Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the Month.
September to June
Special Announcement
Welcome Our New Board
Governor Elect Bonnie installed our 2008-2010 SI Guelph Board in June 2008
Our new Board is as follows...
President – Flora Francis
First Vice- President - Angela North
Second Vice-President - Aileen Kirkham
Treasurer - Lynda Twomey
Secretary – Georgina Brookfield
Director Awards - Jennifer Oliver
Following the leadership of the Past President Donna Keating we are working steadfastly to improve the lives of women and girls in the Guelph community.
We are delighted to have two new members and are sure that we will reach the required membership goal.
OUR NEWEST MEMBER!
Joanna Baar was installed at our December meeting by Membership Chair Georgina Brookfield.
Joanna migrated from the Netherlands and moved to Arthur, Ontario, where she and her husband have a greenhouse business. She became a Soroptimist in the Netherlands, in the Federation of S.I. Europe. We look forward to hearing about her experiences in the European Federation.
Special Highlights
SOROPTIMIST MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR WOMEN AWARD
Joyce Frank, a resident of Guelph for many years, was our choice for this award. Her major contributions for women and girls are with Hospice Wellington, a not -for-profit centre of expertise and compassionate care for people with life-threatening illnesses and the bereaved. For over ten years she partnered with the Salvation Army and organized the community Christmas Sing-a-long. The Salvation Army Band and the choir at St. George’s Church alternate singing and playing carols along with the Guelph community. A free will offering is collected which this year was over $3000.00. This money is used to provide Christmas hampers for needy families in Guelph. In addition, Joyce, four years ago, started the “Christmas Caring tree” at St. George’s church. She decorated a small Christmas tree with names of “shut ins” from the church and asked the congregation to take a name and visit the person with a plant and some cookies. We all know that most of these people are older and disabled women who are very grateful for their visits.
Undoubtedly she has been an unassuming leader in the community, who despite being a cancer survivor and recently widowed, is still driven to improve the lives of those who desperately need help in the community. She will be presented with our club award in the Spring.
Awards
W.O.A: Women’s Opportunity Award
Cynthia Ayala is a single mother with two young children. As a child she had dreams of one day becoming a Police Officer. She was in an abusive relationship for a total of 6 ½ years spending some time in and out of women’s shelters before leaving three years ago and staying in a women’s shelter with her two children. Before leaving the relationship she laid the groundwork to escape and at the same time return to school. She acquired several certificates to improve her skills and then applied to Conestoga College taking Police Foundations. At the time of receiving the WOA award she was in the second year of the course. By the end of the summer, she had graduated, and is now working as a Corporate Physical Security Officer at Barber -Collins Security Services Ltd. in Waterloo, ON.
V.R.A: Violet Richardson Award
Heather Gauley was the recipient of the 2007 VRA for Guelph. Heather, a high school student in Guelph, has been volunteering at St. Joseph’s Health Centre since June 2006. She assists seniors attending Catholic Mass as well as working with Alzheimer’s patients. At the time of the award she had completed 200 volunteer hours at St. Joseph’s and received the Teen Volunteer Award and the Miss Congeniality Award. She lives in Guelph with her parents who also attended the presentation. She intends to pursue a career in medicine.
Monthly meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the Month
September to June
Ag Energy Co-operative Ltd.
45 Speedvale Ave E.
Guelph, Ontario
(The Office is near the intersection of Woolwich and Speedvale.)
To improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and around the world.
Soroptimist International is an international service club whose membership is comprised of business and professional women. Program focus is "the best for women". Many of our service projects are evaluated based on this focus. Those listed below are some of the most recognizable in our community and for our membership. In addition to local service projects, SI Guelph sponsors two annual awards, where winners at the club level are given the opportunity to go on to compete at Regional and Federation levels. These awards are the Women's Opportunity Award (WOA) and the Violet Richardson Award (VR). Please contact us for further information.
SI Guelph Partners With Habitat For Humanity
S.I. Guelph was able to partner with Habitat for Humanity Wellington County to prepare a new home in Guelph for occupancy by a single mother and her four children.
Featuring Aileen Kirkham, Flora Francis, Angela North, and Georgina Brookfield showing off our new banner in the Habitat House before we began to work. Georgina was instrumental in obtaining the banner donated by SignShop, a local sign business. Madeline Pryce who will soon be the new owner of the house is enrolled at Harrison College, Cambridge and hopes to be come a counselor. Our club will continue to partner with Habitat, an exciting new project for us.
Assisting St. George’s Church Outreach Program by serving meals on designated Saturdays to people in Guelph who are in need.
President’s Appeal December 10 2008:‘Restoring Dignity - Securing a Future’ (Desta Mender Village)
This year, President Margaret Lobo has decided to continue the 2007 President’s Appeal and provide much needed further support to the women and girls of Desta Mender Village at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital in Ethiopia. We continue to partner with the Hamlin Fistula Relief and Aid Fund, a registered charity dedicated to supporting the work of the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
www.fistulatrust.org
Our Club participates in Federal level award programs that are funded by the Soroptimist Program Fund.
