ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Impact 100 Baldwin County named four organizations as finalists vying to receive a $92,000 grant from the organization.

North Baldwin Animal Shelter, Family Promise, Care House and Outward Bound will find out if they have won the “Impact 100” grant at the group’s annual meting, which will be held Oct. 31 at the Hotel Magnolia in Foley. Each group will make a brief presentation at that time before the membership vote. The grant will be spent over two years, with members of the Impact 100 group checking to make sure it is spent well. Last year, Mary’s Shelter in Elberta earned an $82,000 grant from the group.

“No dogs, no sad-eyed children,” chuckled Irene Meehan, the group’s founder and president, speaking of the group presentations. She added later tht the group now has 92 members.

“There are some rules for the presentation, they are brief and we will go over these with you,” Meehan told the delighted group representatives.

The “Impact 100” concept is simple. Ideally,100 women band together and donate $1,000 which is then donated to an area charity. According to the group’s Web site, impact100baldwincounty.org, the group consists of “100 members (donors) who each donate $1,000 annually. One hundred percent of the funds donated is returned to the community in the form of grants. For example if there are 100 members, by the end of the year, all $100,000 is given to a worthy nonprofit organization in the Baldwin County area. By pooling our resources to create one large gift, we can make an IMPACT! “

If less than 100 women join, the grant is correspondingly smaller. All the money an individual woman contributes is given to the organization. The annual grant is given in one of five areas/ Funds for operating expenses must be raised in another manner. The five categories are: Arts and Culture, Education, Environment, Family, and Health and Wellness.

The “Impact 100” concept got its start in 2001 in Cleveland, where Wendy Steele had an idea that eventually became Impact 100.

The concept quickly caught on, and the idea of a relatively small group of women banding together to make a difference in their communities has spread to other areas. The Baldwin County group was founded in 2008.

And the Baldwin Impact 100 group has not lacked for volunteers.

“Sometimes we had more volunteers then we needed,” laughed Meehan, adding that it was “not a problem,” that there was something for everyone to do. Members of Impact 100 have one obligation — to vote at the annual meeting for a charity, but most members take an active role, joining one of the committees, going on site visits, etc.

“It is an honor to let everyone know what kinds of wonderful work you do,” said Meehan to the groups.