The INN Between was established, too often they would die on our streets or in a homeless shelter ill-equipped for hospice care.  Helping the homeless die in comfort, with dignity, perhaps reconciling with loved ones is what The INN Between is all about. 

The Other Side Academy (TOSA).  They take people ages 18-64, most with police records, often homeless, and all former or current addicts and help them get to “the other side” of life, the good side of life.  TOSA is “a place and a process.”  It takes two years, but it works with overwhelming success rates.

Spice Kitchen Immigrants and refugees from all over the world live right here in SLC.  They bring with them a rich culture and delicious dishes we all might enjoy.  Spice Kitchen finds these entrepreneurs, gives them training in developing a business plan (product development, marketing, finance, and operations), and then provide access to seed money and commercial kitchen space while they get on their feet.  All this happens in our community and we are the beneficiaries of good food and contributing members of society. 

Dahlia’s Hope was the winner of the Impact Award for September 2020.  Located in Pleasant Grove, they help survivors of sex trafficking reconnect with the world.  In the US, there are about 800,000 to 1.2 million victims of sex trafficking and less than 1,000 spaces available in aftercare programs to help these (typically) young women heal, receive therapy, and regain their lives.  This local branch of a national organization has been running for less than a year, but has already helped 14 young women.   They offer these young women clinical therapy, help accessing medical and dental services, vocational training, and life skills training.  https://www.dahliashope.org/

South Valley Training is a non-profit working in Salt Lake City that helps the mentally disabled develop the skills necessary to find meaningful work and lead “self-determined lives.”  Their program began in 1985 and has developed into a multilayered program that helps people develop work skills, find work, and form a community where safety and friendship can thrive.  The COVID-19 pandemic has really strained their budget, but with our help they will be able to keep their doors open. https://www.southvalleytraining.org/

Wasatch Children’s Stuttering Program is run by a husband and wife whose passion is helping people with stuttering confidently engage in their world.  They run a summer camp for kids who stutter, complete with speech therapists and mentors.  Too often stutterers are shamed into silence, sometimes inadvertently by the ones they love (who take over the communication needs of their children).  This program is therapy for the whole family and is a model nationwide for kids who stutter.  Our funds will help provide scholarships and other supplies for summer camp.  Remember, stuttering is okay because what I say is worth repeating!  https://www.wasatchstutteringcamp.com/

Courage Reins

From physical and cognitive disabilities to victims of abuse, children (and adults) from all over Utah find hope and growth through equine-assisted therapy at Courage Reins.  But people like Ethan, who was non-verbal before starting therapy, can’t get horse therapy without a horse – and the herd is aging.  With the combined donations from the group of $6,000, we sponsored the acquisition and training of a horse to keep more patients in the saddle.

Camp Hobe

Camp Hobe, plain and simple, is summer camp for Utah kids with cancer.   The camp provides a safe place, both physically and emotionally, for kids going through chemo or radiation or cancer surveillance to be kids.  They do the same things you did at summer camp, but also get the psychosocial tools they need to successfully navigate a road they didn’t choose for themselves.  Your efforts sponsored several kids this summer to attend with a $2,825 donation. 

Younique Foundation

It is hard to imagine the pervasiveness of female childhood sexual abuse – or the lasting effects on a woman’s life.  The Younique Foundation was created to help provide the needed healing through retreats, support groups, and online resources.  In an inspired effort to limit the abuse in the first place, they also help parents protect their children through community dialogue and social awareness efforts.  Our group supported these efforts with a donation of $1,675. 

Our May giving circle was centered on education.  Three schools shared their mission and offered how we could support those efforts.  Timpanogos received the Impact Award, totalling about $6,000. Guadalupe School received $1,525 and Madeleine Choir School $1,175 from giving circle members.

Timpanogos Elementary

We heard from a sixth grade teacher who immediately won our hearts with her obvious love for her students and for life.  Timp Elementary is a Title 1 school, where 82% of student qualify for free lunch, 46% are English language learners, and 10% are part of intergenerational poverty.  In her grade alone, she has students who have endured physical or sexual abuse, in-home drug abuse, poverty, parental divorce, foster care, … the list goes on. Our funds will help in two specific ways.  First, we will help keep their “Food Bank” stocked with basic needs for families- a way the school can help identify extreme needs and help kids and their families find the social safety net, instead of slip through it.  Second, we funded a year of Geneva Yoga, a form of yoga meant specifically to help kids deal with their traumas in a healing way.

