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The Twisted Sisters has a challenge for the community.

The group, composed of 11 women from the area, is what’s called a “giving circle” and its members aim to spur some more charitable giving in Smithville this holiday season through showing by example.

After spending the past year raising $450 through their monthly meetings, the Twisted Sisters recently used their funds to buy groceries and supplies locally and donated them to the First Christian Church Food Pantry.

And now, said Sandy Butler, group member, they want the community to follow their lead.

“We hope this might start something and might get other people feeling good about themselves,” she said. “There’s a lot of happiness that comes from giving and you get a lot from fulfilling a need.”

Specifically, the group wants to see the community step up and give to the food pantry, which they say could use a little help this holiday season, and they encourage Smithville to follow their example.

Cheryl Taylor, group member, said the Twisted Sisters wants to encourage others to start their own giving circles as well. A giving circle, Taylor said, is a way of mixing a serious cause such as charitable giving with fun and fellowship as motivation.

Here’s how it works.

The Twisted Sisters gets together for food and drinks once a month at a different members’ house each time with the host providing a main dish while everyone else brings a side, Taylor said. When each person shows up, Taylor said, they place a donation in a small box the group keeps out of sight amounting to whatever they would have spent had they gone out to eat that night.

Then, at the end of the year, the group counts up the money in the box and votes on what to spend it on, Taylor said. Last year, the group used the money to buy a propane tank for a woman who was unemployed and had just lost her husband.

The group, said Karen Zemerick, group member, tries to target local causes and especially causes that might otherwise go unnoticed.

“There are so many good and worthy causes to pick, but we try to pick things that are under the radar,” she said. “There’s so much need out there and people miss out; that’s who we aim for.”

Butler said the idea behind the meetings are to facilitate that giving and to give the women an outlet for fellowship. There are no agendas and no minutes are kept, Butler said, and the only real prerequisites are wine and chocolate. And, of course, giving.

“For me, personally, it’s as much about giving as it is about fostering friendships,” she said. “You get tied down in the day-to-day muckety-muck. Life happens and time goes by. In doing this, as many of us as can be there see each other at least once a month. We have so much fun and we all do have a heart for charity and that’s why this group works so well.”

Staff writer Michael Westblade can be reached at 389-6636 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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