The Power of Women was celebrated Thursday, Nov. 8 as more than 100 Pearls and guests gathered for the annual grant awarding.

This year, Pearls awarded seven local organizations $32,030, funding programs providing assistance to women and children. In total, Pearls have granted $277,012 to Davie organizations over the past nine years.

After lunch, Tara Wallace-Boone, success coach and instructor for an upcoming COPE event, spoke first-hand about situational poverty and how real it can be. Grants were then presented and agency representatives spoke about their projects, organizations and the impact Pearls grants are making.

The 2018 Pearls of Empowerment grant recipients:

• Big Brothers Big Sisters Services: The Big Buddy Club – $1,000;

• Davie Center for Violence Prevention: Client Transportation – $1,000;

• The Dragonfly House Children’s Advocacy Center: Compassionate and Resilient Schools Implementation – $5,030;

• Davie Pregnancy Care Center: Earn While You Learn Program – $2,500;

• Family Promise of Davie County: Family Promise Case Management Program – $10,000;

• Just HOPE, Inc.: Women LEAD Program – $ 5,000; and

• Smart Start of Davie County: Lena Home Program – $7,500.

Pearls of Empowerment is a women’s giving circle organized under the Davie Community Foundation. Pearls is open to women of all ages and backgrounds. Once you become a Pearl, you choose your level of involvement as you come together with women from all over Davie to make a positive difference in the lives of women and children.

For more information, visit www.daviefoundation.org/pearls  or contact Debbie Koontz, program manager, at the foundation.