About 150 people from throughout Idaho and elsewhere gathered Sept. 12 in Boise at the Treasure Valley Institute of Arts for Children to celebrate collective giving and to honor the 23rd anniversary of the Idaho Women’s Charitable Foundation (IWCF). IWCF, our sister collective giving circle in Boise, was founded the day after 9/11 in 2001 and helped WRWF get our start in 2005. WRWF is delighted to share several mutual members with IWCF!
The celebration was co-sponsored by IWCF, Grapevine, the Community Investment Network, Philanos and Philanthropy Together, a global initiative co-created by hundreds of collective giving leaders, to scale and strengthen a growing movement. The agenda included a panel of Idaho giving circle leaders including our own Sandy McCullough, immediate past president of the Wood River Women’s Foundation, Brian Smith of 100 Men for Good of the Treasure Valley, and Linda Watkins, president of Women’s Giving Connection of Twin Falls; it was moderated by Heather Jauregui of Philanos and IWCF.
In addition, Kelsey Barowich of Philanthropy Together presented, “Collective Giving Landscape Research”, a fascinating deep-dive into the twenty-year history of collective giving in the United States. As meaningful as these wonderful presentations were was the networking that occurred, with many attendees wanting to hear more about the Wood River Women’s Foundation, the work of our grantees, and how we execute on our mission.

2024 Grantee THRIVAL: thriving and surviving
Thrival Foundation’s mission is to “empower women and children through education and the development of self-reliance skills.” The founder of Thrival, Tara Bell, is a licensed self-defense instructor, firearms instructor, substitute teacher with BCSD and a volunteer with kids in the parole system. As a single mom with many options disappearing during Covid, she decided to put her talents and skills to use. She realized that there are many organizations that address the educational needs, extracurricular needs, the arts, and caring for those who have escaped abuse, domestic violence and other horrific physical and emotional abuse, but there is NO other non-profit that addresses the need to be able to defend oneself or rely on oneself in the face of a potentially life-threatening situation. She began Thrival and now trains women and children in: identifying signs of stalking; personal safety preventative measures; situational awareness – how to be aware of your surroundings and the people around you; know who is
around you and be aware of how they are acting; and self-defense when needed.

The funds received from the WRWF grant were to be used for renting space in town, buying strike pads, ground mats, producing marketing flyers, and instructor fees for two classes a week, beginning this summer. Life got in the way when Tara suddenly needed shoulder surgery, and she is now recovering with 4 new screws in her shoulder! The plan is to begin the classes in December when she will be able to perform all the moves necessary in teaching self-defense. In the meantime, Tara has been working with individuals putting groups together, such as a recent group of 8 girls heading off to college, groups of women where they walk around town going through real life staging, demonstrating preventative actions in practical situations at the gas station, restaurants, stores.

Recently Thrival partnered with Bristol Bay Retreats and the Mule Deer Foundation to present Wild Women’s Rendezvous, a week long annual retreat giving women the skills and confidence to survive in the backcountry. The women learned skills such as safety and survival, foraging, hunting, trapping, hound hunting, instruction in rifles, handguns, traditional and compound archery, shelter building, fire starting, health and fitness, wild game processing, cooking. Over 100 women participated with 22 other female instructors.

Tara Bell is passionate and dedicated to the work of helping women feel self-reliant and empowered. She believes strongly in connection and community and wants to provide a safe space for women to come together and learn. She is open to any individual or group that would like specific instruction, and she is working to have scholarships for whoever is in need. She will never turn anyone away who would like to learn. Put a group together and give her a call!

“Sometimes just one right move will be a life saver.” Tara Bell