SEQUIM — Those with Soroptimist International have long wanted what’s best for women and girls.
And members say that is just what the Sequim club has been doing as it approaches its 65th anniversary on Wednesday and gears up for a May 8 celebration to mark the milestone.
The event, at 6 p.m. at the Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church, 925 N. Sequim Ave., will feature Monica Dixon, an author and psychologist who will talk on how to manage the many demands of parenthood.
“We want to present who we are to the young women of the community,” said past Sequim Soroptimist president Kathy Purcell, w a club member for 15 years.
“Maybe some young women will find that our organization speaks to them, and they will want to get involved,” she said.
Since its founding in 1921, Soroptimist International has grown to more than 100,000 members in 120 countries and territories.
Soroptimist International of Sequim, now at 49 members, was chartered on May 2, 1947, by a dozen community women.
They included Helen Haller, the late former principal who was honored by having a Sequim elementary school named for her.
The club raises money through several events, especially the annual March Garden Show at the Sequim unit of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula on Fir Street, which in its 14th year netted $21,500.
“We try to keep most of the fund to our community,” said past president Kate Creasey, adding that the club has raised money for Port Angeles projects, including the Rose House domestic violence shelter and Healthy Families of Clallam County.
But perhaps the Sequim club’s best-known charitable effort is the Medical Loan Closet, which lends donated items, such as walkers, wheelchairs, bath seats, commodes, crutches and canes, to those with health challenges.
The closet is a storage unit at Sequim Stow Place, 600 N. Sequim Ave.
For an appointment, call 360-504-0231.
“We probably have 300 to 400 items out on loan right now,” said Creasey, a club member for the past eight years.
The loan closet is filled from floor to ceiling with medical equipment available for loan.
One of the club’s biggest focuses is helping young women advance in careers through its signature program, Women in Networks.
“It’s to help build self-esteem in young girls and offer unusual career opportunities to them,” Purcell said, listing options as everything from welding to a career in medicine.
“It exposes them to things they normally would not be exposed to.”
Women in Law, Women in Politics and Women Entrepreneurs have been programs Sorpotimists helped present.
“Last year, we invited graduates of Sequim High School to come and talk to girls,” Purcell said.
“When they hear women a little closer to their age, they find they can relate.”
Money raised by Sequim Soroptimists goes to scholarships, totaling at least $10,000.
The club sells See’s Candy year-round to raise money — $4,000 last year. It also puts on an annual garage sale that raised about $4,000 and “A Night at the Theater,” which brought in approximately $1,500.
Sequim Soroptimists also put on a luncheon at Key Bank in Sequim for royalty that rides in the Sequim Irrigation Festival Parade in May.
The group offers a Women’s Opportunity Award of $1,500 to a deserving young woman, which can help pay for child care, books or transportation to give a hand up in advancing on a career path.
As a Sequim High School student, Creasey was a Sequim “Girl of the Month” in 1973 and today, at 55, she gives back to the clubs that honored her.
“I have always been interested in women’s rights,” Creasey said. “I believe we have gained a lot of ground in this country, but we have a lot that still needs to be done.”
Sequim Soroptimists meet each month.
Those interested in joining the organization are welcome to attend meetings. Shelle Paulbitski is the Sequim Soroptimists 2012 president.
Contact the club at info@sisequim.com for information, meeting dates and venue, or visit www.sisequim.com or soroptimist.org.
________
Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2390, extension 5052 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
