Women of Worth Raise Funds to Help Support Women

By Kelly Cannon | [email protected]

Sandy - The roaring ’20s were in full swing during the annual fundraiser for Women of Worth Utah. Held on March 11 at Club 90, this year’s theme was 1920s Monte Carlo where guests tried their luck at various casino games, all for the benefit of local women.

“This is the first time we’ve done the roaring 1920s,” said Judee Guay, a representative of Women of Worth Utah. “We usually have the fundraiser around St. Patrick’s day, so we follow that theme but the board decided to do something different. But we’ve found Utahns love to dress up.”

Tickets cost $25, and with that, guest received playing tickets that were used at the casino games and prize tickets to enter into raffles. These games included poker, blackjack and roulette. If the guests won, they were given prize tickets, which were used to enter into drawings for prizes that were donated by local businesses. The prizes ranged in size with the largest being worth over $10,000. The more tickets the guests entered, the more chances they had to win. Guests also received five extra play tickets if they came to the event in 1920s costumes. 

Additional donations were accepted throughout the night. All of the proceeds went to Women of Worth Utah. Guay said Women of Worth Utah doesn’t have a specific monetary amount goal for the evening but in the past, the group has raised between $3,500 and $4,500. 

This was the primary fundraiser for Women of Worth Utah. At the end of the year, they host a gala event where there is a silent auction. However, that event is more to highlight the change in the lives of the women who have been in the program. 

“You see the transformation these women have gone through,” Guay said. “It’s really for the community to come and learn more about Women of Worth.”

Women of Worth Utah was organized in 2011 to help change the lives of deserving women in the state. Their mission is to empower women to achieve lifelong success after they have overcome abuse, addiction, alcoholism, catastrophic illness, disability or economic hardship, by giving them life skills, confidence tools and finishing touches with total makeovers. Since its inception, it has helped more than 50 women. 

Each woman in the program is paired up with a mentor to help guide them through their process. Often these mentors are women who have been through the program themselves. Workshops are also hosted by Women of Worth Utah that help women realize their worth and their skill sets. The nonprofit organization also provides funds for whatever it is they need, whether it’s secret Santa for their kids or going to business conferences. 

“The funds are available to help them move through their journey, whatever it is,” Guay said. “One woman lost her baby to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or SIDS. We went and purchased the casket for her.” 

Guay said the nonprofit spends over 89 percent of funds on the women with very little spent on overhead costs. 

The funds also help pay for an overnight retreat in January where the women learn more skills and really connect with the other women in the program. 

“It’s a safe space for them to make connections with women,” Guay said. “Their barriers really break down.” 

At the end of the year before the big gala, each woman receives a total makeover to help them realize their outer beauty as well as their inner beauty. 

“It really solidifies who they were meant to be,” Guay said. “It’s amazing to see them branch out.”

For more information about Women of Worth Utah, visit wowutah.org.