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Awards & Grants...

Women's Opportunity Awards are designed to give women heads of household, who provide the primary source of financial support for their families, the opportunity to achieve their career goals—an opportunity they have not previously had, whether because of economic or social barriers, or personal circumstances. These awards are for women who are attending, or have been accepted to, a vocational/skills training program, or an undergraduate degree program.

Women's Opportunity Awards are cash awards that recipients may use for any expenses related to their educational pursuits. These include tuition and books, housing, child care and transportation. These awards are not scholarships. The program begins at the club level. Our Willimantic club annually awards the first place winner a cash award of $599. Our local winner is then eligible for consideration of the Northeastern Region award which is $5,000. The winner of the Region award is then eligible to receive one of three $10,000 finalist awards from Soroptimist International of the Americas.

Applications are received by our club from October 1st to December 15th. Applications received after the December 15th deadline, will not be considered. To receive an application by mail, please email us. To download an application, please click here. This form is in PDF format. To view and print it, you will need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you do not already have it installed. Click the graphic below to go to Adobe’s web site for the download...Mail the application to: Soroptimist International of Willimantic, P. O. Box 485, Mansfield Center, CT 06250

The Violet Richardson Award....Honoring Young Women

Soroptimist is concerned with the special challenges facing girls and young women today. The organization launched the Violet Richardson Award program in 2000 as a way to recognize girls for their volunteer service to their communities. The program honors young women between the ages of 14 and 17 whose volunteer efforts include: helping other disadvantaged girls; fighting drugs, crime and violence; cleaning up the environment; and working to end discrimination and poverty. The program begins at the club level. Soroptimist International of Willimantic annually awards a $500 cash award to the recipient and a matching $500 to the organization where she volunteers. Club level recipients then become eligible for a $1,000 cash award, with a matching $1,000 cash award for the charitable organization of the recipient’s choosing. The Soroptimist organization grants one finalist $2,500 award to the recipient’s volunteer organization.

Applications are received by our club from October 1st to December 15th. Applications received after the December 15th deadline, will not be considered. To obtain an application, please contact us.

The Marion Schultheiss Advancing Women Grant...
is a local grant that our club first began in 2000. The first grant was named "Advancing Women Into The New Millenium" and was designed to provide a $2,000 grant to an organization to start or continue a project in our local community that benefits women. In honor of one of our members, Marion Schultheiss, who passed away, the grant was renamed The Marion Schultheiss Advancing Women Grant in 2002. The picture at right is Marion Schultheiss (center) with her daughters, Lynn (left) and Brook (right).

Any established service organization promoting the welfare of women may apply. One grant of $2,000 is awarded annually. To be eligible for consideration, the proposed project must benefit women by improving their social/economic status and opportunity or quality of life and address a demonstrated need in our community.

Grant applications are received by our club from January 1st to March 10th. Applications received after the March 10th deadline, will not be considered. In addition, the grant recipient must give our club a written summary of the results of the project on a semi-annual and annual basis. To receive an application by mail, please email us. To download an application, please click here. This form is in PDF format. To view and print it, you will need to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader, if you do not already have it installed. Click the graphic below to go to Adobe’s web site for the download...

Making a Difference for Women
The Making a Difference for Women Award acknowledges women who, through their personal or professional activities, are working to improve the lives of women and girls. The work of these women helps to promote the issues that are important to the Soroptimist organization. Honorees are ordinary women who have worked in extraordinary ways to benefit women and girls. Examples of the type of work honored include: spearheading an effort to open a domestic violence shelter, starting a mentoring program for at-risk girls, or lobbying companies to provide on-site child care. The program enables local Soroptimist clubs and the Soroptimist organization to thank these women and encourage others to explore ways to assist women and girls. The program begins on the club level, where the type of recognition varies. Award winners at the club level are eligible for additional awards at other levels of the organization. The Federation finalist receives a $5,000 donation to the charity of her choice.

Recipients of all of the above awards are recognized at our annual Anniversary and Awards Dinner normally held in April of each year.

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Send mail to webmaster@soroptimistwillimantic.org with any questions or comments about this web site.  Last modified 09/13/2007