Leaders contribute to women's and children's charities

Female Leaders in Philanthropy, funded by the Women’s Initiative of the United Way of the Ozarks, gives grants to area organizations that work on three distinct issues: domestic violence, women’s health and at-risk children.

“A lot of people who are members of this organization have already been involved in philanthropic endeavors in Springfield,” said United Way Vice President Nancy Fazzino. “So they’re familiar with the organizations in need, and they bring to our group a rich amount of information.”

She mentioned several key figures, including Greene County Commissioner Roseanne Bentley, Mary Kay Meek of Meek’s Building Centers and Sally Hargis of Ozarks Coca-Cola/Dr Pepper Bottling Co. The group also received support from several area companies and groups, including Meek’s, St. John’s Health System, Stenger Homes, the O’Reilly Foundation and Penmac Personnel.

FLIP started small in 2003 but has since grown, giving out more than $50,000 in grants in three years. The grants are usually small – anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $2,500.

The Child Advocacy Center is one organization that has received assistance from FLIP. The center, which seeks to provide “a child-friendly setting” for forensic interviews and sensitive medical exams for suspected victims of child abuse, received two grants this year from FLIP, according to the center’s mission statement.

The Child Advocacy Center received $650 this year to purchase developmentally appropriate toys for visiting children as well as anatomically correct dolls to use in interviews with children who have been sexually abused.

Center Executive Director Barbara Brown said materials purchased with the FLIP grant are crucial to the center’s operations.

“We’re always on the lookout for unique toys that kids might not see in other contexts, because it’s important to make an unpleasant experience attached to a pleasant memory,” Brown said. “It also makes it less scary. So it’s important that we have great toys, and FLIP thankfully agreed with that.”

Another effort by FLIP to connect with those in need led to the Suit Yourself program, the group’s project for this year’s United Way Day of Caring. The program allowed women, referred by the United Way’s member organizations, to receive a week’s worth of work clothing. Suit Yourself is designed to give more women an opportunity to enter the workplace.

“Also, they got information on how to get their general education diploma and other educational opportunities,” United Way’s Fazzino said, adding that the new and gently used clothing was donated by members of the women’s initiative.

The program, according to 2006 FLIP Chair Nancy O’Reilly, has been successful because of the expertise of the women who are involved.

The United Way’s Fazzino said the women’s initiative, and FLIP, are important for reaching female donors because women give differently than men.

She cited research from the Women’s Philanthropy Institute that points to the six “Cs” of women’s giving: change, create, connect, commit, collaborate and celebrate.

“Most of the volunteers in America are women, and it’s just a different way to relate to donors and fill a need,” Fazzino said.

Poverty and Children Symposium

The United Way women’s initiative is also in the planning stages of a symposium on poverty and children.

The Nov. 15 event will feature speaker Larry Brown, director of the National Center on Hunger and Poverty, according to FLIP Chair Nancy O’Reilly.

“There are over 164,000 people in the Ozarks that live in poverty, and about half of those are elderly and children,” O’Reilly said. “We want the awareness out there that working people have children that are hungry, and we need to help.”

It’s the third such symposium the group has presented; previous topics were domestic violence and methamphetamine.

“We have pockets of poverty in the area, but we want to really see where those are and explore and see how we can help through our group and our volunteerism,” said United Way Vice President Nancy Fazzino.

A time and location for the event have not yet been determined.

For more information, contact Nancy Fazzino at United Way of the Ozarks, (417) 863-7700.