Members of the 100 Women Who Care Geneva

In March 2015, inspired by Facebook activity of other chapters of “100 Women Who Care,” three friends – REALTOR® Teresa Keenan, REALTOR® Terra Ayres and Martha Brown – started their own chapter of 100 Women Who Care Geneva, representing Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia.

The organization boasts of more than 135 members who meet for one hour, once a quarter and commit to donating $100 to a local non-profit charity recognized as a 501(c)(3). According to the organization’s website, the group will not contribute to a start-up company, a national or international charity. Checks are written by 100 Women Who Care members directly to the charities, and not to their own organization.

“We nominate three local organizations at each meeting and then we vote for one winner to receive all of the funds from that evening,” says Keenan, who is broker-owner for Stone Tower Properties in Geneva. “It’s super-efficient! No raffle tickets, no evening gowns, no committee meetings, no board meetings, no overhead!”

The goal of 100 Women Who Care Geneva is to make $10,000 donations each quarter on behalf of the organization, so members are encouraged to attend meetings. There are only four meetings a year and each winning charity can win a maximum of twice every two years, according to the website.

“My favorite story about this group is that we have had five meetings so far, and we have raised more than $51,000 in less than five hours!” says Keenan. “That’s AMAZING! And every single cent goes to a local organization.”

This Geneva organization is one of many local chapters in the United States, Canada and beyond.  They are part of the 100 Who Care Alliance, which include chapters for women, youth, teens, men and combinations of these categories.

Keenan and Ayres (a broker and co-owner for Stone Tower Properties) are both members of the REALTOR® Association of the Fox Valley.

Read the Illinois REALTORS® blog for weekly stories about the community involvement of Illinois REALTORS® during the association’s 100th anniversary year. If you have an idea for a REALTOR® to highlight with an article, please send it to[email protected]. To read stories like this, go to: https://www.illinoisrealtors.org/membermonday  #MemberMonday