The "150 Women Who Care" fundraiser held its first, and last, day of ticket sales earlier this week.

Mandy Dubois with the Community Foundation of Portage and District says they received overwhelming support, with the phones ringing non-stop when the tickets were put up for sale. She notes, ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there's always a little bit of doubt whether or not you'll garner any interest.

"In these days, you're never sure if people are going to be comfortable or if people are going to want to do this," explains Dubois. "It's been two years since we've been in person with this event, so it feels like we're starting all over again. To see 150 plus women who want to care in our community and come out and support this event really shows that they are so interested in hearing what's going on in our community."

She says since they first started organizing the event four years ago, it has been very well received. She explains the women appreciate the chance to learn more about some of the problems in Portage and the challenges some of the groups face. Dubois adds it's what the event is all about, plus it's similar to some of the things the Foundation does. 

For the event, five non-profits will present to the 150 women about why they deserve the $10,000 in funding. The women would then vote on who that money goes to.

"I think the exposure that all five non-profits get (is important)," says Dubois. "The women really learn about their organization, learn about the needs, so after the event, all five non-profits will have women from the audience calling them."

The non-profits that will be attending the event will be announced on March 11th, and the event will take place on April 7th.