Women's Opportunity Award
The Women's Opportunity Award is available to any female head of household who is pursuing post-secondary education in order to better her life and the lives of her children. Applications for this award are available by contacting the club in the fall of each year. Winners receive a monetary award of $1000 from the Guelph club in April each year, and their submission is forwarded on to the SIA Eastern Canada Region for further judging. Regional awards are handed out at the Spring Conference held each year in late April/early May.
Violet Richardson Award
Honouring Young Women for Volunteer Action. This new award was launched at the SIA Federation Convention in Hawaii in July 2000. The Violet Richardson award recognizes young women ages 14-17 engaged in volunteer action within their communities or schools. The award is given to young women whose volunteer activities make the community and world a better place.
Making A Difference For Women
The Soroptimist Making a Difference for Women Award program acknowledges women who, through their personal or professional activities, are working to improve the lives of other women and girls. Examples include: spearheading an effort to open a domestic violence shelter, starting a mentoring program for at-risk girls, or lobbing companies to provide on-site childcare. Award winners at the club level are eligible for additional awards at other levels of the organization. The finalist receives a $5,000 donation to the charitable organization of her choice.
Soroptimist Of The Year Award
This is an award given to one outstanding Soroptimist Member in each club in the region each year. Award names to be sent to Regional Governor by April 1st for regional recognition at the annual region conference.
Foundations
The club donates to both the Soroptimist Foundation of Canada and the Soroptimist International Foundation. (Economic and Social Development, Human Rights/Status of Women). The Soroptimist Foundation of Canada annually offers four $7,500 grants to female graduate students in Canada to assist them with university studies, which will qualify them for careers that will improve the quality of women's lives. Examples include but are not limited to: providing services, providing legal counseling and assistance, counseling mature women entering or re-entering the labour market, counseling women in crisis, counseling and training women for non-traditional employment, and positions in women's centers.
Our main fundraiser at present is selling MacMillan's fine foods, which consists of ready-to-bake fruit pie, cookie dough, muffin batter and more.
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
February 21, 2009 Four of our club members will help with the “Set Up” for the dinner given by the St. George’s Anglican Church Outreach Program at the Royal City Church in Guelph.
March 5, 2009 International Women's Day members of our club will attend the Breakfast for Afghanistan hosted by Canadian Women for Women Afghanistan, which coordinates some wonderful educational projects to raise funds for the education of girls and women in Afghanistan at the University of Guelph.
March 28, 2009 Several members of our club will attend the Women In Crisis Organization Fundraising Gala. This organization assists abused women in getting their lives back on track.
April 1, 2009 The Annual Awards Evening when the winners of the Violet Richardson Award and the Women’s Opportunity Award will receive their awards. There will be a guest speaker and potential members will be invited.
Over 50 Years Of Service!
Governor Elect Bonnie installed our 2008-2010 SI Guelph Board in June 2008
OUR NEWEST MEMBER!
SOROPTIMIST MAKING A DIFFERENCE FOR WOMEN AWARD
Cynthia Ayala is a single mother with two young children. As a child she had dreams of one day becoming a Police Officer. She was in an abusive relationship for a total of 6 ½ years spending some time in and out of women’s shelters before leaving three years ago and staying in a women’s shelter with her two children. Before leaving the relationship she laid the groundwork to escape and at the same time return to school. She acquired several certificates to improve her skills and then applied to Conestoga College taking Police Foundations. At the time of receiving the WOA award she was in the second year of the course. By the end of the summer, she had graduated, and is now working as a Corporate Physical Security Officer at Barber -Collins Security Services Ltd. in Waterloo, ON.
V.R.A: Violet Richardson Award
SI Guelph Partners With Habitat For Humanity
President's Appeal 2008
The Women's Opportunity Award is available to any female head of household who is pursuing post-secondary education in order to better her life and the lives of her children. Applications for this award are available by contacting the club in the fall of each year. Winners receive a monetary award of $1000 from the Guelph club in April each year, and their submission is forwarded on to the SIA Eastern Canada Region for further judging. Regional awards are handed out at the Spring Conference held each year in late April/early May.
The club donates to both the Soroptimist Foundation of Canada and the Soroptimist International Foundation. (Economic and Social Development, Human Rights/Status of Women). The Soroptimist Foundation of Canada annually offers four $7,500 grants to female graduate students in Canada to assist them with university studies, which will qualify them for careers that will improve the quality of women's lives. Examples include but are not limited to: providing services, providing legal counseling and assistance, counseling mature women entering or re-entering the labour market, counseling women in crisis, counseling and training women for non-traditional employment, and positions in women's centers.
MacMillan's