Cullasaja Women’s Outreach Invests $200,000

Written By: - NONE - | Issue: 2017/11 - November

Once upon a time, high up on a plateau, a collective of ladies felt sure their hearts had more to give. They sensed that if somehow they could combine their hopes and resources, they could make a positive difference. These goodhearted women dreamed of furthering a community that brought everyone who happened upon it, a sense of connection, closeness and caring.
Looking about, they found wonderful organizations − seeking neither profit nor fame, instead, working for the betterment of all. Some provided medical, dental or counseling care for people in search of healing. Others provided food when cupboards were bare, and heating when budgets got tight. Still others created programs encouraging children to be their best, to open their eyes to nature, music and art, and to learn teamwork and self-esteem. Some provided safe, affordable daycare, while others worked devotedly to aid children with special needs.
Looking further, the women discovered people working to advance literacy, preserve history and share the joys of performance and artistic expression. For indeed these programs had the power to enrich everyone’s life.
Inspired by what they found, the women offered their wholehearted support and discovered that, by joining together, they could do more than anyone of them could do alone. Reaching-out as one, they touched the lives of many. They vowed not to stop until everyone can live happily ever after. Their hope is to inspire you to do the same.
This September, Cullasaja Women’s Outreach − an independent collective of women− awarded grants totaling $200,000 to local area charities and non-profits through their CWO Charities fund. Monies raised were redistributed through a sophisticated grants process led by Joy Abney and Lindy Colson. Recipients included Blue Ridge Free Dental Clinic; Boys and Girls Club of the Plateau; Albert Carlton-Cashiers Community Library; Cashiers Historical Society; Cashiers-Highlands Humane Society; Community Care Clinic of Highlands-Cashiers; Counseling & Psychotherapy Center of Highlands; Fishes & Loaves; Highlands-Cashiers Land Trust; Highlands Community Child Development Center; Highlands Emergency Council; Highlands Historical Society; Highlands Hurricanes Swim Team; Highlands-Cashiers Players; Highlands School Parent-Teachers Organization; Hudson Library; Literacy Council of Highlands; Martin-Lipscomb Performing Arts Center; Peggy Crosby Community Service Center; Summit Charter School; and The Bascom.
Since its founding in 2006, this grassroots group has invested over $1.2 million in organizations serving the Highlands-Cashiers community through their donor-advised fund at the Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.