Northwestern Region

SI ASHLAND WINS BIG!!!!!!!

Submitted by Kathy Mooney
SI Ashland

On November 9, 2003, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival contacted Kathy Mooney, President of SI Ashland and informed her that they wanted to nominate the Soroptimists of Ashland for the Jackson County Community Service Award. Jackson County awards a Community Service Award each month to an entity in the community for their service to the people of Jackson County. In order for them to process the nomination, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival requested specific information on our club activities. Based on the information listed below, SI Ashland was awarded the Jackson County Community Service Award for August. 2004. A certificate was awarded on July 28, 2004 in the Jackson County Chambers in Medford, Oregon.

The Soroptimist International of Ashland club was chartered in 1946.   We began our partnership with the OSF in 1949 renting pillows and blankets for Festival patrons at the outdoor theater for its entire season.  At the end of the season, the rental funds are tallied up, expenses deducted, and then the remaining funds are evenly split between OSF scholarships and Soroptimist International of Ashland.   It is in our by-laws that every penny that we raise for service goes to service projects.  No service monies are used for club administration.  Running the Pillow and Blanket booth at the festival is our main fundraiser for the year.  It is essential to our service projects that help support the following projects in the community:

• Dunn House
• Rape Crisis Center
• Working Ways Mentoring Program
• Cancer Awareness Project (CAP)
• Violet Richardson Award (youth community service)
• Garden Way Park
• Community Health Center
• Ashland High/ Phoenix High Graduation Night
• Trinity Respite Center
• July 4th Celebration Baby Contest
•  Women Helping Women Award
•  Woman of Distinction Award
• Advancing the Status of Women Award
•  Highway Cleanup
• North Mountain Park
• Lights for Life
• Women's Opportunity Awards
• SOU Grant-in-aid
• SOU Raider Club Award to Female Athletes
• Trees of Joy
• Empty Bowls Project for Local Food Banks
• Ashland High School Scholarship $1,000
• Vocational-Technical Award  $500
• Elementary School Grants
• Domestic Violence Hotline Cards
• Puerto Vallarta Feed the Children Project
• Project Independence - Women Survivors of War

These are the list of our main projects but there are many more projects that we serve both in our local and worldwide communities.

It is imperative in this day and age of shrinking state program budgets, in our schools and in our communities that our service hours and funds help support the needs of our communities that can no longer be covered by traditional agencies and organizations.  The poor, disabled and disadvantaged are quickly being neglected in our society as well as a huge school financial crisis that is facing this nation.   Soroptimist International of Ashland is committed to helping ease these crisis's in our community.

Soroptimist International of Ashland is a member of Soroptimist International, a worldwide organization for women in management and professions and is now the world's largest service organization for women.  Soroptimist International has been a non-governmental organization (NGO) with the United Nations since 1951.  It is in this forum that Soroptimist International representatives can advocate for the Soroptimist mission, advancing the status of women and girls.

For more information about Soroptimist in the Northwestern Region, click here.