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Empowering women and girls since 1960 locally and globally. About 2025-2026 Soroptimist International of Vacaville Board of Directors Co-Presidents- Debi Schrader & Yvonne Thrasher Presidents-elect- Diane Barney & Robin Miller Recording Secretary- Dawn Shepherd Corresponding Secretary- Cyndy Giaquinto Treasurer- Nicole McGown Assistant Treasurer- Diane Nunez One Year Director-Sandy Esparza Two-Year Director-Connie Eizikowitz One-Year Delegate-Dawn Shepherd Two-Year Delegate-Mary Dickey One-Year Alternative Delegate- Lenora Fuller Two-Year Alternate Delegate-Clara Oakes We believe all women and girls can embrace who they are, live their dreams, and can change the world. Our Mission Our Mission Soroptimist is a global volunteer organization that provides women and girls with access to the education and training they need to achieve economic empowerment, especially those facing significant obstacles. The name Soroptimist means "Best for Women." If you share our vision and would like to know more about membership in Soroptimist click here. Our Vision Women and girls have the resources and opportunities to reach their full potential and live their dreams. Founded in 1960, Soroptimist International of Vacaville is part of Soroptimist International of the Americas, a global organization that works to improve the lives of women and girls through programs leading to social and economic empowerment. We Need Your Support Today! Donate TERMS OF USE

Offering scholarships to women in their second year of college. RECAPS "S" Club Scholarships Membership is a great experience, and it just got better with an opportunity to apply for the Soroptimist International of Vacaville "S" Club Scholarship! Minimum award is $750. It is easy to apply and qualify! Be a member of a Vacaville "S" Club and be in your senior year. Applications available February 1, 2026, through April 20, 2026 . SCHOLARSHIP LINK COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS ON HOLD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE Scholarships are open to women i n their second ( or higher) year of college. We know there are many scholarships out there for women in the first year of college and we wanted to bridge that gap. We are looking for an outstanding young woman from Vacaville to apply for our Soroptimist International of Vacaville Scholarship, $9,000, paid out in $3,000 installments over three years. Requirements: Graduate of a Vacaville High School or live in Vacaville GPA of 3.0 or above Currently enrolled in a two- or four-year college or university and working toward a degree. All applications will be judged with anonymity and will be scored based on financial need grades volunteerism community activities letters of recommendation submission of an essay Dream Maker Scholarships- Use QR Code

Nominate a mentor today for Soroptimist International of Vacaville's You Make A Difference You Make A Difference Award Do you know a woman who is currently making extraordinary differences in the lives of women/and or girls? Nominate her today for our You Make A Difference Award! She is an inspiration, a mentor, role model and a catalyst for affirmative change, who quietly and without fanfare goes about positively influencing the direction and path of young women. She actively participates as a mentor, cheerleader, coach and leader. She does these things through her employment, volunteer work and/ or friendship. Examples may include a counselor, teacher, mentor, girl scout leader, mother of a friend, coach. The following attributes make you think of her: Impact: This woman’s work or volunteerism is making a significant difference in the life of a woman or a girl. Inspiration: The work of this woman inspires and encourages women and girls Mentor: She serves as an ongoing coach and mentor, who inspires and encourages, assisting women/girls in developing their skills and experiences, and provides them with ongoing support and encouragement. Commitment: Through the depth and breadth of her involvement, she supports women and girls to achieve their goals, aspirations, and dreams. NOMINATE TODAY! Sarah Velasquez 2023-2024 Awardee Submission Form Your Name Nominee's Name Your Email Why you are nominating this person Submit Left to Right Chair Cyndy, Sarah Velasquez, Committee members Connie and Donna Sarah is an outstanding teacher at Buckingham Charter School enjoying her 22nd year in teaching. She is also an "S" Club advisor. Sarah is dedicated to enriching the lives of all students, not just her own. She takes on extra duties as a teacher going above and beyond the call of duty and adding to her already overwhelming workload. Sarah is warm, nurturing and dedicated to her profession all while making the lives of her students and colleagues much brighter. She is a woman of substance and is a perfect addition to our Soroptimist “You Make a Difference” award. Awardee for 2021-2022 Congratulations to awardee Kelli Germeraad of Vacaville, who has been honored with SI Vacaville’s first-ever “You Make a Difference Award,” for her outstanding mentorship, support, encouragement and advocacy for young women through the American Legion Auxiliary’s Girls State program. Kelli Germeraad Awardee for 2022-2023 Congratulations to Cathia Bueno Sanchez, who was presented with the "You Make a Difference," award by Soroptimist International of Vacaville during its annual awards banquet April 17. Soroptimist Bridgit Strachan (left) and Cyndi Gianquinto (right) presented flowers in a crystal vase and the award to Cathia, who is a case manager for the Women's Re-Entry Achievement Program with Solano County. Left to Right Chair Bridgit, Cat Sanchez, member Cyndy

