The art of giving grows in Lakewood Ranch

It was seven months ago when Barbara Najmy predicted that it would only be a couple of years until the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle began granting more than $30,000 a year.

In 2022, the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle gave out just under $42,000.

Girls gone wild.

The rapid growth not only has caught Najmy — who in 2019 was named the John John Clarke Humanitarian of the Year Award winner with her husband Joseph — by surprise, but it also has overwhelmed her.

A Realtor who has a lot of professional and family irons in the fire, Najmy is trying to comprehend the rapid growth of the giving circle she founded in 2014. It now has grown to 125 members, an impressive number considering you have to live in the Lake Club to be a member and there are less than 500 occupied homes there.

If the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle, which is under the auspices of the Manatee County Community Foundation, is going to ascend to greater heights, Najmy isn't worried that she will have to drive the bus.

Currently, the board chair and president, Najmy said the group will do just fine if she eventually take a smaller role.

"I always will be the founder," she said. "But I never imagined we would reach a level where we needed boards, chairs, subcommittees, committee chairs, vice chairs."

It's all OK, because Najmy knows the giving circle has plenty of young talent with more on the way.

With such enthusiasm, the Lake Club Giving Circle is looking at hosting four major events a year, with the first in 2023 being the Gals, Galentine's and Gratitude event Feb. 16 at the Clive Daniel Home showroom, 3055 Fruitville Commons Blvd., Sarasota.

The event is billed to "sip, shop and toast to the power of women."

Najmy emphasizes while the event will raise funds for charity, that isn't the main goal of the mixer.

She said one of the main goals of the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle is to empower women.

One definition of empower is to "make someone stronger and more confident, especially in controlling their life and claiming their rights."

I am not sure if empowerment is in short supply in the Lakewood Ranch area, and I certainly would say it's not an issue in the Lake Club, but I understand the effort behind the goal.

If there are a few shrinking violets out there, they need only rub elbows with these women.

Take Vice Chair Jennifer Alokeh, for instance. 

"She is a young mom of two," Najmy said. "She has been instrumental in the execution of reading my mind, and executing my ideas as they roll off my tongue. I don't even have to ask. She automatically does them."

The Manatee Community Fund used to host a Galentine's event that catered to all of its women's giving circles, but it went away when COVID-19 arrived. Najmy wanted to bring it back, at least at first, as a Lake Club Women's Giving Circle event.

"Jennifer said, 'OK,' and ran with it."

Actually, the two of them are working closely together. The new Clive Daniel store was perfect to host as, well, some women love to shop in a beautiful setting. Najmy said the store has a gorgeous showroom to host events along with a large garden terrace.

"It also has lots of meeting spaces and a beautiful kitchen," she said.

Clive Daniel Home, the underwriter of the event, is supplying the adult beverages, including beer, wine and champagne.

As was the case with the Manatee Community Fund's events, the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle has extended invitations to all the women's giving circles in the region. More than 100 guests already have confirmed they are coming and there is no cap on the number of those who can attend.

The event will include a charcuterie board, desserts, sushi and cocktails. Raffle items will include a $500 gift card from Clive Daniel Home and gifts from West Coast Plastic Surgery and Sirius Day Spa.

If the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle picks up new members along the way, so be it. The club still requires a commitment of $1,000 over a five-year term, as it did its very first year.

Events never were key to the club in its first three years as the members basically provided funds for grants. In 2017, the group, which had grown to 30 members, hosted its first fundraiser, "Wine, Women and Jewels."

It made $13,000 that was distributed through the Manatee Community Foundation to charity. Similar fundraisers were held in 2018 and 2019. Things began to roll. From 2020 to 2022, the Lake Club Giving Circle grew from 30 members to 115.

"We will continue to pull women together," Najmy said. "By doing so, we embrace organizations that are in need, and touch their lives. In my opinion, what makes the foundation of any giving circle is truly the outreach of that organization. You must be able to touch lives and see the smiles. It is so key."

In January, the Lake Club Women's Giving Circle also rolled out its new website, with the design being donated by a friend of one of its members. Najmy said it was an enormous gift as the design took "endless hours."

Everything now has moved to the fast track.

"I had no idea it would be like this, to be on this level," Najmy said. "We had 30 women who used to read each other's minds. It wasn't anything complicated. Now we have to invest in QuickBooks, have a treasurer (Lauren Hirsch), and my husband's firm (Najmy Thompson) is our legal counsel, doing it pro bono.

"I remember when I thought raising $5,000 or $10,000 a year would make us happy."

For the time being, Najmy said she will continue to be the organization's guide, but eventually she will just be a part of the show.

"I learned the best form of success is when you surround yourself with people who are a lot smarter than you," she said. "We have seen this younger generation in the Lake Club. Hopefully, they will get involved and take over leadership of the organization."