Cape Cod Foundation Launches SHEro Giving Event to Benefit The Women and Girls Fund

South Yarmouth—The Cape Cod Foundation recently launched its Annual SHEro Giving Event to benefit The Women and Girls Fund. The Foundation established the fund in 2022 to build resources to support women and girls across Cape Cod now and in the future.

“Only 1.9% of all charitable giving in the United States is directed specifically to nonprofits serving women and girls,” said Foundation President and CEO Kristin O’Malley. “Eighteen percent of all households on the Cape are headed by women. Eighty-two percent of single-parent households with children are headed by women. They earn about 50% less than what single fathers do. Their median income is $29,372, and 27% of those households are living below the federal poverty level.”

O’Malley said that, while the statistics are sobering, by building resources and a community of support for women and girls, the Foundation can fund broad-scale initiatives that lead to regional, systemic change.

Since the fund’s inception, the Foundation has raised $635,322 toward its $1 million goal and has distributed $154,000 in grants to 14 nonprofit organizations serving women and girls.

“Our early grantmaking has focused on funding initiatives that increase economic opportunity and self-sufficiency for women through trainings and educational programs and break down barriers for girls by providing new, expanded, or more accessible educational opportunities, out-of-school programs, and mentorship opportunities,” said O’Malley.  “We’ve also invested in initiatives that connect women and girls to critical resources.”

Some of the initiatives the Foundation has funded include:

• The Be BOLD Mentoring Program for 4^th grade girls in Falmouth schools spearheaded by the award-winning VIPS (Volunteers in Public Schools) Program.
• English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes offered through the Canaan Seventh Day Adventist Church
• Hope Squad, a youth suicide prevention program, now offered in 14 schools across Cape Cod.
• Threads, a sewing program offered through LatinX in Action that provides vocational training for immigrant women

To learn more about or to donate to The Women and Girls Fund, visit capecodfoundation.org or contact Kristin O’Malley at 508.790.3040 or komalley@capecodfoundation.org

The Cape Cod Foundation is a community foundation whose mission is to build permanent charitable resources for community betterment through informed grantmaking and civic leadership. Founded in 1989, the organization celebrated its 35^th Anniversary in 2024. Since inception, the Foundation has distributed more than $115 million in scholarships to local students and grants to nonprofit organizations.