Dream it, Be it- workshops to empower girls 14 through 18 with lifeskill and problem solving training. Dream It, Be It Dream It, Be It reaches girls in secondary school who face obstacles to their future success. Through small group workshops or a conference setting, we mentor girls on setting and achieving their goals, moving forward after setbacks or failures, and discovering career opportunities.

Live Your Dream awards grants to women head of household who are furthering their education and have financial need. Live Your Dream This is a program from Soroptimist International of the Americas. Award is open to women who are head of household with financial need. Since its inception in 1972, SIA has distributed more than $30 million in education awards to 30,000 women making a better life for themselves and their families. Soroptimist Int. of Vacaville is a part of this effort. Read about the impact here. To learn if you qualify please visit our application page LYD 2024-2025 We awarded 9 Live Your Dream Scholarships Ranging from $1000 to $1,500 Apply between 8/1 and 11/15

Soroptimist International of Vacaville was founded in 1960 and is part of the larger Soroptimist International of the Americas, a service organization to empower woman and girls through education, leading to economic empowerment. Programs to Empower, Recognize, and Honor Women and Girls Our Programs Click on links to go to program for more details. Live YourDream - Grant program for head of household women in college or trade school with financial need. Dream It, Be It - Working with high school girls to teach resiliency,problem solving, and goal setting. Dream Makers - Working with WRAP to empower and support women re-entering the work force. Scholarships - Offering $9,000.00 scholarships ( paid over 3 years to women in their 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year of college. Mary Harris Reading program - Reading to children in after school programs in Vacaville. Community Grants- currently awarding grants to Girls State though American Legion Auxiliary You Make A Difference Award - Honoring women in our community who make a difference. Care-o-ling- 43rd annual caroling at Assisted Living Homes. Founder Region Signature Project- Fellowship Violet Richardson Award - Honoring young women in High School for volunteerism. "S" clubs - Supporting service clubs in local high schools. Read the facts and statistics here . Why Women and Girls?

