Service Projects...
(click on pictures to enlarge)
Alex Caisse Park Gazebo
For the past several years, members have decorated the Alex Caisse
Park Gazebo located on Route 195 in Willimantic for Memorial Day and
the Christmas holidays. In addition to the decorations, we have
planted bushes and while there decorating, try to spruce up the area
around the gazebo. Click
here to see some pictures.
Backpacks for the Domestic Violence Shelter
For the past couple of years, our club has filling backpacks with
school supplies which are then donated to the children of our local
domestic violence shelter.
Camp Horizons
Several members have adopted a cabin, Elaine's Place, at Camp Horizons which involves
cleaning and sprucing up. We plant annuals, rake, mulch
and keep the camp looking beautiful.
Domestic Violence Shelter
Our club has been actively involved with helping the Domestic Violence
Shelter for over 20 years. Every year we make toiletry baskets for the
shelter containing wash cloths, soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush
and other personal items women need when they leave an abusive
situation. For the past several years, we have also made sure they had
a food basket for the Thanksgiving holiday. In April, 2000 we awarded
them the Advancing Women Into The New Millennium $2,000 grant. With
this grant, they were able to produce and distribute an awareness
video. In 2001 we again awarded them a $500 grant to continue with
their awareness project. We have also paid for the printing of their
awareness brochure which is printed in both English and Spanish.
Food Baskets & Toiletry Baskets:
Every year, Soroptimists gather at a member's house to assemble
Thanksgiving Baskets and toiletry baskets. The food baskets are
donated to a family in the following towns: Chaplin, Coventry,
Hampton, Lebanon, Mansfield and Windham. A food basket and all the
toiletry baskets were donated to the local Domestic Violence Shelter. We also
donated a basket to The Salvation Army. In addition to all
the canned goods, fruit, stuffing, coffee, biscuit mixes, pies, rolls
and lots more, each food basket contained a gift certificate to a
local supermarket. All the items for the food and toiletry baskets are
donated by our members. Check out the Photo Albums Page to see
pictures of this event.
Food Share:
Members bring canned
goods and/or non-perishable items to our monthly business meetings for
our food share service project. These items are donated to one of the
local area food pantries each month.
Making Friends with Women in Recovery:
 It
can seem like a lofty goal to advance the status of women and girls
and help them reach their full potential. But for five years
Soroptimist International of Willimantic has taken on this task by
giving a $2,000 grant to a project in the community that is working
toward this goal. In 2004, the project that received the grant
really touched our hearts. We awarded our grant to the Connecticut
Community for Addiction Recovery for a retreat for women in
recovery. We met some of the women and decided that we would like to
get to know them better. We wanted to do something "with them not
just for them". Since gathering around food and having fun is a
hallmark of our group, we decided to cook with them at their
residence. Once a month three or four of our Soroptimist members
plan and get supplies for a Sunday afternoon dinner in the
Willimantic Women’s Sober House. We take turns since we don’t want
to overwhelm the women. So far, about half of our members have taken
part in the Sunday dinners.
Diane Potvin, past president and member of Soroptimist of
Willimantic, manages the sober house and has been in recovery,
herself for almost 18 years. She talked with the ladies that were
living there at the time and they all agreed that they would like to
see what we were all about…and that was more than 8 months ago.
Usually the tenants change due to relapse but Diane says that that
hasn’t been the case lately. She doesn’t know if it is solely
because of the Soroptimist monthly visit but she does know that it
does make a difference. Please click
here for more pictures.
