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Follow us! Join us! Do good and have fun! |
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FROM PRESIDENT AMY Don’t you love January? The year’s fresh and everyone’s got shiny resolutions and good thoughts. We’ve gathered and celebrated and relaxed. We’ve gifted and received. And we ate all those wonderful, special foods reserved for big celebrations.  For Soroptimists though, it’s almost mid-year. Our club year runs from September through June. We have exciting events coming up, and are knee-deep in planning them. We have projects to support and awards to give and kids to mentor and lots of things to do. And now we get to do all this while refreshed and joyous.
Happy New Year! President Amy |
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 | Daphyne Howell and Ginger Cole |
| Daphyne Howell SI Los Angeles is sorry to share the loss of our beloved member, Daphyne Howell. We had the joy of serving with Daphyne for nine years until her leave of absence due to cancer.
Daphyne embodied all that is wonderful about Soroptimists, and explained when she joined SI Los Angeles that "I have been involved in the non-profit sector for 30 years. I feel even though I work on the administration side, I am still assisting folks less fortunate and it gives me heart felt joy to know in a very small way I am contributing to making someone's life a little better.” |
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Daphyne was our President from 2016-2017, and her New Year’s message during her term is worth remembering and sharing: “I would like to wish everyone a very happy, healthy and safe New Year and one filled with the joy of service and fellowship. May we move forward with renewed energy… Let us focus on the tasks and rejoice with the completion of a well done job.” |
|  | Joyce Jacob and Daphyne Howell |
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SILA 100th birthday in 2022: Daphyne Howell on far left with her million-dollar smile |
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 | SILA Holiday Party!On January 6th, members of SI Los Angeles met at El Cholo for a holiday lunch. We were joined by Governor-Elect Cynthia Jarvis and our District Director Nicole Marr. It was so fun seeing everyone and a perfect start to the new year. |
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Speaker Jan-17: Cynthia Broze, Aerial Nurse Corps of America  SI of Los Angeles is honored to announce author Cynthia Broze will be our guest speaker at our next meeting on January 17th.
Cynthia will be telling us about her latest book, Aerial Nurse Corps of America: Lauretta Schimmoler and Leora Stroup Pilot-In AirEvac, which tells the story of the first air ambulance in the United States, which was formed by a pilot and nurses in 1936.
She is no stranger to telling fascinating stories about historic nursing, Cynthia authored the wonderful Nurses of Los Angeles, Uncapping the Mystery in 2010. This book is filled with photos, stories, and information about the early nurses of Los Angeles and covers from 1856 to 2013. We might be a little biased, as SI of Los Angeles members Barbara Jury, Joyce Jacob, and Margaret Freed can be found in the books’ pages!
Please contact us at info@soroptimist-losangeles.org if you are interested in attending this meeting via zoom.
Check out her book on Amazon! SI Los Angeles receives a small commission on sales, but no extra cost to you! |
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| Meet our honorary SI of Los Angeles elephant members, Kiasa and Kuishi! Our member and Region Governor Lola Abrahamian has generously gifted SI of Los Angeles elephant adoptions for these two cuties through the Sheldrick Trust, a leading conservation and wildlife preservation organization in Africa. |
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The Sheldrick Trust has been rescuing and raising orphan elephants for 45 years. Click the links in this article to read Kiasa and Kuishi’s amazing rescue stories and see their progress. And maybe adopt an elephant of your own!
Thank you Lola for this amazing gift! |
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FUNDRAISERS No cost to you!
Don't forget our on-going fundraisers! No cost to you to sign-up and use, but extra $$ from the participating companies to SI Los Angeles! |
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Our Valentine’s See’s Candy Fundraiser is live! Order your Valentine Gifts
for your Employees, Clients and Sweet Hearts! and help SI Los Angeles help more women this year! 💖 Hurry! Our store closes Jan-26 (Friday) |
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Our HoneyBaked Ham Fundraiser is live! Order your delicious gifts for your Employees, Clients and parties!
