Women's Giving Alliance
Women's Giving Alliance
You Hold The Key
When you invest in women and children, you lift the whole community. Learn how the Women’s Giving Alliance of South Lake uses data-informed grant-making, impact investing, educational programming and leadership development to do just that.
The Women’s Giving Alliance is a giving circle, where members contribute individually and make grants collectively. Each member represents a link in an ever-growing chain that makes it possible for the Women’s Giving Alliance to achieve far more together than its members could accomplish on their own.
Who We Are: In 2014 a group of women with a passion for local impact, formed the Women’s Giving Alliance (WGA) inaugurated through the Community Foundation of South Lake.
Our Mission: The WGA’s mission is to inspire women to be strategic philanthropists and improve the lives of women and children in South Lake County through collective giving.
How To Join: Join us in empowering Women and families by supporting educational programs, healthcare initiatives, economic empowerment, and more.
Women's Giving Alliance
Our Impact
In 2026, the Women’s Giving Alliance was pleased to be able to award $45,000 to local nonprofits.
- Anointed Community Services International, Inc. $20,000
- Hands of Hope America, Inc. $25,000
In 2025, the Women’s Giving Alliance was pleased to be able to award $28,000 to local nonprofits.
- Building Blocks $14,000
- Stuckey Community Improvement Group $14,000
The grants were awarded for AccessAbility: Empowering Families through Access and for O.U.R Girls mentoring program and community empowerment center.
The 2024 Women’s Giving Alliance grant went to The Neighborhood Center of South Lake. Granting $25,000 to aid them in their mission.
2023 was an exciting year for the Women’s Giving Alliance. The giving circle granted three grants to organizations who are positively impacting the lives of women and children in the South Lake Community.
Grant recipients include:
• Libby’s Legacy – An organization dedicated to breast cancer patient advocacy and prevention screenings.
• South Lake Cares – An organization addressing basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter for local families in need.
• Lake Sumter Children’s Advocacy Center – An organization providing professional counseling for children who have experienced trauma.
The WGA is honored to support these organization and is hopeful for the lasting impact of these services.
In 2022, the Women’s Giving Alliance granted $25,000 to the Stuckey Community Improvement Group who serve young girls through mentorship and tutoring. The funds helped change the lives of over 55 girls in the local community.
At the end of the year, leadership was happy to report that over 85% of participants were on the honor roll and 10% of participants have moved on to college. In addition to improving educational performance, the girls self-esteem remarkably improved after participating other enrichment activities.
The WGA looks forward to the impact we will continue to have in these young ladies’ live.
In 2021 the membership voted to bring a nationally recognized program to South Lake County, the LENA program and granted $20,174 to the Early Learning Coalition. This program supports stakeholders at every level, helping teachers gain the skills to measurably improve classroom quality by boosting interactions. One-hundred preschoolers participated in the program to improve school readiness and child outcomes through early talk. Additionally, the WGA provided a second grant of $1890, to the Children’s Home Society for their Healthy Families program. This is a community based program that prevents child abuse and neglect by promoting positive parent-child interaction.
Since its inception, WGA has granted over $204,000 into the south Lake community, addressing issues that affect women and children. This group of women has made significant impact through their philanthropic collective giving.
2020 brought significant challenges to everyone through the impact of Covid-19. The WGA continued its philanthropic work and awarded their annual grant in the amount of $27,982 to Find, Feed & Restore. We celebrated the fine work this organization has continued in eradicating homelessness for families with children through housing and education to bring economic and emotional stability, accompanied by self-sufficiency.
In 2019, WGA saw it important to expand to the other two south Lake high schools, East Ridge and South Lake High and made the 2019 annual grant to Be Free Lake.
In 2018, the WGA awarded two grants for a total of $47,249, to address youth risky behaviors. Grantees were Be Free Lake and E3 Family Solutions. Be Free Lake provided a nationally recognized Suicide Awareness program to high school students at Lake Minneola High School in 2018.
In 2019, WGA saw it important to expand to the other two south Lake high schools, East Ridge and South Lake High and made the 2019 annual grant to Be Free Lake.
In November of 2017, the Women’s Giving Alliance hosted their annual grants award dinner at Bella Collina and celebrated our third cycle of grant awards. The WGA was able to grant our single largest grant of $25,000 to “Find, Feed & Restore.”
At Find, Feed, & Restore, Brian Broadway addresses the issue of homelessness by providing travel trailers to families who live in cars or tents, and places them into a stable environment. The program is a holistic approach that provides individual and family counseling, financial budgeting, child care assistance, resume preparation, and computer training courses.
Since April 2014, the Women’s Giving Alliance has grown to over 50 members strong. We are proud to announce that ten Legacy Members have now committed to a $25,000 donation that will ensure a lifetime membership, along with providing support for the WGA’s work in perpetuity by supporting the endowment fund of the WGA.
During our inaugural grant cycle, through a generous member’s anonymous donation of $10,000, we were able to make a difference in the lives of women through a program provided by LifeStream Behavioral Center. “Women Opting for Wellness” allowed 20 women to receive mental health services, who would otherwise not be able to access this care.
In 2015, we provided $40,000 to four organizations assisting women and children:
• Anointed Community Services,
• Find, Feed, & Restore,
• Milestone Counseling,
• New Beginnings.
As a member of the WGA, you join a group of women who have a heart to make a difference in the lives of women and children in our community. It is our hope that as we grow our membership, we will grow the impact we have on the community through our grants process.
2026 Annual Sponsors
Nancy Cummings, President
Evelisse Bookhout, Vice-President
Shelly McCoy, Treasurer
Debbie Flinn, Secretary
If you would like to be more involved in the WGA, we have committees needing YOUR expertise! Consider serving on one of the following committees:
WGA Engagement Committee
The Engagement Committee of the WGA is responsible for fostering connections, participation and growth within the WGA. The Committee plans and supports educational and social events that enhance the WGA meetings, engage current members, and support the recruitment of new members.
WGA Grant Committee
The Grant Committee of the WGA provides the leadership and direction for the entire grant process which includes:
~solicitation of Letters of Intent from the Nonprofit Organizations
~evaluate and decide on those organizations who will be asked to submit a full grant proposal
~present the grant finalists to the membership for a vote to fund
~announce the grant recipients to the membership at the Fall dinner.