Thank you notes from Feed Lake Highlands to 100 Women of LH
Update: The More Like Wynne Foundation was selected as this season’s first recipient. The nonprofit was created after the devastaing Hill Country floods of July 4 which took the lives of several young girls at Camp Mystic, including Lake Highlands Elementary student Wynne Naylor. You may give directly to the foundation via this link.
Veronica Tackett teaches biology at Lake Highlands High School and stays busy shuttling her first- and fifth-grade daughters to Girl Scouts, basketball, choir, dance, tennis and rock climbing. If her name sounds familiar, you may know her husband, Jimmy Tackett, Wildcat football’s offensive line coach. So, after the long day is over, she comes home, makes dinner and puts her feet up to relax, right?
Nope. She’s the new president of 100 Women of Lake Highlands — a group she joined in 2018.
“My family doesn’t live in Lake Highlands, but we are heavily invested in the community,” she told me. “I had been the Beta Club sponsor at the Lake Highlands Freshman Center, and when the high school combined both buildings, that went away. I had worked a lot with local nonprofit organizations for food and toy drives in the past and had come across some other nonprofit organizations that didn’t seem to be widely publicized. I heard about 100 Women of Lake Highlands and thought that would be a great way to stay connected with this amazing community and all of the nonprofit organizations here.”
Tackett remembers emailing the group’s membership chair to make sure she could participate even though she didn’t reside within LH’s official boundaries. The response was quick and emphatic — join us!
“This organization is for anyone who lives, works or loves this community,” said Tackett. “The group does a great job of exposing our members to what is happening in our neighborhood and showing them what the community needs. I was brought into the board in 2021 when Jennifer Whitaker became president. We had previously worked together at Lake Highlands High School and kept in touch. She thought I would bring a different perspective to the board since I was a teacher in the area.”
Veronica and Jimmy Tackett and daughters
The premise of 100 Women is simple — members attend meetings and send donations directly to nonprofits via check or electronic app. Leaders from various charitable organizations make their pitch, and members vote to select one recipient each quarter. 100 Women is known for inviting busy women and respecting their time — there are no service hours to document or points to earn.
“Women do a lot,” Tackett said. “I think this organization is great because we recognize that women want to give and make a difference in the community they live and work in. We might be splitting our time between so many things, but when it is a meeting day, everyone is so excited to see other members and hear all about what is going on in the community. I love seeing how many members are able to make it out at each meeting, because it means that they rearranged their busy schedules and made it a priority just to be there.”
The toughest part of participating is choosing just one beneficiary out of all the deserving applicants. After hearing their presentations, though, some members end up volunteering with or giving to groups not selected on their own.
“I really do love reading the beneficiary applications before the meeting and hearing the pitches at the general meeting,” Tackett said. “It is hard saying no, and we always hope that an organization who doesn’t get chosen that night will apply the next time. The members ask great questions when we do the 10-minute Q & A session. Members will ask questions like, ‘What happens if you don’t receive the funding from 100 Women of Lake Highlands?’ Sometimes an organization doesn’t have any other monetary options, and it can be really tough to say no then. It is also great to see how the funds they receive at the meeting are used in the community.”
100 Women deliver shoes to Skyview Elementary in 2022
Previous recipients have included Feed Lake Highlands, CHEW Animal Clinic, the Warren Center, Soles for Souls, Forerunner Mentoring, To Be Like Me and many others. Neighborhood schools and booster clubs have also received funds.
“I love seeing the Forerunner van parked outside of Lake Highlands Middle School each afternoon or coming across the Feed Lake Highlands Bookmobile,” Tackett said. “It is so exciting to see advertisements for Market in the Meadow, knowing that our financial contribution helped secure Forest Meadow Middle School for this returning event. The students at Lake Highlands High School love Fresh Fruit Fridays too! I see the direct impact of our initial contribution that helped fuel that new initiative on my campus. Students love coming to school on Fridays and picking out some fruit to start their day.”
Members meet three times each school year and contribute $100 each time. The group currently has more than 100 members, but their goal is 200 so that each beneficiary receives checks totaling $20,000. Meetings begin at 6 p.m. at the Kaycee Club with a happy hour social, and business gets started at 7. New and returning members should complete this online membership form, and the first selection meeting of the year is Oct. 7.
Beneficiary application forms are now available online here, but groups should act quickly — forms are due tomorrow/Sept. 30. For questions email 100WLH@gmail.com.
The Kaycee Club is at 10110 Shoreview Drive.
