Battle Ground Senior Citizens Inc. has been selected as the fourth quarter 2025 recipient of charitable funds from 100 Women Who Care Southwest Washington, receiving an initial donation of $10,250 at the group’s Monday, Oct. 27, meeting at Windy Hill Winery in Ridgefield.
The final total is expected to rise closer to $16,000 as additional member contributions come in over the next two weeks.
Each quarter, 100 Women Who Care Southwest Washington brings together more than 150 members who each commit to donating $100 to a local nonprofit selected by vote. Three nominated nonprofits are randomly chosen to make short presentations, and the group selects one recipient to receive the collective donation.
Sharon Wodtke, president of Battle Ground Senior Citizens Inc., said volunteer and fellow senior Marsha Gregor nominated the organization for the drawing.
“Marsha is a member of the 100 Women Who Care from Southwest Washington,” Wodtke said. “Since she also is one of our seniors, she's also one of my telephone callers and volunteers for the group, she is the one who submitted our nonprofit name into the [ring].”
Battle Ground Senior Citizens Inc. offers a variety of activities such as Bunko, Game Day, arts and crafts, and the monthly luncheon, which typically includes a guest speaker addressing important topics and issues faced by seniors locally. Since the Senior Center's recent reopening after remodeling, the group is adding new activities, including a grieving workshop and exercise through EnhanceFitness.
Wodtke said Gregor’s involvement and awareness of the group’s needs helped connect the two organizations.
“We’re just extremely grateful to her for just putting our name in the hopper,” Wodtke said.
She said the timing of the donation couldn’t have been better.
“I’m just overwhelmed and exuberant over the fact that this was an opportunity that just came our way at a very significant time as we were struggling,” Wodtke said. “It was the timing was perfect.”
The nonprofit's board members were scheduled to discuss the best use of these funds at an upcoming meeting.
“Our most urgent need we have is trying to feed 200 of our 750 people at that Lewis River room once a month,” Wodtke said. “The significant part of what we feel that this money needs to go to is our programs that we are supporting.”
Gregor, who volunteers as one of several callers who check in monthly with seniors, said the 100 Women Who Care process is designed to spotlight local groups doing meaningful work.
“The women and members can nominate a charity and then the charity gets vetted,” Gregor said. “Once they've been vetted, they go in this big barrel like a bingo barrel and the night of our meeting, our director pulls out three charities. Each one has three minutes to present and convince the people in the audience that their charity is the most worthy that night.”
Gregor said she was moved when Battle Ground Senior Citizens was announced as the winning recipient.
“Oh my gosh, I went to tears,” Gregor said, adding that Wodtke's description of Battle Ground Senior Citizens to the organization also highlighted the emotional support needed by seniors in the area.
She added that she nominated the group because of her personal connection to the senior community and her experience volunteering there.
“You know, there are a lot of them live alone,” Gregor said. “These events at the community center, it's really not about the lunch and it's not about the bunco game. It's about the socialization and getting them out and about.”
Gregor said her reason for volunteering is deeply personal, shaped by watching her own mother face loneliness later in life. Her experience, she said, highlighted the need for organizations like Battle Ground Senior Citizens.
“When my mom was very, very old, she became depressed and sat at home alone,” Gregor said. “She was on the East Coast and I said, ‘Mom, go to the senior center,’ and she’d never do it. So a lot of what I do with the seniors or for the seniors, I have my mom in mind, wishing she had done a little more to engage in the community and maybe her later years would have been more joyful.”
For Wodtke and others involved with Battle Ground Senior Citizens, the donation represents more than financial relief—it’s validation of the group’s mission.
“There are no grants that we have been able to locate in three years that are specifically written for seniors,” Wodtke said. “They're written for puppy dogs and kitty cats. They're written for babies. They're written for teens. But there isn't anything out there that addresses seniors. So to have something like this drop into our lap to give us a little breather... that has just been a prayer answered.”
