St. Vrain Valley women share their wares and show they care

Some enterprising St. Vrain Valley business owners and entrepreneurs are trying to make a regular habit of meeting up to support each other while helping St. Vrain Valley women in need.

The women, who all live within the St. Vrain Valley School District boundaries, gathered together for a pop-up shopping event at Cave Girl Coffee in the Prospect neighborhood of Longmont on Dec. 13. Selling goods and services ranging from hand-crafted natural hand creams to autism-spectrum tutoring, the group’s purpose was to raise funds for A Woman’s Work (AWW), a local non-profit organization created exclusively to help St. Vrain Valley women.

Describing the purpose of their work and how they help local women in need, AWW Board member Eve Bruce said, “We help women who need a hand up to sustain their situation, whether it is gift cards to buy winter clothes, a used car, a rent payment or help with their medical bills. We’ve awarded one million dollars in the last five years.”

Board member Sally Barbe added, “It’s a timely fund. We help women who have an immediate need, because sometimes a normally self-sufficient woman can get thrown a curveball that can set her back and make it hard for her just to do the basic things she needs to do to help her and her family survive. We’re there to help her get back on her feet so she can be sustainable again.”

The businesses, including Bella Salt and Sauce and Liquid Moon, both of Niwot; Peak Performance Tutoring, Personally Poetic and Zivot, all made a commitment to donate ten-percent of their event sales to AWW, and hope to spread the word about AWW’s work for women in the area.

Niwot resident Jilly Gossett, owner of Bella Salt and Sauce, added, “We’re surrounded by so many talented women. We’re really hoping to make it a quarterly event.”