WSRE has produced a television special about the significant contributions of IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area.

“IMPACT 100: Changing Lives, Strengthening Communities,” hosted by Sherri Hemminghaus Weeks, will premiere on Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.

IMPACT 100 is a phenomenon in women’s philanthropy. To join, each woman contributes $1,000. Those donations are pooled into annual grants to area nonprofits. The WSRE presentation tells the IMPACT 100 story by highlighting IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area, the world’s largest IMPACT 100 organization.

The hour-long special spans 2014, a pivotal year in which membership rose to more than 1,000 women, culminating in the distribution of $1.02 million in grants to 10 Pensacola Bay Area nonprofit groups.

In-depth interviews examine how the organization works and provide insight as to what motivates so many women to donate $1,000 annually for the betterment of their community.

Wendy Steele, founder of the original IMPACT 100 organization in Cincinnati, Ohio, and past and present Pensacola Bay Area leadership are interviewed on the program, which also features vignettes profiling local nonprofits that have benefitted from IMPACT 100 grants.

Since its inception in 2003, IMPACT 100 Pensacola Bay Area has awarded 57 grants in excess of $100,000 to 48 nonprofits, totaling $6.17 million. Grants are distributed in five focus areas: Arts & Culture; Family; Education; Health & Wellness; and Environment, Recreation & Preservation.

“IMPACT 100: Changing Lives, Strengthening Communities” will first air at 7 p.m. Feb. 26 on WSRE. Encore presentations are scheduled for 8 p.m. the same evening and 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 27. Visit wsre.org to learn more.