Mary Novak, left, and Susan Anderson review “Circle of Giving” materials March 3. The two women organized the “Circle of Giving” group in Minot. Loretta Johnson/MDN

A group of local women is starting a “Circle of Giving” to pool their resources to donate to local charities. Susan Anderson, a lay minister for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, said she saw a story in a 2002 edition of the magazine “Health” about the concept of “giving circles.” She set the article aside for a few years, but it remained at the back of her mind. Then she prayed for a sign from God if he wanted her to continue with the concept and soon after her friend and neighbor Mary Novak came to her and showed her an article in another magazine about giving circles. Anderson took that as a sign and the two women began discussing the idea in earnest. “It’s just a way for individuals to pool their money for worthy causes,” said Anderson, who wants the giving circle to be a small, informal group of women with between 10 and 20 members. Some giving circles around the country are larger and more formal and some are smaller, said Anderson.