2019 Heels Together Investors’ Banquet
Heels Together celebrated our 5th year of women helping women and awarded $25,000 in grants to two nonprofit organizations at our annual Investors’ Banquet.
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College and the Hardin County Attorney’s Office were presented grants at the fifth annual Heels Together Investors’ Banquet, which was held Oct. 24, 2019, at the Home of Philanthropy. It was our first event in our new building.
Receiving the most votes, Elizabethtown Community and Technical College was awarded $15,000 for its Camp Forge Ahead. The program will allow middle school girls from Elizabethtown Independent and Hardin County schools to participate in a week-long immersive program of traditionally male-dominated career paths, including welding, advanced manufacturing, automotive and diesel IT, and agriculture.
“We were thrilled to be invited and humbled witnessing such a deeply passionate, caring group of women being catalysts for improving the lives of girls/women in this community,” said Stacy Westover, ECTC’s Director of Grants and Contracts. “We cannot adequately say thank you for the $15,000 for our Camp Forge Ahead. Through the camp, we hope to continue the tradition of excellence by inspiring local middle school girls to explore traditionally male career paths. With a growing demand in these fields locally, we want more women to choose them as a career pathway.”
The Hardin County Attorney’s Office placed second in the voting. They were awarded $10,000 for its Breaking the Silence on Dating Violence program. The initiative seeks to end dating violence by sending a victim advocate into classrooms throughout Hardin County to provide information to middle and high school students on definitions of dating violence, how to identify dating violence, and what to do when they or someone they know is experiencing dating violence.
“We didn’t have resources for this program, so we thought of Heels Together and it was a perfect marriage,” Hardin County Attorney Jenny Oldham said. “I was just excited I could tell a staff member, ‘I know how you can make this happen,’ and it worked.’”
The grant awards were made possible by 50 local women who make a $1,000 annual gift to support initiatives, such as the ones awarded at the banquet, that benefit women and girls. Heels Together investors have now granted $110,000 in the past 5 years and grown our endowment to $145,000!
“By helping to serve these girls, these programs will not only benefit the girls receiving assistance, but their families and communities will as well,” said Davette B. Swiney, president and CEO of Central Kentucky Community Foundation. “We know that when women and girls thrive, communities prosper, and that is why we are passionate about Heels Together.”
Investors also heard from 2018 grant recipients – The Community Health Clinic and Warm Blessings. The Community Health Clinic’s Women’s Health Initiative was able to provide clinical care and advocacy for 486 women and coordinated and provided 2,023 women’s care visits. Warm Blessings was able to provide 598 rides to 54 women for them to travel to and from jobs through its Ride to Independence program.