The Thompson Badminton Club is on a better financial footing thanks to a $6,900 donation from 100 Women Who Care Thompson on Feb. 7.
The club received the most votes at 100 Women’s December meeting, where representatives explained that they would use the money to buy equipment, cover gym rental fees and sponsor some at-risk youth to join.
Receiving nearly $7,000 makes the club more sustainable, says one of its organizers, Todd Harwood, who accepted the donation from 100 Women Who Care alongside fellow club member Adam Morin.
“We’ve been battling to cover gym fees,” said Harwood, explaining that the club plans to sponsor up to five youth who couldn’t otherwise afford to join the club each year for the next few years.
There are about 40 paid members of the club and numerous other people pay the $5 drop-in fee to come out and play during the club’s regular evening badminton sessions. However, due to the low cost of memberships and the rising costs of everything, making sure the club breaks even can be tough.
“Shuttles have increased [in cost], racquets have increased dramatically,” says Morin. “The cost of facilities continues to increase and everything just gets expensive.”
It only costs $200 to join the club for a season, much less than some other sports and activities for youth that are offered in Thompson.
“We’d like to be able to stay affordable,” Morin says. “We know it’s not sustainable forever, but if we can be as cheap as we can for as long as we can, we’d like to. This just kind of helps with that.”
Since March 2016, 100 Women Who Care Thompson, a group of about 70 women at present who contribute $100 per individual or group four times a year and vote on who to give it to, has handed out donations to a variety of recipients.
To learn more about 100 Women Who Care Thompson, or possibly become a member, visit their website, Facebook page or send them an email at 100womenthompson@gmail.com.
