Georgian Bay Gals Give recently raised $41,000 for two local charities: Southern Georgian Bay Airboat Rescue and EarlyOn’s Emergency Baby Needs Depot
A women’s philanthropic group has now given away nearly $500,000 since its inception in 2018.
GBay Gals Give recently held its spring event at Brooklea Golf and Country Club with more than 90 local women attending to help raise $41,000 for two local charities.
The donations will be split between Southern Georgian Bay Airboat Rescue, which received $21,150, and EarlyOn’s Emergency Baby Needs Depot, which took home $20,750.
“The energy in the room was over the top,” organizing committee member Michelle Mink told MidlandToday.
“Hearing from the charities and their gratitude to our members certainly tugged at all our hearts.”
The airboat rescue initiative was started in 2021 when on a single winter’s day, three snowmobilers died in the waters around Midland.
And with two of those sledders, a father and son, dying near her home in Victoria Harbour, Christina Wood knew she had to do something.
With the help of her best friend, and one of the first responders on the scene of the accident, the Southern Georgian Bay Airboat Rescue committee was formed. The committee aims to raise funds to purchase an all-season rescue airboat for the area since no local municipalities or fire departments currently own one.
The emergency baby needs depot, meanwhile, is connected to EarlyON Child and Family Centre Simcoe North’s Midland branch, which offers programs for parents and caregivers of children prenatal to six years of age which can assist in their parenting or caregiver role.
The initial launch of Gbay Gals Give was June 7th, 2018 at the Midland Golf and Country Club with members donating $24,000 to Georgian Bay General Hospital.
Since then, the group has supported a number of worthy causes, including the CLH Foundation, Hospice Huronia, the Guesthouse Shelter, Salvation Army, Huronia Transition Homes, the Georgian Bay Cancer Support Centre, Warm and Cozy and the Georgian Bay Food Network.
“Our next giving event will be in October at the Midland Legion,” Mink said. “They have graciously opened their doors to host us.”
Group members meet twice a year, spring and fall, with participants asked to donate $200 each time. They have approximately 200 members, but are always looking for more.
Anyone interested in learning more about the group can email [email protected] or visit their website.
