Laura Hart-Special to the Sun

An elegant luncheon on Sept. 13 at the Family Life Center in Wofford Heights from The event will run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. will be the backdrop for an informational gathering celebrating the second year of the Women's and Girls' Fund of Kern County.

The theme for the event is “women working hand in hand to make a difference in the lives of women throughout the community.” The program, which was publicly launched in May 2005, is a permanent endowment fund. Earnings from the fund will be directed in the form of grants to women's and girls' programs throughout Kern County.

What is unique to the program is the opportunity for women to become active philanthropists who will have a vote in how the grants are distributed from the endowment.

By donating $1,000, women, men and organizations can become “founders” who can actively participate in the program. Founders are also recognized in perpetuity, meaning if they give $1,000 this year, they are still a founder ad infinitum.

“A founder helps guide the decisions of the Women's and Girl's Fund. They do that by voting on annual issues in which grants will be given,” said Judi McCarthy, who sits on the Kern Community Foundation board which created and oversees the Women's and Girl's Fund. “And also by participating in the grant's committee if they want to.”

To become a founder, one must contribute the $1,000 donation by 2010, which is known as the “founder's period.”

McCarthy said, this gives people the opportunity to make payments on the donation and also allows more time for word to reach people in the outlying communities in Kern County.

Some of the founders in the Kern River Valley include: Pamela Ott, Kern Valley Hospital CEO; Jeanette Rogers, Community Outreach Coordinator for the Kern Valley Healthcare District; Dr. Holly Spohn-Gross, DPM; and Kern Valley Sun editorial assistant Cathy Perfect and her daughter, Amber Siratt.

Organizations in the community, such as the South Fork Women's Club and Wings, are also founders. Organizations that become founders also have the privilege of voting, but it counts as only one vote.

Donations are always accepted in any amount, McCarthy said, but the one-time $1,000 contribution to become a founder ends in 2010.

McCarthy said much work and research was put into creating the “special interest fund,” and she hopes to be able to deliver the first grants in May of 2008.

With a goal of obtaining $250,000 for its endowment by June of 2007, McCarthy said they are well on their way to reaching the mark. “There is currently $210,000 raised so far.”

The event will feature guest speakers Jean Fuller, state assembly candidate; Dr. Anne Benvenuti, who was instrumental in the early formation of the KRV Cerro Coso College campus; and McCarthy, who chairs the fund and will update the audience as to its progress.

Robin Mangarin, news anchor with KGET-TV in Bakersfield, will be the emcee at the luncheon.

The lunch, which includes artichoke chicken and lemon layer cake, will be catered by Hodel's of Bakersfield.

Tickets cost $25 per person or a group or organization can sponsor a table for $200.

For ticket information, call Jeanette Rogers at 376-1411 or Nancy Puckett at 379-2556.