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Happy Spring!

Trilogy Hats and High Tea Party,
4th Annual Tea Party at Lopez High School,
Next Potluck,
Impact Statement 2025,
Projects Update,
Help and Items Needed,
Update on Funds Received,
Thanks to Donors,
Where the Money Went

Trilogy Hats and High Tea Party

On March 12th at 2PM over 100 women gathered in the large community room at Trilogy in Nipomo for their Hats and High Tea Party Fundraiser for South SLO County Womenade. The hosts and their tables of 10 guests were all dressed to the "nines" in hats, fastenators and the tables were laden with tea pots and delicious high tea treats. 

There were entertaining table games - "pass the prize", signing up for an opportunity to attend one of 2 sponsored private high tea parties for 10 guests at $100 a ticket!.  They had a matching grant of $7,000 and a "paddles up" round asking people to raise their paddles to fund needs like ones gleaned from our last 3 months of stories in our newsletters.

We are still accounting for all the donations but at last count we were over $20,000!  

It was a huge effort of organization and marketing! A spectacular event! A Huge Thank you to Carol Morrison and her committee! 


4th Annual Tea Party at Lopez High

Less than a week later on March 18th Lopez High School held their 4th Annual Tea Party Fundraiser for South SLO County Womenade.  The tea party is planned, organized and produced by the staff and students at Lopez High School. South SLO County Womenade serves as an unofficial Parent Teacher Organization for the school.  The program included presentations by the principal, Keith Gledhill and presentations by two students as well as comments by our president, Ann McDowell.  Students were everywhere pouring tea, showing guests to their table and helping to position the potluck food offerings - which were legion!  Our hearts swelled with the reciprocal love shared by the staff, students and guests.


Next Potluck

Our next potluck will be hosted by Ann McDowell, president of South SLO County at 1793 Farroll Rd. Grover Beach at 2PM on Friday April 17th!  Mark your calendars!  Note that it is earlier in the day. As always bring a dish to share, your place setting, a beverage and a check made out to South SLO County Womenade for $50 (more is always appreciated!)  We do have a stamper. We will be sending out a Zeffy invitation where you can RSVP and make your donation but we will always accept you payment at the event.  Please do respond so we have an idea of how many are coming.  There is a place to comment whether you will be attending but not paying through the Zeffy invitation.


2025 Impact Statement

Impact Report for South SLO County Womenade in 2025

 

Who we are: A group of volunteers, primarily women, who raise money and donations through potlucks and product drives. We are an all-volunteer organization, with no paid employees.

Our Mission:  South SLO County Womenade is a 501(c)(3) that supports our community through providing urgent and emergency support to individuals and families.

How we do it: SSLOC Womenade funds other non-profit agencies with cash to give to people experiencing urgent needs. We also sponsor drives for items to be dispensed to the community, such as hygiene items, books, teacher supplies, and food for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Agencies we Support: In 2025, we worked hard to add agencies addressing needs in South SLO County that we felt aligned with our mission. We work with the following agencies: (Bold indicates a new agency for 2025)

  • C.A.R.E.4Paws – A clinic for pets and people unable to pay for services

  • Casa Solana – a sober women’s recovery center in Grover Beach

  • Child Advocacy Center -Replaces the Link – A place for children suffering trauma or abuse

  • Department of Social Services-Support for adults with no children

  • Lopez High School – The continuation High School for the LMUSD

  • Lopez High Wolf Den – A place where students can pick out items at no cost

  • Lopez High Adult Education-Provides Free access to education for students aged 18+

  • South County Public Health Nurses – Work with first time moms

  • Families in Transition – The support program for homeless and housing insecure students in the LMUSD

  • Mission Hope Cancer Center -provides services to patients undergoing cancer treatment

  • 5Cities Homeless Coalition-Works to end homelessness in South County, administers two residential centers to transition homeless persons to housing.

