Soroptimist of Humboldt Bay announces the list of their award Winners

(Reagan Lima)

                       

(Other winners and attendees)

Many of us lovingly recall the story of our founder, Violet Richardson, who learned a very powerful lesson from her brother in that “It’s what you DO that counts!”

She put this lesson into action by becoming a suffragette and lobbying congress for laws to affect equality.  She started our organization, Soroptimists, which means “Best for women.”

Violet knew that fundraising for the educational opportunities and betterment of women and girls benefitted all of society.

It is in this spirit that we award Kylie Van Vleck the Violet Richardson Award.  This $1500 cash grant is given to Kylie as the young lady who best exemplifies the phrase, “It’s what you DO that counts!  Kylie is a very busy person who balances a solid academic schedule of AP classes with cheer, FFA, and debate.  Specifically, her lifetime of 4-H membership was the springboard to launching her towards an attitude of charitable action within our community.

Star Siegfried (Ruby Award winner)

Star Siegfried is the 2020 recipient of SIHB's Ruby Award. Star is an advocate for women and infants.

For over 20 years, and she has changed the lives of mothers in Humboldt County through her Mother 2 Mother Support Group. Star facilitates lactation support, empowering those who thought that breastfeeding might not be possible or sustainable.

In addition, Star connects mothers with mothers to create a village of women supporting each other as they face the benefits and challenges of motherhood.  Star donated her monetary award to the Mother2Mother Support group, a dream maker project of the INK PEOPLE.

Sarah Johnson (Live Your Dream Award Winner)

Sarah has overcome many challenges and has had great support the past few years to help her improve her life.  This award is another step, greatly needed to encourage her spirit.  She is raising her 8-year old daughter while attending Sierra College on-line.  Sarah hopes to transfer to Humboldt State University to finish her degree in Social Work or Psychology.  Sarah was also just hired by the County of Humboldt as an assistant, with elders in our community.

Joanne Colegrove (Re-Entry Award Winner)

Joanne returned to school when her youngest child became more independent.  While raising her children she worked at “unfavorable jobs at low wages” in order to contribute to the family’s economic needs.

With determination and commitment Joanne completed two years at CR and has been admitted to Humboldt State University.  Her goal to bring all social services “together” in her community is visionary.

Joanne has always modeled hard work and commitment in the face of adversity.  In her own words, “I have been alive long enough to witness how destructive life can be without proper guidance at critical points in one’s life.”  The youth in Hoopa will benefit from Joanne’s completing her education. An investment in her is an investment in a whole community.

Another Re-Entry award was granted to a well-deserving local recipient who has respectfully requested that her information not be made public.

Elizabeth Odell (Distinguished Youth Award Winner)

Elizabeth has been involved in many programs during her high school years.  During her freshman year, she was involved in a program that created a grant application and raised and donated approximately $6000 to the “Backpacks for Kids“ program; a program that provides food for children to sustain them over the weekend where they would otherwise have none.

Elizabeth founded a club to prepare a team for the “Battle of the Books” competition.  This is a nationwide program where teams read a list of books and later compete against other teams on their knowledge of the books. Humboldt County Office of Education later adopted this program and now holds competitions for elementary schools throughout Humboldt county.

During Elisabeth’s junior year, she volunteered at the Alice Birney Elementary school “after bike school program” to help kids a younger age become more involved in bicycling.

Elizabeth is currently serving as an exchange student in Spain for the Rotary club; she lives with a different family host family every three months. She believes that representing the United States as an exchange student will help to strengthen international bonds.

She plans to attend Humboldt State University and studying environmental engineering.  Elizabeth is also planning on participating in the HSU cycling team and would like to help more women get involved in this male-dominated sport.

Reagan Lima (Women in Business Award Winner)

Raegen Lima was the successful applicant of the Inaugural Women in Business Award.
This award was open to all women to start or grow their own business and was awarded the amount of $1,000.

Raegan is a local graduate from Eureka High who spent seven years in Santa Cruz attending Cabrillo College where she graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts and Science, then going on to graduate from Five Branches University with a Doctorate degree in traditional Chinese medicine.

After travelling and training in Hangzhou China, Raegan returned home to Humboldt County, and with the assistance of these grant funds will be opening Limas’s Center for Acupuncture and Holistic Medicine. Her new practice will soon be opening on Harrison Avenue in Eureka.

Eureka High School “S” Club

S Club's were established by Soroptimist International in 1966 to provide Soroptimist clubs with the opportunity to team up and mentor high school women, as well as install a desire for volunteerism.

In the fall of 2019, SIHB and a group of EHS students came together to create an S Club with a mission to serve the community, especially women. Eight Eureka High School girls were inducted at the SIHB Awards Dinner on March 5th as official S Club members.

S Club had a successful toiletry drive in the fall, which were collected and delivered to the Betty Chinn center. The club is currently celebrating Women's History Month by holding an event each Tuesday to celebrate women. They are currently selling shirts as a fundraiser for their club, and they will be joining Soroptimist at High Heels for Healing on April 1st.

We all would not be here without the amazing S Club Advisors, Savannah Smith and Kailtan Tatro. Thank you so much for your support, dedication and leadership!