Relay for Life
For the past several years, our club has been a Bronze donor for the
Relay for Life with a $1,000 donation from our club. For the 2010
fiscal year, we are a Copper donor with a $500.00 donation from our
club. Members from our club participate on the planning committee and are a
true asset to the planning of this terrific event. Club members help to register survivors and
set up the survivor luncheon. Our booth at the relay also serves as
the information booth for the event. Our team name is Soroptimist and Friends
which consists of members and friends who all work together to raise
funds and awareness. In 2009 we had 37 registered members on our team and we raised over $7,300 for the American
Cancer Society. This is a wonderful and
rewarding experience for all involved. You can see a few pictures
here of
our booth. For more information on the Windham Area Relay for
Life, please visit their website at:
www.windhamrelayforlife.org
Donations are gladly accepted on line for our team at:
http://main.acsevents.org/goto/soroptimistwillimantic
Safe Choices for Girls Workshop
Since 2006,
Soroptimist International of Willimantic has sponsored a free
workshop for girls. The workshop is normally held in April of each
year at the Burton Levitt Theater in Willimantic. The workshop is designed to help young women make safe
choices in their everyday lives. Girls from area high schools are
invited and transportation is paid for by our club to transport the
girls from their high schools to the theater. The day normally starts
at 9:15am with the girls being provided with informational packets on
contemporary teen issues. Through out the morning, there are several
speakers on many topics including healthy behaviors, finance, internet
safety, nutrition, drugs and alcohol and personal safety. A pizza and
salad lunch is then provided. Gift certificates and other items
donated by local businesses were door prizes for the girls. The girls are
then transported back to their high schools.
Guest speakers for the workshop held on
3/30/10 included Nancy DeCrescenzo, Director of Career Services at
ECSU; her topic was Dress for Success, Sergeant Bundy from the Major
Crime Squad Unit of the Connecticut State Police spoke on
internet safety, Louise Wright, retired from ECSU Security spoke on
cell phone and personal safety, Patty Sue Brown from United Services
talked about healthy relationships and Eileen Hamon from the
Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery who spoke about addiction
and recovery.
Special Olympics:
Several members volunteer for the Special Olympics Swim Meet held
annually in March. On the evening before the swim meet, members help
with set-up and on the morning of the event, members are responsible
for the registration of volunteers. We also pay for sponsorship and
our logo is on the volunteer shirts and in the ads.
Walk of Life Endowment Fund:
The Walk of Life Endowment Fund was
established by Soroptimist International of the Americas
Northeastern Region. This fund will provide a legacy for the
maintenance and upkeep of the Walk of Life in Walnut Hill Park
to preserve this tribute to those who have been touched by
breast cancer. Order is easy! One Size, One Price! To purchase
a brick on the Walk of Life, you can download an
order form. For questions or more
information, please call Rosemarie Burton at (860) 832-5501.
About the Walk of Life:
The first Walk of Life for breast cancer in the nation, sponsored
by the Northeastern Region of Soroptimist International of the Americas
is located at Walnut Hill Park, New Britain, CT. This location was
chosen because it is the site of the Connecticut Race in the Park. There are many walkways in Walnut
Hill Park but none more beautiful than the Walk of Life. The 780 foot
brick walkway is a commemoration to breast cancer victims, survivors
and their families. Some simply reveal a name, others a message.
Members of Soroptimist International of
the Northeastern Region initiated the project in 1996 through the
efforts of past Soroptimist Governor Rosemarie Burton, a breast cancer
survivor herself.
 The walkway, which is six feet wide, is located
behind the park's Darius Miller music shell and follows the finish
line for the Connecticut Race in the Park.
Area businesses and the bricklayers union have
donated many of the services needed to complete the project.
Recent community projects of our Willimantic club include both hands-on
involvement and/or financial support of the following local
organizations:
- Access Agency
- Alex Caisse Park
- American Cancer Society/Relay for Life
- American Red Cross
- Artists in the Country
- Camp Horizons
- Community Baby Shower
- Covenant Soup Kitchen
- Department of Families and Children
- Domestic Violence Shelter
- Holy Family Shelter
- McSweeney Senior Center
- Safe Graduations
- Safe Havens
- Salvation Army
- Special Olympics Swim Meet
- Susan G. Koman Foundation
- Wadsworth Athenaeum
- Willimantic Girls Softball Team
- Willimantic Police & Fire Departments
- Windham Area Interfaith Ministry
- Windham Hospital
- Windham Recreation Department
- Windham Textile Museum
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modified
05/02/2010
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