  • Pregnancy & Parenting Support – provides free supplies to pregnant women, and free supplies to babies and toddlers

  • People’s Self-Help Housing Builds affordable homes with site-based services designed to change lives and promote independent living

  • SLO Office of Education – Manages four early learning centers in South SLO County

  • South County Youth Coalition-Provides services/grants to South County Families

  • Welcome Home Military Heroes-Provides support to returning veterans who need help

  • Hearst Cancer Resource Center-provides services to patients undergoing cancer treatment

  • Mujeres de Accion -Works to provide support, education and health information to Latino families

  • Transitions Mental Health-Promotes recovery and wellness for people with mental illness


SSLOCW Programs: We also have several programs we support with our volunteers.

  • Nipomo Food Distribution - We work with the SLO County Food Bank each month to distribute food in the Nipomo Community. We serve ~400 families each month.

  • Lunch Buddy Program – We deliver ~110 bags of food each week to students in the LMUSD for children who have been identified by school personnel as unlikely to eat on the weekends without support.

  • Laundry Pop-up: We pay for laundry at two locations each month for anyone who comes to do laundry at those locations. Each pop-up lasts for two hours.

  • We Missed the Bus: We provide teachers with supplies for their classes. This year we were able to provide supplies in both September and January.

  • We Love Educators: We recruit volunteers to aid teachers in their classrooms.

  • Hygiene Drive: - We collect hygiene items and distribute these items to agencies for their clients. This includes diapers to agencies that support families with small children.

  • Thanksgiving Baskets: We collect and distribute food for families in programs for the underserved

  • Winter Break Food Program: We collect and distribute food to help families through the LMUSD school winter break

 

SSLCO Womenade raised and spent a significant amount of money this year.  We estimate the amount of funds and In-Kind products distributed in the community to be more than $190,000. In Kind donations were estimated at approximately ~$26,000 in hygiene supplies, ~$32,000 for Lunch Buddies food, and ~$19,000 in food for the November and December food distributions. Our administrative expenses made up approximately 3% of our expenditures, with Insurance accounting for over half of that amount. Other Admin expenses include website annual fees, accounting software fees, and payments to the State of California as a registered non-profit. 

How can you help: You can read more about us at www.slocw.org. There, you can learn how to donate funds or your time and energy to our many programs. 


Where did the money go?

Note: the graph references cash disbursements, not in-kind item distribution.



Project Update

2026 Toiletries Drive - Coming in April!


Our 9th Annual Toiletries Drive will run from April 1 to April 30.  We have gathered a wonderful Toiletries Drive Committee of Barbara Deel, Carla Heise, Marilyn Mullaney and Patty Grady led by board members Kristin Bertsch and Rosemary Cleaves. We will be sending out all the details of the drive - what we are collecting, where to sign up, how to volunteer - next week.  We have gathered the agencies, drop off locations, list of items we need, Amazon wish list, a place to run the project and drop off people prepared SignUPGenius. All coming your way   Now we are hopeful and grateful for the generosity of all of our Womenaders and their friends to make this a success.

 

Be on the look out for the email next week - All about Toiletries!


