Cumberland Women Flex Their Muscles at Power of the Purse Event Featuring Roy Williams

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Written by JANICE BURTON

Over the past 60 years, the role of women in our society has changed dramatically. Many women have traded in their ironing boards for seats in the board room. With that shift, women have taken on a new role in the global community.   According to an article in Forbes, women now control more than half of the private wealth in the U.S. and make 80 percent of all purchases. Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy has found that women will inherit 70 percent of the $41 trillion in intergenerational wealth transfer expected over the next 40 years. In addition to controlling wealth and consumer activity, women tend to donate more of their wealth than men do. A Barclay’s Wealth study titled Tomorrow’s Philanthropist, released in July 2009, showed that women in the U.S. give an average of 3.5 percent of their wealth to charity, while men give an average of 1.8 percent.   But before you get excited and start thinking these women have the money to give away, it’s important to note that who is giving is also changing.   Private foundations and public charities dedicated to fundraising by and for women and girls have grown at a faster rate than giving by the overall foundation community. A report conducted by the Foundation Center and Women’s Funding Network found that from 2004-2006, giving by women’s funds grew 24 percent. The study found that charitable giving by women, directly or through women’s funds, focuses on improving the quality of life and opportunity for girls and women. It also suggests a growing interest in philanthropic models that allowdonors to leverage and pool their charitable dollars in order to achieve maximum impact.   That idea has been firmly embraced in Cumberland County by the women who make up the Women’s Giving Circle of Cumberland County. Operating as a contibuting agency of the Cumberland Community Foundation, the organization seeks to:    • Empower women givers of all ages and backgrounds.   • Educate donors on women’s issues in our community.   • Impact substantial, positive change for women and children throughout Cumberland County by pooling financial resources.   The circle is “committed to educating its members on pressing social issues affecting women and children in Cumberland County.”    This is how it works: Each member of the circle contributes a $550 annual gift; $400 is immediately placed in the grant-making fund; $100 is placed in the endowment; and $50 is added to the program and operating expense fund. To ensure the continuity of the circle, members are asked to pledge an annual commitment of $550 for three years.   Additionally, the circle also hosts some fundraising events. On Thursday, Sept. 8, the circle will host a Power of the Purse Luncheon featuring University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Head Basketball Coach Roy Williams. Tickets to the event, which will be held at 11:30 a.m. at the Snyder Memorial Baptist Church Fellowship Hall are $75. To reserve a seat for the luncheon, please send a check to WGCCC, P. O. Box 2345, Fayetteville, N.C. 28302, payable to the Women’s Giving Circle of Cumberland County. Reservations will be accepted through Aug. 31 or until sold out. For questions about reservations, please call 910-818-3840.

UNC's Roy Williams keynotes luncheon in Fayetteville (Fayetteville Observer 9/9/2011)

 

http://m.fayobserver.com/articles?path=/articles/2011/09/09/1121378

Roy Williams has shared the tale before. But, hey, what's one more telling if the message can help someone new?

As the keynote speaker Wednesday at the "Power of the Purse" luncheon put on by the Women's Giving Circle of Cumberland County, Williams felt compelled to rewind to the spring of 1988, to the moment he got his big break in college coaching.

It came courtesy of the late Dr. Bob Frederick, then the athletic director at Kansas. Frederick was in charge of hiring a new coach to replace the departed Larry Brown, and he admired Williams' ambition and vision. Frederick also had a heartfelt endorsement for Williams from Dean Smith.

Still, the 37-year-old Williams was an unknown commodity hoping to take control of one of the nation's most prestigious programs, a fact not lost on Frederick's wife, Margie, who Williams says made it a point to second-guess her husband's judgment.

"You're going to hire that no-name assistant from North Carolina, aren't you?" Margie asked.

When Bob Frederick confirmed his intentions, Margie could shook her head.

"This could be the end of your career," she said.

Williams laughs at his good fortune. He has won 643 games as a head coach at Kansas and North Carolina since then, been to seven Final Fours, and captured two national championships. Yet, he still openly wonders which way might his journey have gone without the belief Frederick had in him.

"I'll never forget until the last day that I breathe that Bob gave me a chance," Williams said Wednesday.

Given that chance and so many other opportunities throughout his life, Williams has always made it a point to give back, to pay his good fortune forward.

That's what brought the Hall of Fame coach to Snyder Memorial Baptist Church in Haymount on Wednesday, an opportunity to help raise money for a charitable organization that hopes to educate the community on the hardships many women and children in Cumberland County face - from homelessness to hunger to health care inadequacies.

Positive energy

Before delivering his 45-minute address, Williams explained his purpose.

"For me, the philanthropy work I try to do isn't just about giving money, it's about giving time," he said. "I know through life I've been very, very fortunate. And that's helped me to understand I can always give to help somebody else. With my book ("Hard Work") and when I speak, my enjoyment comes from getting through in a way where people tell me they've been inspired. You never can underestimate how what you say or what you do might affect someone."

Alisa Debnam, one of the founding members of the WGCCC, expressed great appreciation for Williams' words. Debnam said she worked for almost a year to coordinate schedules with Williams to bring him to the "Power of the Purse" event.

"It was well worth the wait," Debnam said. "It's impossible not to be inspired by his message, understanding how to be appreciative of what you have and to always have a focus on giving back."
Amy Perko, once a colleague of Williams' at Kansas and now the executive director of the Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics, proved instrumental in securing Williams for the luncheon.
Perko, the former president of the NBA Development League's Fayetteville Patriots, said she has long admired Williams' drive and unselfishness.

"His is a story of giving and inspiration and how one person can make a big difference in somebody else's life," she said.

'I felt so blessed'

Williams easily pinpoints the people who made the biggest difference in his life. They were all, he says, giving in their own way.

Frederick gave him a chance.

Buddy Baldwin, Williams' high school coach at T.C. Roberson in Asheville, gave him confidence and an incentive to choose coaching as his life path.

"He made me feel like I could do something," Williams said. "And he did that so well that after my ninth grade year, that summer, I decided I wanted to be a coach. That was it. I never thought about being anything else. I never wanted to be anything else. And the reason is because of how good he made me feel."

Of course, Williams' mother Lallage gave, too, providing him invaluable lessons on sacrifice and devotion.

Throughout a tumultuous childhood, with an alcoholic, absentee dad and the family's financial situation unstable, Williams says he was always given what every kid deserves: a mother who was proud of him and taught him to always be generous.

"My mother was an angel," Williams said. "We were one step away from homeless three or four different times when I was growing up. But I felt so blessed. I really did. I didn't think in terms that it was a bad situation. Because she loved me. ... And that was the only thing that mattered to me."

Staff writer Dan Wiederer can be reached at wiedererd@fayobserver.com or 486-3536.