Guadalupe School

Guadalupe’s school principal, Katina Santamaria, came and spoke to the group.  You could tell her love for the students and her determination to help them succeed.  Guadalupe School is focused on helping immigrants and their children succeed in their new country.  They sponsor pre-K, K-6, toddler beginnings, and adult education programs with the theme “transforming lives through education.”  

Madeleine Choir School

Matt Ketterer presented for MCS and shared the sacred mission the school has in teaching children both religiously and secularly.   These children have the privilege of performing at mass several times a week at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. While the education is second to none, the cost is not prohibitive due to a generous scholarship program.  Over 80 students who live below the poverty line participate.

Our first meeting of 2019 was held on a Thursday.  In fact, all our meetings for 2019 will be on Thursdays- and from 6:30-7:30 to help people have enough time to get off of work and attend.  In all, about $6,500 was raised for the three charities presenting- Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake, Kids On the Move, and The Polizzi Clinic.

Legal Aid Society of Salt Lake

This is a non-profit for low-income families and individuals who need assistance with family law (divorce, custody, guardianship cases) and protective order services.  It was touching to know that, without concern for ability to pay, a protective order will be prepared and filed within 24 hours of notification for those found to be at risk of domestic violence. www.legalaidsocietyofsaltlake.org

Kids On the Move

Among many services for children provided by KOTM, one important aspect of their work includes identifying and treating children with autism.  What a relief it is for families to be able to better understand and help their struggling child in ways shown to make a difference in their lives.  Early intervention often helps these children stay at grade level with their peers and function well in society. Another great service is respite care for families.  A caregiver’s role, while rewarding, is also exhausting! A little “me” time on a Friday or Saturday goes a long way for the whole family.  kotm.org

The Polizzi Clinic (soon to be Impact Mental Health)

The focus of the bulk of our financial support, Impact Mental Health is the only free psychiatric clinic for those most in need in the Salt Lake area.  They are there for those with no insurance at all, providing first line care for those with mental illness. They efficiently diagnose and stabilize loved ones with mental illness.  And after they are stabilized, they help them develop a long-term mental health plan and transition their care to a low-cost primary care organization. Their approach helps lessen the risk these families and individuals have for job loss and homelessness.  

Thank you for another successful 100 Who Care meeting!  Together, we raised about $6,700 for three deserving charities.  

The choice of those who attended was Bear-O-Care, a place where families of children with multiple extreme disabilities can find help for their loved ones (and some respite for themselves) during the day.  Many of these children are deaf, blind, dumb, or a combination of the three, with an average IQ of twenty. They currently care for 28 loved ones, ranging in age from 1.5 to over 50 years old – and they’re doing it right over in Riverton.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace is completely volunteer run, by men and women intent on making a difference in the lives of children.  Their theme is simple: “No kid sleeps on the floor in our town.” And with an awe-inspiring efficiency, in one day they make raw materials into bunk beds, complete with pillows, sheets, and blankets, and take them to kids currently sleeping on the floor.  The need in Utah for beds outpaces the supply. Our group covered the costs for just under five bunk beds.

And until this meeting, I didn’t realize Make-A-Wish was so impactful on the physical health and longevity of those who have a wish to look forward to.  As one “wish grantor” noted, his favorite wish is always “the next one” because of the joy associated with serving another child and seeing their excitement.

What a wonderful session!  This past Friday night, we heard from three diverse groups, each focusing on a specific need in our community.

The choice of those attending was the Maliheh Clinic.  Their mission is “to improve the quality of life for uninsured and low-income individuals in the Greater Salt Lake Area by providing free medical services.”  Their values include respect, fairness, compassion, and professionalism. They shared story after story of providing hope to children and families needing medical care right here in our community, but too poor to pay for the needed services elsewhere.  https://malihehfreeclinic.org/

Samira Harnish is a treasure found right here in Salt Lake City.  The founder of Women of the World, she has created an organization to advance the lives of refugee women here in our community by helping them with education, employment advancement, English proficiency, and so much more.  Her group’s mission is to “recognize the divinity in the eyes of the most vulnerable, to engage instead of looking away.” https://womenofworld.org/

The mission of The Utah 1033 Foundation is simple- providing immediate financial support to the families of fallen Utah Law Enforcement officers.  This grass roots effort was named for the radio code “10-33,” indicating an officer is in urgent need of help. In a world of increasing chaos, where more and more feel free to say and act uncivilly, the safety provided by law enforcement, sometimes provided at great personal sacrifice, is priceless.  In all solemnity, thank you for your service. https://utah1033.org/

On Friday, February 16th, 2018, the Salt Lake City chapter of 100 Who Care met to hear from three wonderful organizations that affect our community.  In all, about $8,400 was raised to support them.  Utah Honor Flight received $1,800, the Utah Food Bank $1,100, and Operation Underground Railroad $5,500.  We are grateful they are among us, blessing lives around us here in Salt Lake City.