Help and Items Needed


Update on Funds Received

2/1/26 TO 2/28/26               $8,846.18

1/1/26 TO 2/28/26             $19,886.90

2/1/2019 TO 2/28/26       $908,609.70


Thanks to February Donors

Barbara Aquino, Bob Heinrich, Ann Utterback (2), Elise Carraway, Linda and Bradley Wilbert, Fran Norris, Sheila and Richard Semana, Rosemary Cleaves (2), Margaret Bowman-Kelley, California Medical Alliance, Diana Henderson, JFMaddox Foundation, Carol Chenot, Lynn Heinrich, Lola Zybura, Candace Guldeman, Barbara Aquino, Vicki Fesler, Susan McCutcheon, Vicky Sady, Marilyn Knollenberg, Caity McCardell, Gertraud Garner , Susan Josephson, Phyllis Sims, Jean Leavitt, Linda Busek, Mary Anne Morgan and Madeline Fay (2), Paula Tripp, Rosemary Cleaves, Gee Gee (Joyce) Southward, Andrea Chavez   , Olive and Mike Shu, Mary De Jong, Marilyn Mullany, Joann and Stan Benson (20, Elaine Stewart, Cory Gonzalez, Wendy Castleman, Gwen Carton, Gail Applegate, Gay Evison Groomes, Carol Chenot, Lynn Edwards , Karlie Cool, Susan McCutcheon, Susan Josephson, Kathy Gibbs, Barbara Grant, Dana Robertson, Anita Shower, Michelle Moock, Ann Tompkins , Jessica Griffiths , Debra Jackson, Donna Groman , Barbara Schader , Ann Tompkins, E. Susan Cox, Stacy Murphy, Cynthia Peters, Nancy Terrell, Lara Golden, Kristin Heenan, Lisa Fraser, Lynda Burnsed, Lara Golden


Where the Money Went


Casa Solana – Renée Poirier – Executive Director

  • Casa Solana provided a gift bed to a women in her 30's recently released from county jail into our program. She struggles with chronic substance abuse and homelessness. Casa Solana was able to help her get signed up with drug & alcohol services, and she is doing very well in the program.  $800 gift bed

 

Nipomo Family Resource Center – Advocate Yuliana Molina

  • No expenses

Oceano Family Resource Center – Advocate Stella Medina

  • No expenses

Arroyo Grande Family Resource Center – Cinthyia Ortiz-Corona

  • Single mother with financial stress. Raising children on her own without support. Needed help with childcare bill this month.  $239.61 SLO YMCA

Nutrition Team – Mary Anne Morgan leader

  • Food for the Lopez High School Food Pantry $24  SLO Foodbank

5 Cities Homeless Coalition – Janna Nichols Executive Director

  • No expenses

Laundry Pop-Up Belinda Benassi – Project coordinator; Terri Zielinski and Beth Hirsch in Nipomo

In Nipomo

  • The February 7 pop up was a great success. They did 71 loads of laundry.  When Beth and I pulled into the parking lot, we saw an RV that looked familiar.  The young couple, who live in the RV, came in to do their laundry.  They remember that we would be there.  They are so appreciative and thanked us repeatedly.  We provided them with a schedule of the pop-ups in AG and Grover so that they don't have to wait a month to do laundry.  Our new volunteer, Diane Babcock, spoke with the young man.  They are struggling to make it here on the Central Coast.  They live in their RV and can park at a county park where they can use water, electricity and the dumping station.  They are thinking of moving to Texas in order to work and save up some money so that they can return here and live in something more permanent.  They share the RV with two dogs.  Helping them with their laundry feels like such a small effort on our part, but we can tell it has a positive impact on their lives. $230.75

In Arroyo Grande

  • The February 21st laundry pop-up was a super busy event where we did 99 loads of laundry with 4 volunteers Gwen Carton, Carolynne Chase, Sheila and Richard Semana and Belinda Benassi.  It was nonstop the entire time. We notice the price for wash has increased and the dryers required additional time to fully dry since our last event.  The attendant shared that the business switched owners last month and confirmed the price increase.  A family of 3 heard about our laundry pop-up events but kept missing us.  They shared that they were thrilled to finally connect with us.  They said they were struggling to meet their monthly expenses due to a decrease in work hours.  They were very grateful we were there as they didn’t have enough funds to do all their laundry. $470.75

Lopez High School – Keith Gledhill- Principal; Aurora Munoz – Admin

  • Spirit wear for positive attendance $45

  • Field Trip Scholarship for student to Getty Museum and LA Kings G.H.$50

Lopez High School Wolf Den – Heidi Boatman

  • Clothing needs and laundry supplies for students - Guys and Gals socks, 6 laundry detergents $136.70

