IMPACT100 NORTHWEST FLORIDA NEWSLETTER | MARCH 2024 |
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President's Message – Enrollment Season is Here! |
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Members—we are closing in on the halfway point of this year’s Membership Enrollment period. We have seen a steady stream of renewals and several new members, which is always exciting. Membership enrollment will close for the 2024 season on April 30th so please get those renewals sent in ASAP and be sure and be inviting your friends to our remaining enrollment events. We are at 185 members so far this year. We would love to get 500 members this year so we can award grants all five of our categories - - Arts and Culture, Education, Environment, Recreation & Preservation, Family and Health & Wellness.
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We will celebrate our member number on Thursday, May 16th at 5:30pm—location TBD. For those of you who are new, we will be sharing with the Membership ways to get involved as a volunteer with our group. As an all-volunteer organization there are many places where we could use a hand—both with short term tasks as well as with longer term commitments. One of the biggest places we need volunteers is serving on a Focus Area Committee. However, if you are antsy and want to get involved now, please email me, and let me know! There’s no reason you have to have to wait—that goes for new members as well as renewing members.
A new tool that is on the horizon is broadcast text messaging—a few of us did a Zoom call this week to explore this feature. We realize that sometimes the sheer number of emails we receive can be overwhelming, so we are looking at a text messaging feature. We appreciate your patience as we look at ways to better serve our members, acknowledging that we are all very different but have the common goal of making an Impact in our community through collective giving.
I hope to see you at 3rd Planet in Niceville!! Please bring a friend and do register if you know you’re planning to attend. This will help us place our refreshment order. However, if you haven’t registered but have a chance to come, PLEASE come on over (and bring that friend). I can’t wait to see membership dollars at work in the vehicles that will be there. Please feel free to reach out to me if you’d like information regarding volunteer opportunities as well as any questions you might have. I am happy to respond and consider serving as President a great honor. Joni Wallace impactnwf@impactnwf.org
850-830-0064 |
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Membership Enrollment Event – 3rd Planet |
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Please join us at 3rd Planet Brewing in Niceville for our next Membership Enrollment Event. And here's a fun twist - we are having a Car Show!
The Salvation Army, Fresh Start for Children and Families, and A Bed 4 Me Foundation will have the vehicles they've purchased with Impact100 Northwest Florida grant money onsite for us to kick the tires. You won't want to miss this unique chance to see our grant dollars at work, and hear from representatives of each organization about everything that they are up to.
This event is also a great opportunity for us to share all our recent doings with you and tell you more about how you can get involved in our mission to support the nonprofits that serve our community through the power of collective giving.
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We hope you will join us & bring a friend! But even if you don't have a guest this time, we still hope that you will attend to catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and hear more about what 2024 has in store for our organization.
Please register today!
Membership enrollment is open through April 30, 2024. Join or renew online!
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Grant Workshops – Niceville and Fort Walton Beach |
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Kudos to the members of our Grants Committee, who are entering the homestretch on this year’s Grant Workshops with three down and three to go. Workshops in Niceville and Fort Walton are set for March 1st and 15th, with Crestview right around the corner on April 5. Representatives from interested nonprofits should register to attend. Topics Covered:
• Key 2024 Dates
• The Application Process
• Eligibility For Organization and Project
• What Impact100NWF is looking for in Sustainability & Viability
• What a highly “impactful” project looks like |
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The goal of these workshops is to connect with the nonprofit organizations that serve our community and bring them up to speed on our grants process.
The “small group” format is turning out to be a big success – we are finding attendees are more comfortable asking questions in smaller groups. And we are also meeting folks from nonprofits that haven’t applied for one of our grants previously, which is great.
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Many thanks to Julie Porterfield from the Emerald Coast Children’s Advocacy Center who attended the Destin Workshop last month and shared her experience as a grant recipient in 2017. The DeFuniak Springs Workshop was held at the Matrix Generation Next Kids Program, which received a grant in 2015. Many thanks to Matrix Executive Director, Candace Knowling, for hosting us and offering insights.
Members interested in our grants process are invited to attend and observe a workshop to learn more about these initial stages, which nonprofits are shaping their proposals. The financial support of nonprofits in our area is the heart and soul of our organization. These workshops are where it all starts. If you would like to come, please register.
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Guardian ad Litem Foundation (GAL) – Vanquishing the Label “Trash-bag Kid” |
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Impact100 Northwest Florida 2023 recipient GAL is well on its way to providing a duffle bag for every child in foster care in Okaloosa and Walton counties. Cases for Kids is a wonderful trauma-informed intervention that provides a rolling duffle bag packed with toiletries and comfort items (stuffed animal, blanket, flashlight, journal, coloring book and stress toy) to a foster child served by the GAL Office.
Children who have come to see themselves as unimportant (wrong!) unfortunately rarely receive new things of their own. So, the folks at GAL though carefully about what items should go into the cases, and sought input from former foster children, foster parents, adoptive parents, and GAL volunteers. Toiletries and dental supplies communicate the importance of self-care and self-worth. The stuffed toy and blanket help soothe and comfort. The book provides a healthy distraction and intuitively teaches “stress management” strategies. The journal and coloring supplies help to calm distressing feelings.
A GAL volunteer delivers this bag to the child on their first visit – building a relationship with the child, sending the message that they matter, and someone cares about them. The idea is to provide a critically needed stable relationship during a disruptive and stressful time in a child’s life. We at Impact100 NWF are so glad to support this organization that gives our most vulnerable children an sense of dignity, and lets them know they are seen, cared for, and valued.
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Please mark these Membership Enrollment Events on your calendar!
March 4 – 3rd Planet Brewing, 5:30 - 7pm, Niceville (register)
April 11 – Hammock Bay Clubhouse, 5:30 - 7pm, Freeport (register)
April 25 – Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, 5:30 - 7pm, Destin (register)
Watch for other Pop-Up events as well. If you would like to host something in your neighborhood/community, please reach out to us at impactnwf@impactnwf.org. We can help with planning and organizing! Also - please reserve these key dates for our "Big Three" membership events later in the year. We will open registration for them once details firm up. May 16 - Member Number Reveal Party October 28 - Grant Finalist Reveal Party November 10 - Annual Meeting |
2024 Membership Enrollment Is Open Through April 30!
JOIN or RENEW Today! |
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Joni Wallace | President of Impact100 Northwest Florida |
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