So much to tell you about!
Newsletter March 20, 2025
We have so much to share that we'll send the donor "Thank Yous" and "Where the Money Went" for February in a newsletter next week.
Potluck at Lopez High School
The Tea Party Fundraiser Potluck at Lopez High School on March 19th was an amazing affair. There were about 60 people in attendance including many first time Womenaders, students, teachers and staff. There were a number of students who volunteered to set up and clean up after. Two students made a presentation of what Womenade means to them including the items for the rewards program, the food pantry for families, the Wolf den and the scholarships to attend the prom and graduation. Keith Gledhill, the principal, expressed his gratitude to Womenade who acts as the school’s PTA! There was a most successful tour of the Wolf Den with many people visiting it for the first time.
As usual, as you can see, the potluck food was very high tea-ish! and we raised over $1,800!
Next Potluck
The April potluck is on April 17th at 3PM at Ann McDowell’s home at 1793 Farroll Rd., in Grover Beach. We will be holding our annual raffle that afternoon! Mark your calendars – it’s always a great event!
Annual Raffle
The Annual Raffle will be held at the April 17th Potluck fundraiser. Every $20 donation received between March 17th and April 17th, 2025 will be entered automatically as a ticket in the raffle. Raffle tickets are electronic, so there are no paper raffle tickets. Please let us know if your name shouldn’t be entered. Some of the prizes will only be awarded to those present at the potluck on April 17th. We are looking for raffle prizes. If you would like to donate a raffle prize please send an email to sslocwomenade@gmail.com with a description of the prize, your name and a value!
Impact Statement
Impact Report for South SLO County Womenade in 2024
Who we are: A group of volunteers who raise money and donations through potlucks and product drives. We are an all-volunteer organization, with no salaried 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 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: We work with the following agencies:
Casa Solana – a sober women’s recovery center in Grover Beach
South County Youth Coalition-Provides services/grants to South County Families
The Link -
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+
Department of Social Services
SLO Office of Education – Manages four early learning centers in South SLO County
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
5Cities Homeless Coalition
Pregnancy & Parenting Support – provides free supplies to pregnant women, and free supplies to babies and toddlers
Care4Paws – provides discount veterinary services for pets
People’s Self-Help Housing Builds affordable homes with site based services designed to change lives and promote independent living
SSLOCW Programs: We also have several programs we support with our volunteers.
Nipomo Food Distribution - We work with the Food Bank once a month to distribute food in the Nipomo Community. We serve ~360 families each month.
Lunch Buddy Program – We deliver ~120 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 for anyone who comes to do laundry two days a month for two hours each.
We Missed the Bus: We provide teachers with supplies for their classes
We Love Educators: We recruit volunteers to aid teachers in their classrooms
Hygiene Drive: - We collect hygiene items and distribute to agencies for their clients
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 school winter break
Where did the money go?
Note: the graph references cash disbursements, not in-kind item distribution.
SSLCO Womenade raised and spent a record amount of money this year (for our organization). We estimate the amount of funds and In-Kind products distributed in the community to be more than $190,000. Approx ~$26,000 in hygiene supplies, ~$20,000 for lunch buddies food, and ~$35,000 in food for the November and December food distributions
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.
Projects updates
Hygiene Drive
Mark your calendars – the Hygiene Drive will take place from April 1st to April 30th! . It’s our eighth annual hygiene drive! The flyer below tells you the various ways you can help out.
