'Women Who Give a Hoot' surprises Triangle non-profits with thousands at each meeting

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- A group of women in the Triangle meets once a quarter as members of Women Who Give A Hoot and each time they meet, a Triangle non-profit walks away with thousands of dollars.

"We're Women Who Give A Hoot," explained co-founder of the Raleigh chapter, Kristy Blasey. "Basically, we are women who have limited time but want to give back to the community in a way that is meaningful, so, on a quarterly basis, we listen to three non-profits speak and at the end of the night, we all vote. And, the non-profit with the most votes walks away with 100 bucks from each woman."

With about 200 women meeting, the donations add up to sizeable checks.

"Sometimes, we have 15 thousand, sometimes we have 20 thousand dollars, but on average, we're anywhere from 14 thousand to 20 thousand," Blasey explained. "Our highest donation is 25 thousand dollars and that was to Fill Your Bucket."

The group grew as a grassroots movement across the nation, now there are Women Who Give A Hoot chapters around the world including Men and children groups.

Each time a member joins the group, that individual puts the name of three non-profits into a bucket. Each quarter, three names are drawn randomly to pitch the group. Blasey says donors have become volunteers at non-profits and those who run non-profits have joined Hoot.

"My 100 dollars might not make much of a difference at one place," Blasey said. "But, collectively, a group of 100 or 150 women you can make so much more of an impact. And, being able to do that, its a group of women doing this for fun but we're getting so much back."

Blasey says the two non-profits who do not walk away with the big check don't walk away empty-handed thanks to local sponsors.

Women Who Give A Hoot has chapters in Raleigh or Durham/Chapel Hill and will meet in March. Click here for more information.