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The Gig Harbor office of West Sound Workforce was transformed into “shopping central” on Nov. 1. The business organized and sponsored Una Bella Notte (One Beautiful Night), a fund-raiser benefiting a domestic violence shelter located on the Key Peninsula.
Four area artists and artisans were invited to participate by selling their work and donating part of the proceeds to the nonprofit organization, IMPact House. In addition, many cash donations came in unsolicited, and the event raised more than $2,000.
The event started out as an idea of bringing in some friends to buy jewelry, said Julie Tappero, president of West Sound Workforce, which also has an office in Poulsbo. Instead, they decided to invite other business women for a networking and shopping event — all for a good cause. Two other local businesses, Target and IsaMira Café, helped with providing refreshments.
“It was nice to do something just for business women,” Tappero said. “Domestic violence does have an impact on the workplace. It gave us a chance to talk about it and educate other employers.”
The event also empowered her staff, who became involved in organizing and soliciting door prizes, she said. “Different people came up with different ideas. One added benefit is that it made our employees feel really good about themselves,” she said.
For the domestic violence shelter, which has to maintain a low key presence in the community due to safety reasons, the fund-raiser was also a great way to get exposure to businesses and talk about the organization’s work and about domestic violence, according to IMPact House Executive Director Penny Gazabat.
Tappero, a volunteer who donates to various groups and causes frequently, has never organized a fund-raiser before. “It’s not in my nature to do fund-raisers and this was real different,” she said. “We just came up with a simple idea and it really took off.”
She enjoyed it so much that not only does she hope for a similar event next year — maybe at the Poulsbo office to benefit a Kitsap area charity — but she has been doing research into fundraisers and various ideas.
“There are lots of ways for businesses to contribute,” she said, adding that the local chambers of commerce may be a good place to start. In Gig Harbor specifically, the chamber of commerce has a partnership program focused on connecting members, including partnering up businesses with nonprofit organizations.
“The Partnership Committee is designed to link together, first and foremost, chamber members,” said Sue Meland, chair of the committee. The Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce Web site offers an online page to help with the process.
“The Partnership page is designed to connect nonprofit organizations such as IMPact with for-profit businesses,” said Meland, who attended Una Bella Notte. “Domestic violence is a huge issue that goes without borders. (IMPact) is a great example of an organization we’ll be offering as a partner to our businesses.”. | 