Soroptimist of Vacaville President's Blog Read all about what is happening in Vacaville to empower women and girls. President Clara Oakes President Mary Dickey Rose Mary and Donna Catch up with us! OCTOBER 1 Two sets of Soroptimists teamed up to offer their report on "6 Degress of Sharing." First up, longtime member Donna Fox and new member Rose Mary Forehand came with detailed notes on their long history of friendship, including babies that were born during the same year, and watching those babies grow up and go through the sames schools together. Donna and Rose Mary were both Brownie leaders at the same time, watched their husbands play softball on the same teams and shared many other adventures. Their conclusion: We're still friends! Next up were Robin Miller and Jackie De Vries -- a little less detailed, but they still had many things in common, including growing up in California and attending a junior college. They both love small dogs both drove red VW Beatles at one time. An update of the upcoming Rocktoberfest revelaed that tickets are nearly sold out! There have been 194 sold, and a sell-out is 200, although we may be able to add a few more to the venue... More items are needed for the silent auction, life auction and dessert auction. Katie Colvin said she is confident she will hit her goal of 60 bottles for the wine pull. Bottom line: Get your tickets now, and turn in any auction items as soon as you can! Jackie and Robin SEPTEMBER 17 SI Vacaville welcomed Desiree Aragon, inspirational speaker, talent strategist, doctor of spiritual studies and mental wellness advocate who shared a powerful message of empowerment! Now that we are truly in "The Age of Aquarius," we can enjoy a time of expanded consciousness, and a shift of humanity as we move from "me" to "we." And as Soroptimists, "We" embrace that "We" are understanding, compassionate, generous, giving, dedicated, thoughtful, inspirational, loving, dynamic and united -- to share just a few of the affirmations "We" shared today! Other things we did? We talked about our upcoming Rocktoberfest -- Oct. 26 is coming fast so get your tickets today! Some fabulous auction items are coming together. Watch our social media to see some of the highlights soon. We welcomed District II Fellowship Director Kay Kelly, who presented our own Rose Mary Forehand with a Fellowship pin. Rose Mary donated $1,000 to the Fellowship program, which sponsors women in the final year of their doctoral programs. Way to go, Rose Mary! We received an update from the District II roundtable. We also shared results from a lunch and snack sur SEPTEMBER 3 We kicked off September with an inspirational message from our own past President Jackie De Vries, who also happens to be Governor-elect for the Founder Region! She shared how Soroptimist International makes the world a place for women and girls. We do this by presenting more Live Your Dream awards (to women who are the head of their households and wish to pursue education and training); helping more Dream It, Be It girls (mentoring young women), and supporting SIA's Big Goal: To invest in the dreams of half a million women and girls through accelerator projects by 2031. (More on those in a future post.) Since work started toward the Big Goal in 2021, we've collectively touched the lives of 93,085 women and girls through various projects, just shy of 20 percent of our goal. Much more work must be done! Did you know that Soroptimist International has General Consultative Status with the United Nations? Every four years SI submits a report documenting our work in the UN Centers throughout the world, featuring our international projects. This year, the Live Your Dream Program was featured in that report! Jackie, a retired school teacher, has always been about empowering women and girls through education, so she steps up at the perfect time! Thank you, Jackie, for sharing your knowledge, enthusiasm and encouragement to keep on our path of making the world a better place for women and girls! AUGUST 27 Today we celebrated the 64th anniversary of our club's charter with music, trivia and birthday cake! Check out the video on our LinkedIn page. It's great to be part of a club so steeped in history. If you want to know more about our history, check out our "Her-story." under the "Who We Are" tab. We had a great report from our "social butterfly" Sharon Marcacci. She keeps us on our toes about events happening around the community. We try to engage as often as we can to represent Soroptimist. We also had reminders to work on getting items for gift baskets for our live and silent auctions, which will take place at our Roctkoberfest fundraiser on Oct. 26. You'll find a link to purchase tickets on our home page. AUGUST 20, 2024 SI Vacaville welcomed Vacaville City Councilwoman Sarah Chapman as our speaker. Sarah shared the story of her many successes: She served as longtime trustee for the Vacaville Unified School District and the Solano Community College Governing Board; her academic degrees (master's and Ph.d); her career as an internal machinist; her experiences as a foster parent; and her current role on the City Council. We were happy to welcome guest and potential new member Sarah Dahling, whose maiden name was Chapman! She actually remembers receiving her diploma from our speaker when she graduated high school. Fun coincidence! We continue to welcome new members. If interested, contact Linda Johnson to schedule a visit to our club. No obligation, just come and have fun and decide if you might want to join us. AUGUST 11, 2024 Welcome to our new blog for Soroptimist International of Vacaville. We are teaming up to serve as co-presidents this year, from August 2024 to June 2025. Soroptimist International of Vacaville is 64 years old this year – chartered in 1960. Clara joined the organization in 1998 and Mary joined in 2018. Both of us have served as president in the past: Mary for 2020-21 and Clara twice, in 2002-03 and 2012-13. We’re stepping up as a team to lead this tremendous organization that makes our community – and the world – a better place for woman and girls, by empowering them through education and support. In fact, our theme this year is “Putting Our Hearts into Empowering Women and Girls.” We’ll use this blog to keep everyone up to date on what we’re doing to accomplish our goals. We always welcome new members, so if you’d like to know more, please reach out! Here’s more information on our website: https://www.vacavillesoroptimist.org/membership. Or come to a meeting and learn more about us. We meet almost every Tuesday at Holiday Inn Express & Suites in Vacaville. We invite you to come on the first, third or fourth Tuesday of any month to see what we’re all about. (The second Tuesday is our business meeting.) We’d also love your help with our upcoming fundraiser, “Rocktoberfest,” Oct. 26 at the Ulatis Community Center. Join now and be part of the team! Mary & Clara

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Soroptimist of Vacaville was founded in 1960 and has been serving women and girls in Vacaville and globally for over 64 years. MINUTES 2023-2024 MIN JUNE MIN JANUARY MIN MAY No MIN DEC MIN APRIL MIN MARCH MIN FEB MIN NOV MIN OCT MIN SEPT MIN AUG RECAPS