Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra award local women and girls in the community

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra (SITS) held a virtual awards ceremony Thursday to celebrate the winners of its annual GIVE, Ruby, and Live Your Dream awards.

March is Women’s History Month, which celebrates women’s contributions to history, culture, and society. Each year the club holds its awards celebration as close to International Women’s Day, March 8, as possible. March also marked the club’s anniversary, and this year marks 45 years since the club was formed.

SITS President Nancy Muller led the virtual ceremony and all recipients were given their cash awards and certificates prior to the start.

The winners celebrated Thursday:

G.I.V.E. Award (Girls Into Volunteer Experiences)
Phoebe Bitzer
Giulia Lancellotti
Erin Yamaoka

Ruby Award
Roberta Strachan

Live Your Dream Award
JoAnne Atkins
Nicola Evans
Samantha Moorehead

GIVE stands for Girls into Volunteer Experiences. This program recognizes young women grades 8 through 12 who volunteer in their community or school. The award was previously named after Violet Richardson, the president of the first Soroptimist club in Alameda County in 1921. She believed in personal responsibility and the motto, “It's what you do that counts.” Violet Richardson lived her life accordingly, as an active member in her community who was committed to creating opportunities for girls and young women.
We are recognizing 3 STHS recipients this year. Each girl received $250 for herself, and an additional $250 was given to the organization of her choice.

The Soroptimist Ruby Award was created in honor of the first Soroptimist Federation President, Ruby Lee Minar. The gemstone ruby is associated with wisdom, importance, vitality, strength, power, and love; words that embody our award recipient today. The Ruby winner received $400 and an additional $400 was given to her volunteer organization, as recognition of her commitment to our community.

The Live Your Dream Award (LYD) assists women who provide the primary source of financial support to their families by giving them the resources they need to improve their education, skills, and employment opportunities. This is a signature program for Soroptimists worldwide, and this happens to
be the 50th anniversary of this global program.

Each year more than $2.8 million in education grants are awarded to more than 1800 women. Since 1972 the LYD awards have supported more than 35,000 women in achieving their goals and making their dreams possible.

Many of these women have overcome enormous obstacles including poverty, domestic violence and/or drug and alcohol abuse. Live Your Dream recipients may use the cash award to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education such as books, childcare, tuition, and transportation. In addition to providing the primary financial support for their families, eligible applicants must be enrolled in, or have been accepted to, a vocational or skill training program or an undergraduate degree program and must demonstrate financial need.

The SITS winner was awarded $2,000 and now moves on to the regional, national, and international levels for further possible recognition.

The SITS club holds an annual fundraiser, Elegant Evening, which allows them to help others in the community. It will be held virtually this year on April 22, starting at 6:00 p.m. The evening is free to attend and is full of entertainment and a fabulous silent auction. For more information, visit https://elegantevening2022.com/.