Jackson Free Press

With women's issues taking center stage in much of this election season and the rhetoric surrounding them enough to make a female sick, it is nice to see women celebrating women.

Yesterday, the Women's Fund of Mississippi hosted Forks and Corks, their second annual food-and-wine tasting fundraiser, at the Mississippi Farmers Market. Forks and Corks featured food and wine pairings from local, female chefs and sommeliers. Also on hand as featured guest was best-selling author Jill Conner Browne, better known as Boss Queen of the Sweet Potato Queens.

LaFawn Gilliam, director of communications and development for the Women's Fund, says the turnout for this year's event surpassed expectations. "It was larger than last year," she says. "Jill (Conner Browne), one of the founding members, she really brought people out. We also had a large group of millennials, which was great. We are trying to get more young people involved."

Although the fund hasn't totaled the final amount raised, Gilliam says more than 200 people attended, in addition to individual and corporate sponsors. The money will go to the fund's grant-making pool and endowment fund.

The Women's Fund of Mississippi is "the only grantmaking and advocacy organization in Mississippi entirely dedicated to funding programs that improve the lives of women and girls statewide," states the group's website. Founded in 2002 as a field-of-interest fund within the Community Foundation of Greater Jackson, in 2009, the Women's Fund became an independent nonprofit.

"Our board is made up of women of diverse backgrounds, professions and ethnicities," Gilliam says. Although the group shies away from commenting on politics, its "focus is economic security for women and girls, and improving the lives of women and girls in Mississippi."

Ongoing projects for the Women's Fund include a fundraising campaign to raise $1,520,956--the number of females in the state--and an education initiative focused on teen health and pregnancy. For more on the Women's Fund of Mississippi, visit womensfundms.org.