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COMMUNITY
GILBERT SUN NEWS AN EDITION OF THE SUNDAY EAST VALLEY TRIBUNE | APRIL 14, 2019
Philanthropic women’s group keeps on growing
WWC Valley of the Sun has three groups: one in Scottsdale, one in Ahwatukee and an East Valley branch. The East Valley branch will meet 5:307:30 p.m. April 18 at JC’s Steakhouse, 25 East Ray Road, Gilbert. Guests are welcome and more information is at 100WWCValleyOfTheSun.org. Tarnopolski makes it clear that WWC Valley of the Sun isn’t a charity. Nor is it a nonprofit. “We, simply, are a philanthropic group of women,” Tarnopolski said. “Our members write their checks directly to the charity.” Tarnopolski formed the Valley of the
boards.” And so WWC Valley of the Sun was formed. As the name of the group suggests, each group has more than 100 women, with the exception of East Valley, which was recently formed in 2018 but continues to grow. Tarnopolski describes the Valley of the Sun chapter’s women as 35 to 70 years of age, both retirees and working women. But the common denominator is all the women have a big heart and want to give back. “Yes, it’s about giving and supporting a charity, but it’s also about just learning
about charities,” Tarnopolski said. “That’s the great thing about this.” During the giving circles, three nominated and approved charities are randomly drawn. The WWC members who nominated the charities then make an informal presentation, stating why they believe the charity is deserving of the members’ vote and check. After a Q&A, anonymous ballets are then cast, and the charity with the most votes receives the members’ donations. Each member writes a $100 check made directly to the charity, no exceptions. Those who are not in attendance at the giving circle can send a blank check to the chapter or donate directly to the charity via their website or other preferred method. It’s not necessarily $100 per person, either. The Valley of the Sun chapter allows teams, so the $100 can be split two, three, four different ways, depending on the size of the team. The final step of the quarterly giving circle is the executive committee collects all of the checks and gives the money to the charity within one month of the giving circle. In total, WWC Valley of the Sun has raised and donated $375,325 to 46 local charities. Tarnopolski said the group welcomes new members. “We’re always looking for opportunities,” Tarnopolski added, “whether it’s foundations here in the Valley who would be interested in what we’re doing and we want to do some matching donations with us.”
Running for over 20 years, Gilbert Fire’s car seat clinic aims to help educate new parents on how to properly install car seats, said Jean Sperke, the community programs coordinator for the department. “When they hired for my position, this was one of the things we wanted to revamp and make it bigger and better,” Sperke said. “Gilbert is a young community, we have a ton of babies, so we just kept growing it.” Sperke has been with the department for 16 years and helps put on their various community programs, including a check of smoke detectors in the homes of seniors and others who may not be able to and educating families about drowning prevention. The Car Seat 101 clinics take place the first Thursday of every month and parents can check times and locations at gilbertaz.gov/departments/fire-and-rescue/
community-programs. Both firefighters and volunteers can become car seat technicians, but they have to go through extensive training first, she said. “In order to become a tech, it’s a 32-hour class and certification, Larry and I are instructors, they’re in house, we teach it here and we teach it in other cities to help them get techs,” Sperke said. “It’s handson, a lot of it is test taking and when they leave that, we do an event and have people come in and test their skills.” For those certified, like firefighter Nate Lanzon, the ability to be able to confidently help parents appealed to him, he said. “This opportunity became available and there were four of us working together and we jumped in,” Lanzon said “Plus, we all have little kids, I was expecting, our other buddy was going on his second kid, it helped.”
The program not only ensures seats are properly installed but teaches parents how to do it, Sperke said. The program also encourages parents to come in ahead of the time their baby is due so that their cars are ready for the big day, but that doesn’t always work out that way, MacDonald said. “Just last week there was a woman who gave birth early, so she was in the hospital and they won’t let her go unless she has a car seat properly installed, so I got to go to the hospital and meet them there,” MacDonald said, adding: “I went up to her room and went through the instructions in there, helped them put it in the car.” Sperke continues to be passionate about the program because “it’s just seeing those babies and keeping them safe.”
BY KRISTINE CANNON GSN Staff Writer
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arlier this year, around 60 women, checks in hand, gathered at the Scottsdale Hilton Resort & Villas. For one hour, from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., three women addressed the room, speaking about the charity of their choosing – a charity they hope will be on the receiving end of a multi-thousand-dollar check. That night, the group – 100+ Women Who Care (WWC) Valley of the Sun – chose Phoenix-based nonprofit Gabriel’s Angels. Later, WWC Valley of the Sun Chief Community Builder Kim Tarnopolski and cofounder Jacqueline Destremps presented a check to Gabriel’s Angels for $9,050. Said Nan Ater, board chair of Gabriel’s Angels executive committee: “It is wonderful to share our mission of inspiring confidence, compassion and best behaviors in at risk children through pet therapy.” Ater said the nonprofit plans to use the money to support its 190 pet therapy teams. “These Pet Therapy teams deliver healing pet therapy to Arizona’s at-risk children, nurturing their emotional development and enhancing the quality of the lives forever at over 125 child serving agencies and visit 15,200 children annually,” she said. WWC has groups around the U.S., Canada and worldwide; two WWC chapters are located in the Valley: WWC Phoenix and WWC Valley of the Sun.
Kim Tarnopolski, left, of Ahwatukee and fellow Ahwatukee resident and Realtor Christie Ellis are big supporters of, and evangelists for, 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun. (Special to GSN)
Sun WWC chapter five years ago, in 2015, after attending one of the WWC Phoenix chapters’ giving circles. “I thought, you know what, I’m going to do this on my own,” she said. “I called up some friends and said, ‘Hey, I think I’ve found our next thing.’” Tarnopolski was looking for a new venture. She had recently retired as an HR executive and consultant for over 18 years, and her daughter was going into middle school. “I decided it was time to take a hiatus and just be really present for [my daughter],” she said. “And I’ve always been involved with the charitable world and sat on
Gilbert car seat program helps keep kids safe BY JAMES CARR GSN Contributor
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he Gilbert Fire Department helps over 400 families annually learn how to properly install car seats at their Car Seat 101 clinics, the community programs coordinator said. In order to take a newborn baby home from the hospital, parents must have a properly installed car seat – a task that’s easier said than done, according to Larry MacDonald, a Gilbert volunteer for over 10 years. Safe Kids Worldwide says 75 percent of all car seats are installed improperly, putting the child’s safety at risk. “I’ve seen that statistic as well. About 75 percent? I think that’s on the low side, it all depends on what you view as being incorrect,” MacDonald said.