BRUSH FIRE BURNS 40 ACRES IN WEST VALLEY, PAGE 5
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Mother’s death inspires daughter’s mission
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Avondale woman’s campaign against lung cancer takes her to Washington, D.C.
CAN I HAVE THIS DANCE? DancEstrella students to perform ‘Our Family Tree’ at EMCC — Page 4.
BUDGET SEASON BEGINS West Valley cities begin Fiscal Year 2017 budget process — Page 8.
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View photo by Ray Thomas
NATASHA TOMLINSON of Phoenix, right, hands Marnie Cooley of Youngtown a slip of paper with the name of a charity last February during a 100+ Women Who Care meeting in Avondale.
and the new West Valley branch has high hopes for the future, Tarnopolski said, adding the organization’s goal is to reach $500,000 in five years. “It makes me feel good. Truly, it’s a selfish thing,” Cooley said. “When I come to these meetings, I know that my donation, partnered with all of these others, is going to make a big impact for a local charity. That makes me feel good.” 100+ Women Who Care is an international organization making a change at the local level, Tarnopolski said, adding that in total, the national organization gives an estimated $16 million to charities every year. “This is a great opportunity to meet likeminded women who have big hearts and to learn about great charities that you might not have heard of before,” she said. According to the organization’s website, the idea came from founder and former Jackson, Mich., Mayor Karen Dunigan in 2006 when she was made aware of local new mothers’ dire need for baby cribs. Dunigan needed $10,000 to make a difference and she thought she must know 100 or more women who would care enough to donate $100. She raised more money than she originally needed and created the 100+ Women Who Care, thinking there are more women in the world who want to make a difference in their communities. She was right, as the organization expanded all over the United States and to Canada and Mexico. Chapters are started by (See Difference on Page 5)
(See Mission on Page 5)
100+ Women Who Care expands to the West Valley special to the View
There’s a new group of women in town, a group of women who care. They’re part of the 100+ Women Who Care organization, Valley of the Sun Chapter. The new West Valley chapter is dedicated to helping the community with donations going directly to local nonprofits and charities. Giving is their priority, as women from all over the West Valley meet to give money to charities that will impact their communities directly, said Kim Tarnopolski, chief community builder at 100+ Women Who Care Valley of the Sun. “What we’re doing is bringing women together that we can leverage our smaller gifts of $100 to make a larger gift of up to $10,000 or more that’s going to have a greater impact on the charity, so that’s the purpose of bringing women together and community and making an impact on the Valley,” Tarnopolski said. 100+ Women Who Care’s West Valley group met for its first quarterly donations meeting Feb. 9 at the Courtyard Phoenix West/Avondale. “We just really wanted to have a West Valley group, a little selfishly because we don’t like driving all the way to Scottsdale, but we also just felt there are a lot of women who do live on this side of town who are like us and want to be a part of something like this where they can make a bigger impact with their donations,” said Marnie Cooley, a member and facilitator. The organization has donated almost $39,000 to more than 19 Arizona charities since 2015,
2006 CHRYSLER PACIFICA 3rd aded, cold o L y l l Fu ice ating, row se and only... A/C
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A promise to her dying mother motivated a West Valley woman’s mission to advocate for a cure for lung cancer. “I think my mom died to help spark a movement, and I’m going to help find a cure,” Daphne Faitala-Rodriquez said. Faitala-Rodriquez’s campaign recently took her to Washington, D.C., where she was Arizona’s representative at the American Lung Association’s Lung Force, a two-day event attended by advocates from every state to fight for lung cancer education and research. “I’m doing this to help other people,” she Daphne said. “Most people don’t Faitalaknow that lung cancer is the No. 1 cancer killer of Rodriquez men and women.” Faitala-Rodriquez has been volunteering for the cause ever since her mother, Meleke Faitala Bowles, died of the disease at age 57 in February 2016 after a 15-year ordeal that included being misdiagnosed. “I watched my mom struggle and go through so much pain,” Faitala-Rodriquez said. “She said, ‘If you can save one person from this disease, then all my pain and suffering will be worth it.’” In 2015, lung cancer accounted for 13 percent of all new cancers, with an estimated 221,200 new cases and 158,040 deaths, according to the American Cancer Society. Faitala-Rodriquez, 27, who grew up in American Samoa, a U.S. island territory in the south Pacific Ocean, remembers her mother as a strong, religious woman who took care of nine children, climbed coconut trees, played rugby,
Making a difference by Kourtney Balsan
by Glenn Gullickson
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