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‘Give Share Care’ group members excited about the power of giving

A local group comes together several times each year in Lacombe to lend a generous helping hand to local organizations and individuals.
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The Fill a Fridge program was selected for a donation from Give Share Care Lacombe in November of 2019. Photo submitted

A local group comes together several times each year in Lacombe to lend a generous helping hand to local organizations and individuals.

‘Give Share Care Lacombe’ was founded several years ago, and the way it works is fairly simple, but it has a tremendous impact.

“We just started out as a group of women that wanted to do something for the community,” said Dawn Parent, a coordinator with the group.

“So we started this group, and it’s sort of based on ‘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.

“We just felt there are families and sometimes individuals who fall on hard times and just need some help. So $5,000 can do a lot.

“I’d been thinking about it for a lot of years and I had mentioned it to a couple of others, and what also pushed it forward at that time is that we knew an individual that really, really needed some help. She was ill and had children to look after. So there were about four or five of us that got it going, and we then got others to join. It just went from there,” she explained.

As mentioned, the concept is simple but the group ultimately provides an enormous source of help to the recipient.

“We meet four times a year and everybody puts $100 into the pot. We receive nominations from different members of (various) organizations. We then draw three of those from the hat, and those three will then speak to us.

“Then we vote, and whoever gets the most votes receives the money that particular night,” she explained. “Right now, we have around 50 members so, in just one hour, we can raise $5,000. Our goal is to have 100 members so that we can then raise $10,000 in one hour!”

Since the group was launched in September of 2018, they’ve raised $56,100 for charities, individuals, families, and non-profit organizations in Lacombe.

“It’s so quick - you don’t have to sell tickets, or do a lot of work. It’s just a nice social evening - you get together four times a year for an hour, or an hour and a half,” she said.

“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,” she said, adding that 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 Nov. 23.

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’.

Parent said it all boils down to the sheer joy of giving.

She said the feeling after each meeting is simply amazing. “When I think about the people and the organizations that we have helped, it just fills my heart.”



Mark Weber

About the Author: Mark Weber

I've been a part of the Black Press Media family for about a dozen years now, with stints at the Red Deer Express, the Stettler Independent, and now the Lacombe Express.
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