Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner (SITD) celebrates four local women in the annual Celebrating the Best for Woman awards.

The Soroptimist Live Your Dream (LYD) award has been helping women around the world since 1972 and has distributed about $30 million to almost 20,000 women worldwide. This award from SITD is given to women who are head of household and want to improve their career opportunities. This year’s award was shared by Jessie Eastman and Marysusan (Sue) Morganti. They each received $1,000. Jessie is a mother of two children and wants to get her Nurse Operation Room (CNOR) certification. Sue, a mother of five children, is planning to complete Paralegal Studies Certification.

The Ruby Award is granted to a woman who actively supports women and girls over multiple years. Our winner this year is Kasey McJunkin. Over the last three years, she has devoted countless hours to serving the interests of our local teens, more specifically young women heading to college and especially our Latinas through La Fuerza Latina. She will donate her gift of $500 to La Fuerza Latina.

The Violet Richardson Award is given to a high school volunteer who serves her community. This year’s winner is Siena Lopez. She asked that her gift of $300 be split between SWEP and Sierra Community House. She will also receive an additional $300 for herself. Siena started volunteering in the third grade emphasizing support for children’s education on environmental awareness. In high school she has worked with Helping the Wild through her Girl Scout Gold Award. She also participates in volunteer activities for environmental sustainability, included river clean up days, and was awarded a Silver Award for a video she made titled, “Dyslexia; what is it?”

SITD President, Patti Conk, commented, “We are proud to empower women to improve their career opportunities with these grants, and to honor women and girls for their support of our community.”

The Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner (SITD) holds monthly club meetings by ZOOM on the second Thursday of each month at noon. All women are invited to join us as a guest by emailing us at info@SITD.info. For more information, go to http://www.SITD.info or contact Patti Conk, President, at 973-771-8777. SITD hosts the will host a Silent Auction June 4-6 and Soroptishop, a craft fair for shopping, featuring local artisans, in November.

Soroptimist (soroptimist.org) is an international volunteer service organization working to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner (www.SITD.info) is a 501(c)(3) organization.

Source: Soroptimist International of Truckee Donner