When the Women’s Board of Pittsburgh makes a commitment to help, it follows through.
The Fox Chapel-based group’s annual fundraiser has brought in more than $1.6 million to support the welfare of children – but members make it a point to keep tabs on past beneficiaries, too.
One special way is to do a special holiday project, President Susan Boyle said.
This winter, the Women’s Board played Santa for the local group Backpack for Hunger, which helps feed students in the Fox Chapel Area School District.
The group donated food, money and grocery store gift cards.
Backpack President Lisa Bowden said the help was particularly important this year.
“Currently, we have more students than ever before who need food,” Bowden said. “Our program is much more expensive to run because food prices are so high now.”
Costs to provide healthy sandwiches and grab and go items are nearly $62,000 a year.
Established in 2015, Backpack distributes more than 9,100 sacks of food to students in all grade levels — more than 800 students qualify for the free or reduced lunch program at Fox Chapel Area.
Although there are communities of wealth, it is considered one of the most socioeconomically diverse in the state.
The program works to combat food insecurity during times when students are not in school – weekends, evenings and summer.
Since its inception, the initiative has given out more than 85,000 bags of food.
“When we first received support from the Women’s Board, it was during the pandemic and children were not in school,” Bowden said. “So many in our community needed assistance since they were not able to have school breakfast and lunch. The generous donations in December meant so much to us and allowed us to do more to help the children.”
Laurin Moore, Women’s Board grants chair, said the reasons are two-fold for the group remaining connected to past beneficiaries.
“The first is that many of our beneficiaries are grassroots organizations that continue to need more funding as they become more established,” Moore said. “We love to continue to support these organizations as they expand their reach within our communities.”
The second reason is that many organizations continue to add more programs and projects to support the development and welfare of children.
“Staying connected allows us to be aware of these new programs that are available to help the children in our area,” she said.
The Women’s Board fundraiser dates to the early 1990s.
Last year’s event, hosted at Fox Chapel Golf Club, was dubbed “Sunset Safari, Fashion Their Future: Support Pittsburgh’s Children.”
It was one of its most successful fundraisers, bringing in more than $98,000 to be shared by Fox Families Care and Grow Pittsburgh.
Fox Families Care bridges the gap between the needs of families and sometimes-limited budgets by providing services such as emergency grants for clothes, shoes, school supplies and camp scholarships.
Grow Pittsburgh is a group that supports food-growing initiatives as a way to improve the social, economic and health conditions of youths and teaches children to grow food by building gardens in schools and communities.
In 2023, the benefit called Springtime in Paris brought in more than $83,000 to benefit four area groups: Earthen Vessels Outreach, Foster Love Project, Joy Riders and the Will Allen Foundation.
For more information about the Women’s Board of Pittsburgh or to become involved, visit wbpgh.org.