This was no ordinary Westfield Chamber of Commerce luncheon.
There was no guest speaker, only voices from 28 nonprofit representatives at separate tables sharing their missions. Westfield Chamber of Commerce President Nick Verhoff said it was the fourth year of the Share the Love luncheon, which was held Feb. 20 at the IMMI Conference Center.
“We capped it at 28 because it would get too confusing after that,” Verhoff said. “We want to let the community know what nonprofits are out there, and they come from all different causes. I believe, in particular, the business community funds a lot of these nonprofits. Westfield businesses are very giving of their time and resources.
“A lot of the nonprofits depend on the networking and making connection with the businesses. We try to do this to facilitate that.”
Prevail primary prevention specialist Sara Roorbach said being able to share Prevail’s mission is important.
“A lot of people think we only help people in Noblesville because we are based there,” Roorbach said. “We love to get out into the community, even just over to Westfield. It’s not that far. Being able to converse with other business leaders and other nonprofits is so valuable to us to spread the word of our mission, (to) really get the word out to people that need our services.”
Roorbach said most people recognize Prevail for the work it does with survivors.
“We also have a huge focus on preventing these things from happening,” she said.
Roorbach is the coordinator of the Prevail 100 Men program.
“It’s a group of 100 men who are passionate about ending violence and saying this type of behavior is not OK,” she said. “We want to set the standard for how men should be treating women and how men should be acting. We want to hold each other accountable and learn from each other. We put on lots of different events in the community. The men attend meetings where they learn how to be better. Any opportunity I get to spread the word about 100 Men I do because a lot of people don’t realize we have the prevention programs we do at Prevail where we are trying to make a difference from the beginning.”
Main Street Productions President John Sampson was shared information about plans for the new Westfield Playhouse.
“The response has been overwhelming,” Sampson said.
Sampson said he has been part of Share the Love before, but the interest has been higher because of the building, which is supposed to open in August or September. The new venue will have 180 seats.
Janice Chavers, a board of directors member for The Cabin Counseling & Resource Center, opened a Westfield center in 2019. The Cabin opened its first site in Zionsville in 1999.
“It’s been a welcoming, loving community,” Chavers said. “We come to events like this because we want everyone to know we are here to serve the community, and we have a Samaritan Fund for people who can’t afford to pay for care. We can help. We never turn people away because they can’t afford mental health care. We say we serve for ages 3 to 9, but we certainly wouldn’t turn a 104-year-old away.”
