WomenSource will celebrate its first birthday with the Power of the Purse Fundraiser on Thursday.

Last year’s Power of the Purse presented the fledgling group to the community. This year, WomenSource has a year of programming under its built and more on the horizon.

“We are very proud of how quickly this organization has gotten off the ground, which really I think is a testament to the area where we live with so many people willing to give to nonprofits,” said Chairwoman Elisabeth Baldwin.

The group was formed in June 2008 as a nonprofit resource for women in the community.

Since its inception, WomenSource’s main programming effort has been the Brown Bag Lunch Series. The monthly lunch programs feature speakers on topics ranging from the stock market to raising children to legal issues facing women.

The events draw around 125 women from the community each month.

“There seems to be some good buzz in the community,” Baldwin said.

Lindsay Wells, program coordinator for WomenSource, said by constantly changing the topics of the lunch programs, women are able to find things that apply to them.

“All women need some of these services at some point in their life,” Wells said. “Every woman goes through some of these things in her life whether it is divorce or raising children, these issues affect all women in our community.”

Following the success of the Brown Bag Lunch Series, WomenSource will begin hosting a dinner series this fall dedicated to financial literacy.

“Unfortunately a lot of women, regardless of their background aren’t familiar with things such as your credit score, why that’s important, starting a budget, that sort of thing,” Baldwin said.

Wells said feedback from the community led the group to dedicate the dinner series strictly to financial issues. Many said they would like to see more programs that would help them weather the recession.

“I think it is really timely for a lot of folks in our community who may not have thought they needed financial literacy in the past,” Wells said.

WomenSource will also be hosting the dinner series in South Hall to reach out to a different segment of the community.

“I don’t think I would have imagined last year that we would have had three series under our belts,” Wells said.

Board member LeTrell Simpson said WomenSource is looking to reach out to women of all ages, races, religions and socio-economic backgrounds in the county.

“We’d like for WomenSource to represent the community,” Simpson said. “We’re looking for how we enhance the lives of all women and so trying to hit these different market areas so it makes programming available to anyone who’s interested.”

The Power of the Purse Event is $35 to attend and includes annual membership. There will be a fashion show and designer purse raffle. Dinner will be provided by 2Dog.

Simpson said she thinks in its first year, WomenSource has met all of its goals.

“Our Brown Bag Luncheons have been so successful,” Simpson said. “Personally I feel like we’ve exceeded all our expectations.”