COVER STORY 34 APRIL 2026 www.goodnewsfl.org Good News • South Florida Edition StrikeForce Giving has surpassed $2 million in grants to local faith-based ministries, marking a significant milestone for the South Florida women’s giving circle. What began 12 years ago as a small group of women simply coming together to give, has grown into a movement where generosity multiplies, expanding its reach, deepening its impact and strengthening the Christian ministries it supports. In February, StrikeForce Giving experienced their largest membership year, with more than 130 members, expanding its influence and turning individual gifts into a collective force that is changing lives across the region. Together, these women gave a total of $388,474 to fund specific projects for seven Christian ministries: 4KIDS His Caring Place, AWANA, The Caring Place, HOPE South Florida, Love INC of Broward, Relate Well Live Well and Watermark Gospel. For the first time in its history, StrikeForce Giving fully funded all seven grant finalists, contributing to a 42% year-over-year increase in total giving. They also awarded their largest single grant of $129,396 to The Caring Place, to fund critical facility updates at their Hollywood campus, including installation of impact windows to continue care during storms. Collectively, these gifts added up to more than $2 million in giving through 62 grants awarded to local faithbased ministries since StrikeForce began in 2014. More than 400 women, and a few men, have donated through StrikeForce Giving over the years, and the movement is growing as women discover the joy of generous giving and the impact of giving in community. “This year’s incredible growth is a testament to the power of collective giving,” said Christine Auker, president of StrikeForce. “More women are coming together to make a tangible impact, ensuring that local ministries have the resources to serve their communities effectively — in turn making a collective impact on the region of South Florida and beyond.” With support from a local foundation, StrikeForce Giving was recently able to grow beyond a working board by bringing on a program director and investing in infrastructure. That included a full rebrand—new website, logo, colors and marketing materials— as well as launching tools like a CRM system to better track and engage members. To expand beyond South Florida, StrikeForce Giving created “StrikeForce in a Box” — a step-by-step guide built from 12 years of experience that shows others how to launch and run their own giving circle. It includes everything from branding and bylaws to event planning and grant processes, making it easy for new groups to get started while managing their own operations. The first two cities to launch using StrikeForce in a Box were Palm Beach and Richmond, Virginia, and now they are looking for new cities to start their own giving circles. Getting started StrikeForce Giving began as a God-given vision to founder JoAnne Daudt, Esq. in 2008, growing from a simple step of faith into a movement she says has been guided and sustained entirely by God. “He put this thing on my heart,” said Daudt. “It was only Him. I had no idea what I was doing, but every year God has just grown this thing. He’s the one making the impact, guiding this every step of the way.” The mission of StrikeForce is simple. Each year, women pool their resources to fund Christian ministries. “This allows us to learn more about giving, strengthen our community and make a bigger difference for the causes we care about,” said Auker. “The original goal was to get 100 women giving $1000 each, and they would have $100,000 to give away. We have certainly exceeded that.” The new goal is to ultimately reach 300 members or more and award $1 million annually to ministries making a difference in South Florida. Building community Women are drawn to StrikeForce because of the power of collective and impact giving — where one gift becomes part of something much larger — and the opportunity to come together in community. As they give together, they see God multiply their efforts, and that shared experience naturally sparks a deeper spirit of generosity. “We create a place where women love learning about the ministries. They're meeting people, building friendships and a community where they can be part of something that's collectively bigger than just the $1,000 they're giving,” Auker said. While generosity is a common theme in the Bible, a guiding verse for StrikeForce is Acts 20:35, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” Auker said, “One of our goals is to pour into our community the spirit of generosity because it's super contagious, and once people get on board with that, it has a domino effect. It’s rewarding to see women come together and that spirit of generosity flow, impacting both the ministries and the women themselves. It’s been incredible to watch how God is working through it all.” Creating impact A grassroots effort, StrikeForce has grown year by year, awarding grants that have been critically important to some fledgling ministries just starting out. (Refer to the StrikeForce Giving Timeline in the accompanying sidebar for details on their impact to date.) In its first year, StrikeForce awarded a $48,000 grant to Trees of Hope, a faithbased nonprofit that helps individuals heal from sexual abuse, and Dee Proietto, founder of Trees of Hope, said, “At the time, that was the biggest grant we had ever received… probably the biggest donation, period, for years.” The grant helped expand the ministry beyond healing for women into prevention efforts, including developing curriculum for teens, men and families, and marked a turning point, enabling the organization to grow from a small, volunteer-led group into a more established ministry with broader reach. “It really put us on the map as the go-to ministry for sexual abuse healing and prevention,” Proietto said. Trees of Hope has now grown into a multifaceted ministry serving over 100 women annually while also providing prevention workshops, online trainings, a podcast and materials online, allowing them to reach anyone, anywhere for protection and healing. In 2015, Firewall Centers, a faith-based nonprofit that provides after-school tutoring, mentorship and character development for students in underserved communities, received a grant of $53,000 from StrikeForce that was used to launch a new after-school program at Lauderhill 6–12. “That first gift was huge for us,” said Andy Fernandez, CEO and founder of Firewall Centers. The funding came at a critical early stage and helped expand the organization’s reach, ultimately leading to long-term relationships with schools and the ability to serve students daily. StrikeForce has also played an important role in strengthening the work of Every Mother’s Advocate (ĒMA), a ministry that helps vulnerable mothers and children, often preventing family separation by advocating for mothers in crisis. ĒMA received a grant of $25,000 from StrikeForce in 2017. And Charlee Tchividjian, founder and CEO of ĒMA, explained, “At that time, ĒMA was still a young initiative working to demonstrate that a community-based model — pairing mothers in crisis with trained volunteer advocates and coordinated case management — could stabilize families and prevent unnecessary family separation. Their support helped us continue building the local infrastructure of the program, including hiring our first case manager and recruiting and training volunteer advocates who walk alongside mothers facing some of life’s most difficult circumstances. Those early resources were especially meaningful because they allowed us to deepen our services while continuing to build trust with community partners and the child welfare system.” StrikeForce Giving’s Impact Exceeds $2 Million Shelly Pond Good News Editor Left to right The Caring Place (TCP) Team: Gary Cooper, TCP Assistant Centers Director; Lian Navarro, TCP Community Development Director; Keith Cavanaugh, TCP Centers Director; and Antonio “Tony” Villasuso, TCP President Photo credit: Justus Martin
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