DOWAGIAC — While the group is still shy of enlisting the number of members in its name, that fact has not lessened the tremendous impact the Cass County 100 Women Who Care has made to the lives of people across the community.

Earlier this month, members of the local service organization voted to make a contribution to the Niles Salvation Army, which provides financial, food and other assistance to families in Cass County through its Dowagiac office. The local Salvation Army branch’s annual Red Kettle Campaign fell massively short of its $115,000 goal last month, which has threatened to reduce the number of people its members will be able to provide aid to over the coming year.

After hearing about the plight of the charity, the ladies with 100 Women Who Care did what comes natural to them.

“[The Salvation Army] desperately needed some help — and we jumped in to do so,” said Kim MacGregor, president and founding member of the organization.

So far, 100 Women Who Care members have donated more than $2,600 to the Niles nonprofit, a figure that MacGregor expects to nearly double when women who reside south for the winter mail their checks to the Salvation Army, she said.

The Salvation Army was one of three nonprofits the group considered donating to during its first meeting of the new year last week at the Cass County Council on Aging. Members also listened to presentations from the Dowagiac Ladies Library Association and Cassopolis Main Street committee, MacGregor said.

The 100 Women Who Care donated to the Niles Salvation Army three years ago, where the members’ contributions helped keep the nonprofit operating over the winter, MacGregor said.

“Being able to make that kind of difference is huge,” she said.

Over the past several years, Cass County women have written checks to several other causes throughout the area, including Cassopolis’ Sam Adams Elementary School food program, the Marcellus Township Library and Dowagiac’s Southwestern Michigan College Foundation, MacGregor said.

MacGregor, a financial advisor with Edward Jones, got the idea of forming a 100 Women Who Care chapter in Cass County after attending a training seminar in 2013, where one of the instructors told her and a group of other women about the difference the organization had made in Kalamazoo. After returning home, MacGregor got in touch with a group of five others civic-minded women — Eileen Toney, Karen Judd, Joan Lyons, Susan Dobrich and Ordeana Sala — to create the Cass County organization.

The group meets four times a year, where they listen to presentations from three nonprofits that benefit residents of Cass County, whose names are drawn from a hat at the start of the meeting. After listening to the pitches, the women vote on which organization they wish to donate to.

Each women is asked to donate $100 to the chosen nonprofit, though multiple members may partner to make a single $100 donation, MacGregor said.

This fall, the local 100 Women Who Care group will turn 5 years old. MacGregor — who continues to work alongside the other founding members of the group — said that volunteering with the organization is one of the most rewarding things she has ever done.

“I still get goosebumps during meetings,” MacGregor said. “It’s touching and important that we continue to do this. All the women are committed to this, to making our community a better place to live, work and play.”

In a time when many service organizations face dwindling membership, MacGregor said the Cass County 100 Women Who Care continues to grow, with between one and five new ladies attending each meeting. Right now, the organization has around 50 members among its ranks, a figure that MacGregor would like to see swell to 100 in the years to come.

“Together, we are making a difference,” she said. “We would love to have more people get involved in making that difference.”

The group will host its next meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 18, at the Bonine House, 18970 M-60, Vandalia. Women interested in joining the organization or who want to learn more are welcome to attend, MacGregor said.