  • Students in need of heat in colder weather - 3 space heaters  $123.88

Lucia Mar Adult Education – Kristin Anderson, Principal

  • No expenses

Families in Transition – Wendy Bruse Coordinator of After School Programs, Deicy Trejo, Karina Ayala

  • Student needed support with soccer shoes. Student wanted to participate in his Middle School team. $30 Soccer Shoes

  • Family needed support this month with bus passes for two high school students. Family has been struggling with finances due to the current rain. $74 2 SCT-31 day bus passes

  • 2 SCT-31 day bus passes $37 RTA- Regional bus pass

  • Student requested support with a SCT bus pass. Student has moved, and is further from the school, and needs help with getting to school. Parents will be unwilling to support. $37 SCT-31 day bus pass

  • Unaccompanied Youth (UY) student is on his own. Needed support with his senior graduate night trip. Student really wanted to attend but did not have the budget to do so. $150 Senior Graduate Night Field Trip

  • Family needed support to obtain an RTA bus pass for their student. Student has been struggling to get to school from Santa Maria to NHS. Hours were cut for one parent.$37 RTA-Regional bus pass

Pregnancy and Parenting Support – Cami Statler Executive director

  • Two infant carrier car seats were purchased for a mother in Grover Beach expecting twins. She was referred to PPS by the County Public Health office as she required specialized seats to accommodate newborn twins.  $191.38

Mission Hope – Katie Crafton – Oncology Social Worker

  • No expenses

SLO County Office Of Education CSPP – (California Pre-School Programs) – Shannon Pimentel Program Coordinator

  • No expenses

Department of Social Services – Theresa Johnson – Division Manager

  • No expenses

County Nurses – Meryl Castro – County Nurse Supervisor

  • Mothers with babies needing diapers $73.01

C.A.R.E.4Paws – Libby Williams-Cabral – area administrator

  • No expenses

People’s Self Help Housing – Caity McCardell - Director of Resource Development

  • Client is a single mother with a disabled child who has significant medical needs. Client survives off her food stamps with no income. Client has been looking for employment for over 3 months to no avail and she is struggling to afford bare necessities. Client has extra expenses in January due to annual car insurance which left her under financial stress. Client is asking for assistance with gas card ($150) so that she can travel to and from medical appointments for the month and to keep searching for work. $150

  • Client is a single mother of 3 teenagers. One teenage child is currently trying to apply to universities. Client had to spend funds to help her with applications and school items. She is now short on her ability to pay her electric bill in full. Client is requesting partial assistance. $73.34 PG&E

Transitions Mental Health -Tricia Ochoa

  • No expense

Hearst Cancer Research Center – Julie Neiggemann and Ashley Hahn

  • Elderly cancer patient needed new toilet in her mobile home in AG. She had no means to pay with her low fixed income, and this was time sensitive. $465.50

 Family Care Network – Lupita Ducharme

  • No expenses

Welcome Home Military Heroes – Executive Director Cheryl Tolan

  • Paid for 2 separate care gives for an elderly man who cannot care for himself and his wife is unable to physically help him $450

Martha’s Place – Tony Huffacker. Supervisor

  • Family in need of assistance to reach counseling sessions and in need of food. $100

  • Oceano family of 3 ages 9 months, 3, and 5 in need of necessities for caring for the babies. Baby Wipes, Diapers, Teething toys $185.21



HOW TO DONATE:

Our bank asked that checks be made out with the full legal name on the account.To make a donation write a check to South SLO County Womenade and mail to: South SLO County Womenade, 1793 Farroll Rd., Grover Beach, CA 93433.

 

We encourage you to become one of our monthly or regular donors.  This can be easily done through your bank or charitable foundation. Please remember that if your company has a matching grants program to include us.  As you make or update your wills, please consider adding a legacy gift to us for our future sustainability.

Our website is: sslocw.org

Our EIN# 27-0809744

 
 
 

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