Chicks with Cheques sounds like fun and it is. I was invited to attend CwC about a year ago. I was told I needed to commit to four meetings a year and bring a cheque … hence “chicks with cheques.” At each meeting, three charities present their case and a vote is taken. The event brings out 100 women and each brings a cheque for one hundred bucks. The charity with the most votes takes away as much as $10,000.

The Chicks begin arriving around 5 pm to meet and greet each other and speak with the charities who will be presenting. A great group of volunteers are present to welcome you and the atmosphere is festive. There is always a great array of food and desserts. The location is donated by the Derrick Golf and Winter Club. The organizers include other features contribute to make this a fabulous event for everyone including is a draw for wonderful gift baskets. Each woman also gets a Swag bag filled with great surprises and offers.

It takes a lot of time and effort to put something like this together. My original invitation came from a colleague and, as much as I have enjoyed attending and benefitting from a delightful social evening, a question hung in my mind. Who was responsible? I wanted to find out more.

A couple of weeks ago, I sat down with Cori White and what I heard was a fascinating story of how two friends Cori and Colleen MacDougall were inspired to create Chicks with Cheques. You know the old saying “if you want something done ask a busy person” and both of these women are busy, very busy. Their ingenuity has resulted in over $140,000.00 being given to the chosen charities. “Chicks” has been a boon to the both the charities and the businesses who have sponsored each event. The event continues to grow by word of mouth as friends invite friends.

We don’t often see people who step up to help others in a selfless way particularly when the time commitment is considerable. Cori, Colleen and a few of their close friends have done just that. They created an opportunity which has helped charities which, in turn, helps so many others.

When I think of Cori and Colleen and the chat they had; their ideas could have simply been dismissed as too much work. They have shown us the gift of giving. As many lament their lack of time, here are two individuals who found the hours to engage in a selfless pursuit.

Thank you Chicks! You inspire us!