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By STAFF REPORTS

For the second year in a row, The Women’s Business Council (WBC) took on a service project in the spirit of giving back to the Shelby County community. The WBC collected over 100 gift cards benefiting Second Shift.

Second Shift is a local nonprofit that assists individuals who age out of the foster care system by providing support in many ways including emergency assistance in the form of a gift card or other non-currency provisions.

“We are so grateful for the abundance of gift cards and cash donations,” said Tammy Spence, founder and executive director of Second Shift. “Often a gift card for groceries or gas will be enough to maintain stability and prevent unemployment and homelessness. The gift (WBC has) given will help us to help many young people well into 2022.”

The WBC is preparing to enter its third year as 2021 comes to an end. Although in-person meetings were on-hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WBC continued its growth and met virtually with featured speakers each month.

The group got back to in-person meetings with a two-year celebration in August 2021.

“We’ve been lucky to have so much support from the group,” said Jordan Powell, the Chamber’s vice president of investor relations.

The WBC’s presentations have included: an Economic Development Panel featuring women from 58 INC, the City of Pelham; our three Shelby County Main Street Directors; Kendall Williams, Shelby County’s Manager of Tourism & Events; and during the December Holiday meeting from the impact agents for change at Blanket Fort Hope whose mission is to restore hope in the lives of child sex trafficking survivors through access to essential services, compassionate care and a loving Christian witness.

“It is amazing we have such a diverse group of women, from so many different professionals and backgrounds that all come together to participate in our meetings,” said incoming 2022 WBC Chair Glyna Humm, owner of Fusion One Marketing.

“We learn so much from each other and each meeting provides such great interaction with networking opportunities and inspiring presenters,” Humm said. “We may come from many different backgrounds, but we all believe in helping each other and joining together to give back to our community through our service projects. It is my pleasure to be a member of such an inspiring group of women and it is my honor to be the incoming WBC Chair for 2022.”

To participate in future WBC meetings and programs, contact Pari Barzegari, Vice President of Community and Career Development with The Shelby County Chamber, at Pari@shelbychamber.org .