Dining for Women

The first meeting of Dining For Women was held in January 2003 at the Greenville, SC residence of Marsha Wallace. Rather than go out to dinner for her 42nd birthday, Marsha opted to have friends over for a potluck dinner. The money the group of women would have spent at a restaurant was collected and sent to a charity. The first Dining For Women meeting raised $750 and about 20 women attended. Today, Dining For Women has 130 chapters in 37 states across the United States, collectively raising $15,000 to $16,000 per month for charitable organizations seeking to empower women and children living in some of the poorest countries in the world. Dining for Women empowers women living in extreme poverty by funding programs fostering good health, education, and economic self-sufficiency. It also cultivates educational dinner circles inspiring individuals to make a difference through the power of collective giving. In this video, viewers attend a monthly meeting of the Greenville, SC chapter of Dining For Women where they will hear about the mission and rapid growth of the national organization from founder Marsha Wallace. At this meeting, chapter members learn about Bead For Life, a program whereby Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful, bead jewelry. The beads are sold throughout the world to purchase food, medicine, school fees and hope for Ugandan women and their children.