Soroptimist International of Arbutus

Two years ago I had never heard of Soroptimist International, much like most of you reading this I would guess. I was invited to a meeting by my mother and I just thought it would be fun to get out for a couple hours in the evening! Looking back I'm so thankful that I decided to go. Over the past two years I've gotten to know an amazing group of women. My purpose in writing this blog is to hopefully share with the community the things that we're doing in the community to help better the lives of women and girls. And maybe I'll inspire you to join us!

Soroptimist International of Arbutus is just one club of hundreds all over the world. There are more than 95,000 members in more than 120 countries. All clubs have a common mission: Helping women and girls. One of my first questions was "Soroptimi-what?!" I quickly learned that Soroptimist means "best for women."

Our local club is quite a busy group. We give numerous cash grants each year to local women in our community. A couple of those awards are the Violet Richardson Award given to a local high school girl who has gone above and beyond in her community service. The Women's Oppurtunity Award given to a local college student who is head of her household, trying to take care of her family while obtaining a degree.

We also maintain the garden across from the Hollywood movie theater. Ever notice the bright flowers or bright holiday decorations? Yup, that's us!

We've also been helping to support the amazing women at the YWCA's permanent housing project on Southwestern Blvd.

I'm hoping to use this blog to go into more detail about some of the projects we're doing and the fundraising that we do to help pay for our service projects.

For more information you can always visit our website at www.siarbutus.org and stay tuned for future blogs about our upcoming events! I hope that I can help paint a clear picture for everyone about our organization and you'll join us in supporting the women and girls in our community!