New Women's Group Awards First Charitable Donation

On Tuesday night, Karen Ryan was able to present the Fowlerville First United Methodist Church Mission House with a check for $7,800 as part of the first ever donation from the new women's group 100 Women Who Care About Livingston County.

who have come together to increase their impact among local charities by donating together. The group meets four times a year, where three charities are chosen. The women vote on the charity then each write a $100 check to the winner.

Mission House was voted the winner over LACASA and The Make-a-Wish Foundation during the group's first meeting on May 8.

Mission House is open to anyone suffering from alcoholism or drug addiction to help those people stay sober and lead better lives. Mission House has been operating for about two and a half years, according to Pastor Tom Tarpley.

"I'm just so grateful, words cannot describe it," Tarpley said of the donation. "It's a gift from God and from these women."

Ryan said she chose Mission House as her charity because of the work they do. As a former parole officer, she has seen the effect that drugs and alcohol can have on a person.

"I first heard about it because one of my parolees saw me and offered to carry in my groceries," she said. "He wanted to share with me that he had been sober for four years. So I got involved. And of course, Tom's my neighbor and I always tease him about the (limited) parking because I have business here too."

100 Women Who Care about Livingston County next meets on Aug. 7. During that meeting, Tarpley will present the women with a detailed list of how the money they donated was spent. Then the women will move forward to choose a new charity.

All First United Methodist Church charities will be pulled from the drawing, however LACASA and Make-a-Wish will go back in to have another opportunity of being chosen.

For more information about the charity, visit www.100womenlivingstoncounty.org