and help SI Los Angeles help more women this year! 💖 |
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Ralph's Community Contribution Program
Link your shopper's card to SI of Los Angeles' account (Number SH693). Donation to Soroptimist International of Los Angeles will be a % of $500,000 based on how much we shop and how many other organizations are doing so. |
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Helping Women in NeedDowntown Women’s Center is the only organization in Los Angeles exclusively providing services for women experiencing homelessness. Their mission is to end homelessness for women in greater Los Angeles through housing, wellness, employment, and advocacy. SI Los Angeles has been an avid supporter of Downtown Women’s Center for many years, from cooking breakfasts for their clients, donated toiletries, clothing, and in the 1990’s we donated $17,000 for construction of a residential wing at their original location on skid row. |
|  | Jessica, Henriette, Cindy |
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 | Henriette, Jessica, Amy, Charlotte, Cindy |
| Most recently, this past December SI Los Angeles Members Jessica Washington, Cindy Wu, Charlotte Lerchenmuller, and our visitor Henriette Davennes of SI Draguignan brought our donation of 100 hygiene kits containing toiletries and warm socks to Downtown Women’s Center and followed up with a celebratory lunch at Golden Dragon in Chinatown! |
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Sister Soroptimist Clubs | | Congratulations, SI Suceava! | On November 18th, the world welcomed a new Soroptimist Club! SI Suceava was formed through the efforts of long-time SI Los Angeles friend Nina Smart.
The 26 members of SI Suceava were presented their charter by SI of Europe President Carolien Demey in a beautiful ceremony. SI Los Angeles was honored to be asked to contribute a video of greetings for the event. Our member and SIA President-Elect Ginger Cole also contributed a beautiful video. Both videos can be seen on SI Los Angeles’ YouTube channel.
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Karsiyaka Soroptimist ClubOne of the joys of being a Soroptimist is meeting people from all over the world. SI Los Angeles is lucky to have Karsiyaka Soroptimist Club in Izmir, Turkey as a friendship club.
Izmir is located on the coast of the Agean Sea in western Turkey, and is known for its many beautiful sites. The Karsiyaka Soroptimist Club received its charter on August 4, 1989 and will celebrate its 35th anniversary this year!
One of the club’s current projects is Endometriosis education, and they were awarded the 2023 Best Practice Health Award by the European Soroptimist Clubs. Working with the Endometriosis Association and its physicians, the Karsiyaka Soroptimist Club is organizing seminars in schools, universities, girl’s dormitories, as well as private and state institutions with high female employment. |  |
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Applications are still being accepted for the 2023-2024 Joan Johnson Fellowship Award in the amount of $3500. Applications and materials are due by January 19, 2024.
Awardees must be enrolled in a graduate program at an accredited institution of higher education and reside in Los Angeles County, California. Preference will be given to applicants who have faced obstacles in pursuing their education (e.g., poverty, racism, violence, teen pregnancy, former foster care, single parent, substance abuse disorder) and who have career goals or volunteer experience that relate to the betterment of women and girls. |
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 Dream It, Be It!SI of Los Angeles is thrilled to be again partnering with Sacred Heart High School to bring our Dream It Be It career support for girls to their students. Dream It Be It provides girls with the tools they need to achieve their educational and career goals, empowering them to break cycles of poverty, violence, and abuse.
Below is an infographic illustrating the success this program has had in the past fiscal year. We look forward to working with Sacred Heart High School again! |
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Sacred Heart High School is welcoming us to return on March 6, 2024. The committee is currently discussing the format of the program, which guest (for the living library) will return and which careers to add. Sacred Heart has a new academic counselor, Earnesto Navarrete, responsible for career day. He is excited to work with SI of Los Angeles on the DIBI program. We will be seeking donations of giveaway goodies for the students as icebreakers…Any ideas/donations/suggestions are welcome. |
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 Live Your Dream Applications are now closed!
Every year, Soroptimist distributes more than $2.9 million in education awards to over 2,000 women all over the world. Soroptimist's Live Your Dream Awards program is a unique education award for women who provide the primary financial support for their families. The Live Your Dream Awards give women the resources they need to improve their education, skills and employment prospects.
We're planning to award 4 LYD awards this year. Normally we give three $1000 awards, but this year we are giving an extra one because we received a $1000 anonymous donation. Nov-15 was the final day to apply! Good luck to all the applicants! |
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Soroptimists International of Alhambra will be celebrating 90 years of service! For more info, visit their website here.
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