On Friday, Aug. 16, board members from Circle Ranch received a $12,800 check from Local Philanthropic organization 100+ Women Who Care Lake Country. This generous donation will assist Circle Ranch in fulfilling its mission of providing better homes and care for foster children in Georgia. 

Circle Ranch’s mission to give foster children a loving, stable and healthy environment has tugged at the heartstrings of individuals and organizations all over Georgia’s Lake Country and its surrounding communities. After hearing a moving presentation by Noreen Rivers of a compilation of foster children’s personal life experiences, the Lake Country chapter of 100 Women Who Care saw fit to choose Circle Ranch as the recipient of their quarterly donation.

100 Women Who Care is a National Foundation with chapters all over the United States; their mission is to unify women within communities in order to give back to local charities. Each chapter gives quarterly donations throughout the year using installments of $100 from each member. This results in one large quarterly donation of $10,000 or more that is given to a local charity of their choice. 

The Lake Country chapter of 100 Women Who Care was founded in 2017. Their current Steering Committee includes Rebecca Prance, Nancy Marshall, and Maggie Combs, as well as Pam Lancaster and Ansley Vinson, who are recent additions. They currently have 125+ dedicated women whose generosity has become a beacon of light within Georgia’s Lake Country. 

Circle Ranch was founded by Lake Country resident Jody Sandwick and began as a hope of fulfilling a desperate need. In the last few years, this service area has lost nearly half of its foster homes, and there are currently only two local private facilities. The number of children trapped in the flawed foster system is growing at an alarming rate, with many children suffering from abuse and neglect. This growing need led to the dream of Circle Ranch, a Christ-centered vision of hope to give children a loving, stable, and healthy environment to help them heal and reach their full potential. 

The vision for Circle Ranch is a long-term living facility and a functioning ranch with agriculture and livestock that its foster children will help care for.  Jody’s vision for the ranch is to provide an environment for foster children that will instill the useful skills that they need to become productive members of society. The children will live in traditional homes, with loving Christian house parents focused on ensuring familial structure and stability. 

Circle Ranch states that their long-term vision is “to see each child inspired to follow Christ, healed from their past, and hopeful for a brighter future by breaking the cycle of abuse, neglect, abandonment, homelessness, and trauma,” Jody said, “The Board of Circle Ranch is very grateful to this organization for their help and overwhelming support. Our community is very proud of this organization and the wonderful help they give to all local charities.” 

Jody’s vision would not be possible without Circle Ranch’s dedicated Board of Directors, including: Jonnie Ghetti, Katie Williams, Skipper Hudson, Joyce Kender, Robert Barnes, Barbara Torbert, Karen Grigg, Patrick Lynch, Linda Martin and Rachel Beeker. The organization was introduced to the community in early 2015. 

To learn more about Circle Ranch or to support their mission, please visit their website at www.circleranchinc.org. To learn more about 100 Women Who Care and its Lake Country chapter, you can visit their website at www.100womenwhocarelakecountry.com.