Reflecting On Our 2017-2018 Year

As we prepare for our new Soroptimist year beginning in September, it is easy to forget what we accomplished in our 2017-18 year.

President Marcelle put together a list of our accomplishments that she read at our last Program Meeting in June.

I hope we all take pride in what we did last year…I know I do!

2017 – 2018 List of Accomplishments

• Mitzvah Meals: Prepared meals for various homeless shelters at Temple Beth Sholom (twice).
• Donated and delivered a full-size bed to a senior lady from the HB Senior Center. Thank you, Cathy Standiford for donating the bed and thanks to Diana Perna for providing transportation for the pickup and delivery.
• Donated a scooter to a senior lady from the Senior Center. Scooter donated Diana Perna.
• Collected packs of diapers to donate to the CARE pantries at Orange Coast, golden West and Coastline colleges
• Assembled 38 jars filled with toiletries, socks, snacks, etc. for Collette’s House.
• Adopted 2 moms and 5 children for the year as supported by the Dolly Wakeham fund
• Helped one of the ‘DW moms’ move from a shelter to her own apartment. Thank you to all the members who donated money, furniture and various household items to set her up in her new apartment.  Members helped with the move and organized the apartment.  Thank you to Alisa Armstrong for donating the couch and to Diana Perna for getting it delivered
• Through efforts by Terry Rose, we generated 14 applications for the Live Your Dream program. Members met to select 5 honorees who received collectively a total of $7,500 in scholarships.  We purchased a new computer for one of the applicants.  We passed on the remaining 9 applications to neighboring clubs to select for awards.
• Together with the Newport Area Harbor club, Cathy Standiford led 12 members as they conducted 2 sessions of 7 weeks of the Dream, It Be It curriculum to 30 female High School students from the Newport Mesa High School.
• Donated $600 to the Youth Shelter as evidenced by the snowflake at the Huntington Beach pier at Christmas time.
• Donated 2 scooters, 2 pairs of roller skates and helmets and 1 skate board to Project Self-Sufficiency for their – Christmas party.
• Adopted 3 ladies from the Senior Center for Christmas and bought them items from their Christmas Wish lists. We repeated this giving as the senior ladies needed more items.
• Donated $1000 to Build Futures, an organization that takes homeless youth, ages 18 to 24 off the streets to self-sufficiency.
• Held a Christmas party for the Dolly Wakeham moms and their children. Thank you, Leslie Miller for opening up your home for this event.
• Collected and donated items to the C.A.R.E. Program at Orange Coast College.
• Showered our 3 Dolly Wakeham families with Christmas gifts and gifts for other special occasions.
• Megan Lattimer, a former Dolly Wakeham mom, moved into a new apartment and SIHB donated $250 towards the cost of a bunk bed for her children. Members donated various items for her new place.
• Held our annual, signature Day of Empowerment and pampered 20 women with clothing, hair styling and make-up. In other words, we showed them how important, supported and loved they are.  Thank you to the Assistance League for opening their store and facility for this event and for our newly formed partnership and collaboration for years to come!
• Collected and donated 24 gift cards and a silent auction basket to the District Spring Conference. Gift cards go to support the EOPS CARE programs at various community colleges throughout our region.
• Donated $1,280 to Soroptimist International for Club Giving. This amount is 10% of last year’s income and it will be used by SI for additional Live Your Dream Awards.
• Awarded $1,250 scholarship to a Project Self Sufficiency participant.
• Gave $100 gift cards to one current and one of our past LYD award winners who graduated from college.
• Sponsored a student in Haiti so that she may continue to attend school. What is she studying to be – it used to be teacher.
• Awarded $500 Catou Defriend scholarship to a dance student from HBHS. This donation was matched by another non-profit.
• Purchased a $30 duck at the Duck-A-Thon in honor of Donna Cross, a former SIHB president. Proceeds from this event go to Alta Med, Huntington Beach Community Clinic.

And where did we get all this money from?

• The annual Wine Tasting event raised about $3,800.
• The annual Stay Home for the Holidays event raised about $6,000.
• Three Bunco’s raised approximately $2,000.
• Received a grant from AES for $1500.
• Received cash donations for over $500 each from various members.
• The Walk to Make a Difference raised approximately $2,000.

And then……..

• Our membership grew by about 25% and that’s 12 new members.
• We received the Celebrating Success Award for our Walk to Make A Difference.
• 11 members attended the winter district meeting.
• Received a badge for Great Non-Profits as people gave testimonials about our club.
• 8 Members attended the DCR spring conference.