Barrington Area Women Help Nonprofits In Need

A Chicagoland nonprofit organization has $100,000 in its bank account, thanks to the efforts of a local organization.

Impact 100 Chicago was founded in 2010 by Marybeth Lernihan of Barrington. The idea was to get 100 women from across the Chicago area to join the group and donate $1,000 each. This way, the group could award a $100,000 grant to a nonprofit organization of their choosing.

“Our goal was to get 100 members, but we ended up surpassing it with 126 members,” said Impact 100 Chicago member Kristy Minor, also of Barrington.

The organization received dozens of applications from area nonprofits all hoping to receive the grant money. Committee members were able to narrow down the applications to include finalists in five focus areas: Family (St. Martin de Porres House of Hope), Health and Wellness (Almost Home Kids), Arts and Culture (Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra), Education (Daniel Murphy Scholarship Fund) and Environment (Chicago Lights Urban Farm).

“We have five focus area committees that reviewed all the applications and narrowed it down,” Minor explained. “They did site visits and checked to see if they met certain criteria in order to be awarded the grant.”

The five finalists all gave presentations on what they would do with the grant money at Arlington Park racetrack on June 14. Each member of the Impact 100 Chicago was awarded one vote, and the winner was announced that evening.

The $100,000 grant went to Chicago Lights Urban Farm. They plan to use the money to build and install a greenhouse learning lab.

Because Impact 100 Chicago raised more than its goal of $100,000, each runner-up didn’t walk away empty-handed. Each was awarded $6,500 to use toward general funds.

“It was a wonderful event,” Lernihan said. “All of the presentations were fantastic. It was very difficult to choose and vote.”

Because it was the first time the group has awarded a grant, Lernihan said energy was high.

“Everyone seemed to be really excited and empowered to make this decision,” she said. “Part of that was a first-time experience for all of us. Hopefully we’ll capture that again next year.”

Impact 100 Chicago hopes to recruit 200 members next year and award two $100,000 grants to deserving nonprofit organizations. To learn more about the group and how you can get involved, go to www.impact100chicago.org.