Operation Underground Railroad

O.U.R. assists governments around the world in the rescue of human trafficking victims.  It does this in several ways, including infiltrating rings, arresting traffickers, and victim recovery programs.  Founded by Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Special Agent, the group works with governments, and not independently of them, to decrease the victimization of children.  Since its founding in 2014, O.U.R. reports it has rescued 1,000 victims and assisted in the arrest of 443 traffickers around the world.  Utah packs more punch than its fighting weight in this effort and we are proud to be part of that effort. http://ourrescue.org

Utah Honor Flight

With the motto, “Their memorial. Our Mission” Utah Honor Flight works tirelessly to bring veterans to their memorials in Washington, D.C., and honor them in the process.  From the application process to the flight home, the veteran is honored and recognized for the sacrifices they made to protect and defend our homeland.  A guardian accompanies the veteran (who is often 80+ years old) throughout the process, to help meet every need.  Veterans take the trip free of charge.  Our support helped send two veterans to DC. https://www.utahhonorflight.org

Utah Food Bank

Their mission is “Fighting Hunger Statewide,” a need that never ends.  With 392K Utahns “food insecure,” including 1 in 6 kids, there is a constant, pressing need to support this basic need in a dignified manner.  The Food Bank does this skillfully.  One way they accomplish this is through the Back Pack Program.  To help school kids have access to food over the weekend, they are given a nondescript backpack that is filled every Friday for them to take home.  Our efforts resulted in 250+ back packs worth of food for these children. https://www.utahfoodbank.org

Inaugural Meeting – October 27, 2017

On Friday, October 27, 2017, the Salt Lake City chapter of 100 Who Care met for the first time to hear from three deserving charities.  If you didn’t get an opportunity to donate, it’s never too late!  Just follow the links below or mail a check to the address listed below.  As a group $5,500 in total were donated to the three charities, the winning charity getting 80%, the two runners up splitting the remainder.  At our first meeting, Labs for Liberty was chosen for our 80% contribution.  All three charities, however, are doing the work of angels.  We are grateful to be able to support each!

Labs for Liberty

This non-profit seeks to support veterans with PTSD as they reintegrate into society.  All overhead is covered by Dr. Joan Nold, so that donations go directly to her revolutionary service dog program.  Her dogs are hand selected, custom trained (to support the veteran who will be gifted the service dog), and then paired with a troubled veteran.  This has been life changing to many.  From birth to gifting the dog,this process requires about $3,000.  Since inception, her small charity in Morgan, Utah, has prepared and donated almost 60 dogs. http://labsforliberty.org/

The INN Between

The INN Between focuses on ending the tragedy of vulnerable people dying on the streets of our community.  They provide a safe haven for individuals who have nowhere else to go in a time of medical crisis.  We learned about a homeless woman who could not start chemotherapy for her breast cancer until she had a stable, safe, clean environment to live in.  A place was found for her at The INN Between.  The INN Between is staffed by people who know how to love first and judge last.  They help those who are in the depths of despair and need by providing a safe, loving shelter, being present during the dying process, and working tirelessly to help reunite those humbled by their circumstances with their estranged family. https://tibhospice.org/

The Utah Foster Care Foundation

Utah Foster Care (UFC) believes every child deserves a safe home with a loving family.  Mike Hamblin shared stories of children who successfully transitioned through foster care to become happy, productive, caring adults who gave back to their community.  Successful foster kids, according to Mike, have three commonalities.  First, they have a loving adult mentor, that cares for them unconditionally.  Second, they have a hobby or activity they can pursue that allows them to develop their own sense of worth and identity.  Third, they have an innate sense or character trait of rising to their challenges.    UFC focuses on helping find and train foster families to provide unconditional love.  They also help foster kids find and develop hobbies that can give them that sense of self-worth and identity. https://utahfostercare.org/