Womxn of Wealth and NASCAR Foundation’s Giveathon

We’re always happy to hear about phenomenal organizations doing good in the world, and when we do, we like to shout about it. When we discovered Womxn of Wealth, WOW, it was naturally a nonprofit we wanted to shine light on. Founded by AdaPia d'Errico and Jennifer Burnham-Grubbs , WOW exists to uplift women, “to support women ~ here and now ~ in asserting their financial prowess and multiplying their wealth confidently, joyfully, and sustainably.”

WOW further encourages an environment where women can safely learn about financial concepts and understand strategic investment opportunities they might not otherwise be aware of. This knowledge improves their lives and the lives of their families. It’s truly a network of women supporting women through personal financial empowerment programs.

We recently spoke with Dana Shepple, Funding Navigator for Womxn of Wealth, to understand their goals, fundraising initiatives and overall mission as they make the financial lives of women better. Dana emphasized the importance of how WOW supports women, as they are traditionally “…taking a back seat in all things financial.” She said, “we're changing that narrative and changing that direction so that we really can empower other women to take their finances into their own hands.”

In addition to supporting a network of women across the country, WOW also volunteers to uplift those women who are struggling to reenter the world after being homeless. Through a community program, currently offered with the Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles, women are given guidance on how to reenter the workforce, manage their money, and set and prioritize goals toward their financial wellness, among other needed skills.

WOW member Sandy Lutton, as a teen, meets famed race car driver Bobby Allison.

We were further excited to learn that WOW, in an effort to raise awareness for its mission and funding toward community programs, has been chosen to participate in the upcoming NASCAR Foundation’s 75-hour Giveathon. Among other select nonprofits, WOW was a great fit to be involved, as one of its members, Sandy Lutton, has had a lifelong passion for the sport of race car driving, which started when she was introduced as a child to famed race car driver Bobby Allison. Sandy’s volunteer commitment to raise awareness around suicide prevention and the impacts of school shootings, through her affiliation with yet another good nonprofit, Rachel’s Challenge, made her the perfect “do-gooder” to be highlighted with WOW during the Giveathon.

The NASCAR Foundation is on a mission to improve the lives of children who need it most within their NASCAR racing communities, through the Speediatrics Children's Fund

and the Betty Jane France Humanitarian Award. Established in 2006, the foundation has raised more than $43M to impact the lives of over 1.7M children. To honor NASCAR’s 75th Anniversary, the foundation created the NASCAR Day Giveathon, a joint effort between NASCAR and The NASCAR Foundation, to provide much needed funds to the communities where people live, work and race.

The NASCAR community’s day of online giving will be a 75-hour period which provides an easy and fun way for the racing community to support U.S. nonprofits. The event begins on Tuesday, May 16, 2023 at 5 p.m. and ends on Friday, May 19, 2023 at 8 p.m EST. To access a list of worthwhile nonprofit organizations who have been chosen to participate, look here. To support Womxn of Wealth, you can access their giving page here.

Return on Good: What is Womxn of Wealth’s Mission?

Dana Shepple: WOW’s mission is to elevate women by helping all of them gain the tools, knowledge, and confidence to take wealth-building firmly into their own hands. We really want to empower women with the tools to create a very strong financial foundation to grow and expand into financial wealth for themselves, their families and generations to come.

We are starting a community development project where we are working specifically with the Downtown Women’s Center of Los Angeles. We have created a four-part series where we are speaking with women coming out of homelessness and just learning the basics of how to open a bank account, how to prepare for a job interview, etc.

NASCAR Gveathon: What we want to obtain by participating in the NASCAR Giveathon and linking up with NASCAR, first of all, is what a great way to align with another foundation that is doing so much good in the world! It will also allow us to serve as a platform for not only the Womxn of Wealth, but other nonprofits and foundations through making connections that we normally wouldn’t have without having this position to really cast out what we’re trying to do to the entire nation.

Return on Good: What are the fundraising goals of the NASCAR Foundation and Womxn of Wealth?

Dana Shepple: For NASCAR, their goal is to raise $750K in 75 hours. There are over 700 nonprofits that are participating and WoW’s goal is (to raise) a minimum of $750 and the maximum is ‘the sky’s the limit’! But what we are really searching for right now is $10K. Because raising $10K in funds will allow us to start launching these community development workshops for women, specifically Downtown Women’s Center and women who are coming out of homelessness.

We are on a mission to start launching chapters throughout the United States. We can reach more women with these types of programs; right now it’s LA. We’ll also be able to provide these workshops to women who couldn’t otherwise afford it. What a great way to spread our vision, spread our mission, as well as having fun. This is a really fun 75-hour Giveathon; there are so many foundations and nonprofits that are linking up to not only promote their nonprofit, but link arms with other nonprofits.

So WOW can partner with other people also during the 75 hours to promote and share. If we have somebody we know who wants to donate to a certain cause and we have that connection, we can reciprocate.