Womenade Hygiene Drive Collectors
Purchased products and check donations can be given to the following collectors:
Cypress Ridge
Sue McCutcheon - 2342 Willet Way, Arroyo Grande
Lola Zybura - 2367 Brant St, Arroyo Grande
Fit Forever Gym - 1080 Cypress Ridge Pkwy, Arroyo Grande
Trilogy
Judy Woo - 1402 Vista Tesoro Pl., Nipomo
BJ Bushur– 1410 Penelope Ct, Nipomo
Arroyo Grande
Lisa Murdoch - 117 Pearwood Avenue, Arroyo Grande
Nan Fowler – 630 Cerro Vista Circle, Arroyo Grande
Avila Beach
Elizabeth Sewell – Avila Bay Club, 6699 Bay Laurel Pl, Avila Beach
Ann McDowell – 1793 Farroll Rd, Grover Beach
Blacklake
Marilyn Mullany - 640 Shelter Ridge, Nipomo, CA 93444
Your generosity is greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Laundry Pop-Up –Belinda Benassi, Terri Zielinski and Beth Hirsch – Project Leaders
The two teams had very different experiences this month. Terri and Beth’s site with Marcy and Sharon, had more volunteers than customers. The Laundromat was Empty. They even went to another site in Nipomo and it was empty too. Very curious!
At 11 am everyone showed up at once, and it stayed busy until they left and ended up paying for 49 loads of laundry – pretty amazing for 1 hour!
Belinda’s team with brand new volunteers Julie Chronis, Heather Griczen and Lita Unruh were busy all morning. There was a very high energy, positive and fulfilling vibe to the morning. They did 84 loads of laundry for customers.
Pictured are 3 of the volunteers with a regular customer, Jessie, who is very appreciative of the assistance with his laundry expenses when he comes.
To offer opportunities for volunteers to sign up in advance for the event site and dates of their choosing Belinda put together this Sign-Up Genius. Please scroll down on the Sign-Up Genius page to find the current calendar year.
Nipomo Food Distribution – Rosemary Cleaves, Sue McCutcheon, and Mary Anne Morgan - project leaders
The March Food distribution was on Tuesday March 11th at the Nipomo Elementary School (always the second Tuesday of the month). It was a different flow for our distribution. Our distribution is the largest in the county at over 360 families!. The Foodbank asked us to adjust our distribution slightly so that we would have enough for everyone. We’re not sure of the cause - daylight savings time, the impending storms and field workers working later, the current political fears – but our lines were much shorter than usual. We estimate that if we hadn’t made the requested adjustments, we would have run out of food again.
We work with the SLO FoodBank and Nipomo Elementary School to make the Food Distribution happen. Thank you SLO Foodbank and all our fabulous volunteers! Let us know if you want to be on the substitute list. The next distribution will be on Tuesday, April 8th.
We Love Educators – Lisa Arakaki project leader
We Love Educators (WLE) Volunteers for Teachers Project is a group of in-class volunteers—many who are retired educators—who want to show appreciation and encouragement for South SLO County teachers, especially those who are new to the district and/or profession.
Anyone interested in learning more and/or signing up to volunteer (in elementary schools) can fill out this online Google Form: Interest/Sign-Up Form for SSCW's "We Love Educators - Volunteers for Teachers" Project which goes directly to project leader Lisa Arakaki.
The teachers, volunteers and students have expressed much appreciation for having volunteers in the classroom. The project currently has 17 volunteers in 6 elementary schools.
Deb Sherry, a Volunteer wrote the following:
“Need a little infusion of joy in your life these days? Consider becoming a classroom tutor under the auspices of the We Love Educators project. I started volunteering last fall. Now visiting Mrs Schrom’s third graders at Dana Elementary to help with reading is a highlight of my week. I was overwhelmed by all one teacher has to do these days to educate 30 students! Being able to give some hands-on support feels pretty darn nice. And no teaching background or previous experience working with children is needed.
Easy peasy!
If you’d like to learn more, contact Lisa Arakaki at weloveeducators@gmail.com.
Deb Sherry”
Items Needed
Prizes for our raffle held on April 17th
Toilet paper
Diapers
Pack n Plays
Laundry detergent
HOW TO DONATE:
To make a donation write a check to South SLO County Womenade and mail to:
Our bank asked that checks be made out with the full legal name on the account.
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.
or go to our website sslocw.org
Our email is: sslocwomenade@gmail.com
Our website is: sslocw.org
Our EIN# 27-0809744
Phone number: (805) 270-5751
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