Galentine event celebrates philanthropy in Lakewood Ranch

Erica Aultman had joined Sisterhood for Good at last year's Galentine event.

Now it was her turn to convince other women in the Lakewood Ranch community, and beyond, to become part of a women's giving circle of the Lakewood Ranch Community Fund.

On Tuesday evening at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing in Lakewood Ranch, the annual Galentine's event drew 130 women, many of them guests who were considering to join a giving circle.

"As individuals, we give back," Aultman said. "But being in the Sisterhood for Good allows you to do it at a deeper level."

The Sisterhood for Good, founded by Angela Massaro-Fain in 2011 now has 93 members. It is just one of the six women's giving circles who were celebrating the Galentine's event.

"I had no idea it would become this popular," Massaro-Fain said of her thought in 2011 when she got the giving circle ball rolling. "This is about women and camaraderie. It's about having a voice, and being philanthropists."

Membership to a women's giving circle costs $200 a year. Funds are pooled, more money is raised at various fun events, and then the giving circles pour the funds back into the community through grants.

"This is an opportunity to pay it forward," said Peggy Kronus, who was the co-chair of the event with Violeta Huesman, who noted, "Together, we can make a bigger impact."

Huesman was asked if she has made a lot of friends since she joined Sisterhood for Good.

"I've met a lot of sisters," she said with a laugh.