Celebration and inspiration are on the menu of the Women’s Fund El Dorado (WFED) Annual Celebration Dinner set for Thursday evening, Oct. 8. “We invite everyone to join us in celebrating the power of collective giving exemplified by the Women’s Fund and to hear our inspiring speaker, Placerville City Council member and community leader Wendy Thomas,” said Cathy Bean, WFED chair.

The event is open to the public and will take place from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. at the Forni Building at the El Dorado County Fairgrounds, Placerville. Tickets must be purchased in advance; the $25 price ($30 after Oct. 1) includes a buffet dinner. For more information and to reserve tickets visit womensfundeldorado.org/events/ or call 530-622-5621. A highlight of the evening is the imaginative table settings crafted by WFED members who volunteer to decorate.

Keynoter Wendy Thomas will speak on “Blessing What We Have,” a talk that is sure to inspire attendees to “celebrate the goodness at hand.”

Thomas’s local roots run deep; her family settled here in 1850 and for the past six generations has served the city through business endeavors and community work. Born in Placerville, she raised her two daughters here while serving as a small business owner for over 24 years and enjoying a career as a professional artist.  A “personal renaissance” prompted her to run and gain election to the Placerville City Council in 2010, and she went on to serve two terms as mayor. In 2014 she was honored by Assemblyman Frank Bigelow as “Woman of the Year” for Assembly District 5.  She is a member of Class XV of the American Leadership Forum, and is a board member at Marshall Medical Center.

Thomas has been a WFED member for the past five years, citing as personal examples her mother and grandmother, who demonstrated the value of helping women to be strong and proactive in their own lives.  She now works to mirror that with husband Dennis in their blended family of four children and two grandchildren as her life “has been infinitely blessed by this legacy.” 

Women’s Fund El Dorado is a collective giving organization that is open to all for a donation of $200 a year or more. Funds collected are pooled and leveraged in the form of grants, voted on by members, which support community philanthropy to enhance the quality of life on the western slope of El Dorado County. In June 2015, it granted nearly $60,000 to six local nonprofits, bringing the total awarded to more than $350,000 since its founding in 2007. The organization also awards Wickline Scholarships to help women overcome challenges and return to college. WFED’s endowment now exceeds $340,000.

More than 400 members strong, WFED has entrusted the El Dorado Community Foundation with overseeing its endowment fund and investments to ensure diversified income and longevity.

For more about the organization, visit womensfundeldorado.org or call 530-622-5621.