Check Magnet

When it comes to giving back, somehow you always say yes.

Help organize that fundraiser? Absolutely.
Pitch in on volunteer day? Done.
Write a check for a worthy cause? No problem.

Here’s another easy yes for you: Ever feel like all the volunteering and donating seems more like a chore than the significant and meaningful contribution you intended it to be?

Mmm-hmm.

You could pare down your commitments to a couple hours a month, and still help more than 10 different worthy charities each year.

Just join the new Honolulu chapter of Chicks with Checks, an all-women nonprofit founded in Charleston , SC, but brought to the islands by Kehau Kali. The idea is simple. Join up, pay $35 a month in membership dues, and attend one lunch or pau hana “party with a purpose” each month.

The events are almost entirely social – network with colleagues, reconnect with friends and listen to a brief (about five minutes, really!) presentation from the benefiting nonprofit (a different one is chosen each month). At the end, $25 of every member’s monthly dues is given to the charity (the other $10 pays for the event).

The checks can be sizable – 100 Chicks with Checks members means the community organization receives a donation of $2,500. You get the idea.

So far, Chicks with Checks has helped Child and Family Services and the Leeward Domestic Abuse Shelter. The next event is on May 1 from 6-8 p.m. , benefiting Hawaii Women’s Business Center .

Mark your calendar. It’s time to meet your new check mates.