The idea for the group was conceived during a casual lunch between Twitter enthusiasts Carol O'Hanley, a Charlottetown real estate agent and April Ennis, a Summerville resident in the midst of launching an online magazine.

"Carol was talking about her husband, Steve, also a real estate agent, who meets regularly with friends over lunch to network. I mentioned that I'd recently started meeting for dinner once a month with a group of mothers also affected by autism," states Ennis who is working on finishing her Bachelor of Business in Tourism and Hospitality. Ennis adds, "Carol proposed that we do something similar so we started building a small group of women we knew from Twitter, each with different professional backgrounds, with whom to share food, ideas, support, and wine every month."

The first official meeting of the Island Tweethearts took place in May at The Pilot House. The group was made up of six women. Besides Ennis and O'Hanley, the group consisted of holistic nutritionist Rachelle Wood, owner of Insight Marketing Kerry Ann MacDougall, photographer (myself) and UPEI researcher and lecturer Cheryl Wartman.

Since then, the group has grown to twelve where it has been capped to help keep the meetings intimate. Each Tweetheart represents a different industry. Rounding out the group of twelve are freelance editor Christine Gordon Manley, freelance copywriter Jaime Lee Mann, owner of Rita's Style, Julie MacIsaac, mortgage broker Lori MacDonald, IT consultant Esther Duncan, and Jen MacKinnon who works in business development with a local IT Firm.

This group has quickly become very tight, with many members connecting at multiple times throughout the month to chat, drink coffee, and/or toss around business ideas. "It's a tremendous source of support, especially for someone like me who has worked from home for so long," states Jaime Lee Mann, owner of Morell-based Mann Made Copy.

And the support doesn't just stay within the group either. "One thing that was important to us was the idea of giving back to the community somehow," states O'Hanley. She adds, "At every supper, we each chip in $10. We then discuss as a group who we want to help out that month. The first time we did this we had $100 to give to a Twitter friend who was having a difficult pregnancy. The second time, we decided to donate the money to a local family one of us knew was going through a financially draining personal situation."

"We decided that helping one Islander every month was actually a wonderful thing," adds Christine Gordon Manley, owner of CGM Editing. "Often times there are many people who need help but can't access help for whatever reason. And, even more often are those of us who simply need a pick-me-up to help them out of a temporary situation. A hundred dollars or so isn't much, but it can make someone smile, and that's what we want to do."

The Tweethearts do not publicize who they help to protect the privacy of those who accept their donation. You can read more about these acts of Tweetheart kindness here.