Lockport Taft Foundation gets donation from 100+ Women Who Care of Will County

Members of 100+ Women Who Care serving Will County had their “big check” presentation, donating $7,200 to the Taft Foundation in Lockport on March 12.

Christine Jelinek, director of the Taft Foundation, was presented the checks by members of 100+ WWC of Will County.

Taft Foundation is a nonprofit organization that raises funds to support educational programs, activities, technology and programming for the students in Taft Grade School District 90 in Lockport, according to a news release from 100+ Women Who Care.

The geographic boundary limits of the school are about 1 to 1.25 square miles, thus limiting the funds and financial support coming into the small school from local businesses and corporations.

The Taft Foundation was incorporated in 2010 to make a difference by providing a foundation to counterbalance the decreasing educational opportunities, according to the release.

“We are so honored to receive this generous donation from 100+ Women Who Care of Will County,” Jelinek said in the release. “We are a small group of nine dedicated members, and it takes a lot of time and manpower to raise over $7,000 in funding by ourselves. These monies will be used to expand our in-school art program for primary grades next school year. We cannot thank you enough for supporting our vision for Taft.”

“As a dedicated Taft parent for the past decade and actively involved in efforts to enhance our students’ educational opportunities, I’ve seen firsthand the challenges of our little school,” 100+ Women Who Care of Will County member Kristina Miczek said. “It’s heartwarming to feel the community’s support through this awesome donation from 100+ WWC. Their generosity is going to mean the world to the kids at Taft School District 90.”

100+ WWC is a philanthropic group formed for local women who are interested in supporting their communities by contributing to Will County charities together as a group to increase the donation’s influence.

At each of the quarterly meetings, 100+ WWC members nominate charities, three are chosen at random and, after a brief presentation, the members vote on which charity to support, according to the release from the organization.

Once the winning charity is announced, everyone writes a $100 check on the spot directly to that charity. Teams of two or four are welcome to join, according to the release.

100+ Women Who Care of Will County’s next meeting is from 6 to 7 p.m. April 9 at Coom’s Corner in Lockport. For information, visit www.100wwc-will.org or the group’s Facebook page.