100 Women Peterborough has chosen the Ennismore Inclusive Playground Project to receive a donation of more than $10,000 that will support a plan to build Jude’s Joy at Ennismore Waterfront Park, the first barrier-free playground in Selwyn Township.
The collective philanthropy group held its fourth and final meeting of 2025 on Tuesday (December 9) at The Venue in downtown Peterborough. At each of the group’s quarterly meetings, members hears presentations from three non-profit organizations randomly drawn from a larger list of organizations nominated by the group’s members. Each member commits to donating $100, and the organization that gets the most member votes receives the collective donations.
The three organizations that presented to 100 Women Peterborough at December’s meeting were GreenUP, Kawartha Haliburton Children’s Foundation, and Jude’s Joy, with the latter chosen by majority vote to receive member donations.
Julie Grant, a long-time advocate for accessible and inclusive playgrounds, teamed up with the Ennismore Optimist Club in 2024 to launch the Ennismore Inclusive Playground Project, with the goal of raising $250,000 to cover the cost of building a barrier-free playground at Ennismore Waterfront Park. The playground is named Jude’s Joy after Grant’s son Jude.
“Seeing Jude, my son who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and global developmental delay, and other children with disabilities miss out on play experiences with their peers fuelled my sense of social responsibility,” Grant said. “This is why our goal of enhancing accessibility at the Ennismore Waterfront Park has always gone beyond just the playground area.”
The recreational space in the Ennismore Waterfront Park will include accessible play equipment, as well as rubber surfacing instead of the sand and wood chip surfaces typically found at playgrounds. Not only will the space be inclusive for children who face mobility limitations, but it will allow parents and grandparents with disabilities to play alongside children.
Along with Grant, presenters from Jude’s Joy at Tuesday’s meeting included her friend and project partner Nancy Turner as well as Angela Chittick, manager of community and corporate services at Selwyn Township.
100 Women Peterborough founding member Rosalea Terry said she was “thrilled to see our membership show up” on Tuesday night despite the bad weather.
“It speaks volumes about our shared commitment to supporting charities that make a real difference in our community,” Terry added. “We are proud to have just wrapped our eighth year of impact in Peterborough with a collective donation to Jude’s Joy and are excited to continue giving back in 2026.”
Since its formation in 2018, 100 Women Peterborough has collectively donated over $260,000 to 28 local organizations.
Organizations that have received member donations include YWCA Peterborough Haliburton, Vinnies Peterborough, Hospice Peterborough, Peterborough Youth Unlimited, One Roof Warming Room, New Canadians Centre, Cameron House, Five Counties Children’s Centre, Casa De Angelae, Lakefield Animal Welfare Society, Community Care Peterborough, Kawartha Sexual Assault Centre, Community Counselling and Resource Centre, Peterborough Pregnancy Support Services, Heads Up for Inclusion, Kawartha Youth Orchestra, Peterborough GreenUP, Bridges Peterborough, YMCA Strong Communities, Homeward Bound Peterborough, Good Neighbours Care Centre and Food Bank, PARN – Your Community AIDS Resource Network, Camp Kawartha, the Teachers For Kids Foundation, Hearts 4 Joy, Camp Northern Lights, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Peterborough, and Jude’s Joy.
100 Women Peterborough is part of a growing collective philanthropy movement that began in the United States in November 2006, when Karen Dunigan of Michigan formed the “100 Women Who Care” group. After their first meeting, those women raised over $10,000 for the purchase of 300 new baby cribs for a local organization. The movement has grown over the past 19 years to include groups of men, women, youth, and children around the world, with hundreds of chapters in Canada alone.
For more information about 100 Women Peterborough, visit www.100womenptbo.ca.
