A vibrant and diverse group of women in the Williamsport-Lycoming County area gathers their own funds monthly to make donations in support of others in their community.

If you look around the pediatrics department at UPMC Williamsport you will see the power of community support through a wide array of generous donations. A prime example is the well-stocked activities program with stuffed animals, art supplies, books, and more. These wonderful items come courtesy of a group of philanthropic, action-oriented women on a mission to help others. This same group of ladies also heeds the call for funding of the cooling caps program at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center. Over the past 14 years, this organization has continuously offered their community help wherever it is needed.

We Are Women Helping Others (WAWHO), aside from having one of the greatest acronyms in the entire north central Pennsylvania region, is also a female-fueled powerhouse force for good. WAWHO is a volunteer group of women who meet regularly in the Williamsport-Lycoming County area to gather up their own funds with which to make donations in support of others in their community.

“At its core, what we do is so simple, but very much needed,” says WAWHO co-founder Maddi Dunlap. “We pool our money each month and see what requests have come in for help, then we get moving. We are really good at mobilizing quickly to get things done. Our focus is to meet immediate needs.”

A motto they live by: Even small charitable donations can help move the needle to improve the community—it all adds up. “If this happened everywhere, with small groups like ours,” says Maddi, “it could lead to millions of dollars to help those in need.”

As simple as it appears, don’t be fooled by this streamlined model of charitable giving: WAWHO’s impact over the last decade and a half has been huge.

A Brief History of WAWHO

In September 2010 a group of friends decided to come together for the purpose of helping others in need. At that very first meeting to launch their group, they collected small contributions among themselves and made a donation of $57 to Women for Women International. That first gift went toward sponsoring an impoverished female war survivor in Afghanistan, so she could get back on her feet. From these humble beginnings grew an amazing grassroots philanthropy.

“People gather all the time anyway, so this gives us an added rewarding purpose,” notes Maddi. She, along with co-founder Penny Estes, wanted to have a way to make a difference right here, right now. With small donations of roughly $10 to $20 per person each month, these women have done that.

“Many of us were enamored with the book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide [Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn; Knopf, 2009],” says Penny. The book explores the oppression of women all over the world, and the solutions that can help them and their families. “The book became the unofficial springboard for WAWHO,” she adds, inspiring them to actively seek out ways to improve the lives of others. Even through the pandemic, the women gathered via Zoom video calls to raise funds and keep their philanthropic work going.

WAWHO Making a Difference at UPMC Williamsport

In December 2021, the pediatrics department at UPMC Williamsport reached out to WAWHO. The request was for help stocking supplies for the pediatric department children’s activities: art supplies, stuffed animals, toys, and the like. According to Maddi, “We got the request, and WAWHO showed up!” The group immediately set out to collect items to donate, filling the department with wonderful supplies for patients to use to pass the time during their hospital stays.

Not long after that, WAWHO was approached about the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center’s cooling caps program. The caps help patients who are at risk of losing their hair through chemotherapy. In October 2022, WAWHO was able to provide $500 to this program, one that is 100% donor funded, a true gift to patients going through cancer treatments.

In August 2023, WAWHO was back to support the hospital’s pediatric patients. The request this time: $328 in books for the children’s library. “It was a WAWHO moment,” says Maddi. “We looked at each other and knew we had to do this for them. We are all readers, several of us are teachers, and many of us also support the library.”

WAWHO is able to build a network by having people come speak at their meetings about various community needs and charities that might benefit from their support. “We try to make a lot of connections within the community, and we have a pipeline for organizations that need support on a smaller scale,” says Maddi. For instance, Eat Share came to WAWHO seeking support for their program. It arranges meals for patients in need of short-term food assistance after a surgery or health emergency. WAWHO was able to provide funds so that Eat Share’s program could feed more people. “Everybody wins when we can offer help like that,” says Maddi.

Since its humble beginnings, WAWHO has raised more than $77,000 in cash donations, and this does not include the noncash donations, such as purchased toys, books, nonperishable foods, and other items. Maddi estimates that at any given time 20-25 active members are ready to contribute. Attendance at monthly meetings is usually between 12-18 participants. “It’s extraordinary what we can do with each monthly meeting,” says Maddi. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I still am in awe at how quickly we can turn a request for help into action.”

Good Deeds That Reach Far and Wide in the Community

WAWHO’s impact is felt in many corners of the community. Every December, the women bring loose change they have gathered up at home to their last meeting of the year. They count the coins, and then make a food bank donation with the money. Over the course of 14 years, WAWHO has collected more than $3,200 during the holiday season to give to area food banks, so that those in need have access to food and basic supplies through the winter.

Another holiday tradition for WAWHO is their Christmas donation program for the YWCA Northcentral PA’s Liberty House, a permanent supportive housing program for women and their children who are experiencing homelessness. WAWHO helps keep the holiday spirit alive at the shelter by providing gifts and cookies for the mid-December Christmas party put on by the YWCA staff for the families living there.

“We also want to make sure that the moms and women staying there get a special something for Christmas,” says Maddi. “The members of WAWHO make gift bags for each woman staying at the shelter, including things like robes, shower sandals, and other items.” Everything is wrapped up nicely and the gift bags are left at the door for each resident to find on Christmas morning. Over time, other groups have joined in for the holiday donations. “We are tickled to see that the giving spirit is catching on,” says Maddi.

Giving and Growing

Every September, the women hold their annual “State of the WAWHO” meeting. “I love these anniversary events,” says Penny. The women talk about what they’ve accomplished, and what needs are out there currently that they could help fulfill. Requests have come in from all over as WAWHO’s reputation has grown, and word of mouth has reached the far corners of the region. Penny says that beyond WAWHO’s growth as a philanthropic group, each member has grown individually as well. In Penny’s sage words, “Once you know how powerful your help can be, how could you go back to not helping people in need?”

Interested in Connecting With WAWHO?

If you are interested in learning more about WAWHO, please contact Maddi Dunlap at madwoman951@gmail.com.