Fun Fact Friday - Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa County

The Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa was organized in Brentwood in 1970 with Kay Davis as president. The group is still together and meeting every week.


Soroptimist International of East Contra Costa County
Contact Barbara Guise at 925-634-4480
www.soroptimist.org
Meets every Thursday at noon at Hickory Pit, Brentwood


According to their website http://www.soroptimistinternational.org/who-we-are, this is what they stand for:

Mission:

• “Soroptimists inspire action and create opportunities to transform the lives of women and girls through a global network of members and international partnerships.”


Goals:

• “Soroptimists will ensure that women and girls enjoy equality, live in safe, healthy and equitable environments, have access to education and have leadership and practical skills.”


• “Soroptimist International will have a dynamic, flexible and responsive membership, with an international point of connection, committed to the delivery of its vision and mission.”


• “SI will be a strategic organization with dynamic and proactive leadership at all levels, able to deliver results and ensure its vision is achieved.”

Soroptimists epitomize what I’m looking for from members of my community and what I personally want to be a part of. This organization, in particular, speaks to me on a very personal level because I was one of those girls who didn’t have a lot of positive role models. I desperately wanted to succeed and get ahead in life, but I had no idea how to find that path.


I ended up receiving a lot of support that helped me go from being a single teenage mom on welfare and being absolutely miserable to being the first person in my family to get an Associates Degree, building a career that could support my family, becoming a crisis counselor, raising a responsible, well-adjusted child, becoming part of an incredibly loving church family and to getting engaged to the man of my dreams.

All of these things were made possible because of God’s sweet grace and the many angels He sent to help me along the way. I can’t tell you how many times someone helped me at an incredibly crucial moment in my life. None of us can make it through this world alone. We were meant to live in community with each other and to help each other out.


One of the statements Soroptimists International has on their website is,

“Soroptimists are leaders in their communities who believe in the power of joining together to make the world a better place for women and girls.”

This really fits with my personal values and my passion for volunteering and mentoring.

They also have local clubs throughout the Bay Area. I don’t know about you, but I’ve already submitted my Introduction Form and I can’t wait to become a part of this organization.

God bless.