‘Give Care Share Lacombe’ continued its mission of community support with a donation of $5,000 recently.
Connect Parent Group Lacombe was selected from a group of nominated organizations to benefit from the donation, said Dawn Parent, a coordinator with the group.
“We probably had the most people out than we have had in a while because with COVID people were doing it online,” she said of the recent meeting. “So we had a good group out.”
Give Share Care Lacombe, founded in 2018, comes together several times each year in Lacombe to lend a generous helping hand to local organizations and individuals.
The way it works is fairly simple, but it has a tremendous impact.
Looking back, Parent said the group was initially launched based on the model of ‘100 Women who Care’.
“The difference is that we wanted to be able to make donations to individuals and families which were in need as well as non-profit and charity organizations.”
This way, individuals (for example) who couldn’t provide tax receipts would still be eligible for the support that ‘Give Share Care Lacombe’ can provide.
As mentioned, the concept is simple but the group ultimately provides an enormous source of help to the recipient.
The group meets four times a year and everybody puts $100 into the pot. They receive nominations from different members of (various) organizations. They then draw three of those from the hat, and those three will then speak to those gathered for a Give Care Share Lacombe meeting.
Members then vote, and whoever gets the most votes receives the money that particular night.
Currently, there are about 50 Give Share Care members and Parent noted the goal is to have 100 members ultimately sign up.
Since the group’s inception, they’ve raised about $70,000 for charities, individuals, families, and non-profit organizations in Lacombe.
Past recipients have included Stepping Stones which was a young girls’ program, Victims Services, the Fill a Fridge program (FCSS), Big Brothers Big Sisters, the Lacombe Food Bank, Santa’s Anonymous (FCSS), and the Jo(e) Social Media Youth Creative.
The group typically plans two events each spring and two more in the autumn.
They take place at the Lacombe Memorial Centre and the next event is set for May 9.
Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the meetings usually run until about 8:30 p.m.
For updates and more information, find them on Facebook at ‘Give Share Care Lacombe’.