Helping women and girls achieve their educational and other goals is a major focus of Soroptimist International of Fayette County.
Women can apply for the Live Your Dream Award each year. This award is a fund set aside for women who are heads of households and seek higher education to improve their economic status.
“Depending on our budget, we typically award between $1,000 and $1,500 to women in our community. Last year, we were able to award a total of $5,000 to several women,” said District Director. said Lisa Malago, director of the association. “This funding does not necessarily go towards university tuition fees; women can use it for things like daycare costs, fuel to get to and from classes, and book purchases. We want to remove barriers.”
Another program offered by Soroptimist is Dream It Be It, which aims to support young women and inspire them for the future.
This spring, the nonprofit will hold its first event in Fayette County, bringing together a group of young women ages 9 to 13 to learn about emotions, prioritization, empowerment, and how to deal with stressful situations. It has expanded.
“The girls took a yoga class and talked about stress relief,” Malago said. “We talked about decorating diaries and writing down our thoughts and feelings.”
The young women were given bags filled with gift cards, women’s products, and fun items donated by the community and business partnerships.
“The feedback has been phenomenal, and hopefully we can build some relationships and provide young women with mentors and access to other women they can look up to,” Malago said.
Malago was talking with the grandmother of one of the young participants and learned that the teenager started yoga when she was nervous. All of these results are valuable to the organization.
The nonprofit is currently planning a fall event for women ages 14 to 18. During that event, they will create vision boards, talk about their plans for the future, and provide encouragement and tips on how teens can achieve those goals.
In addition to the two-day retreat for young women, the organization also focuses on the lack of access to feminine hygiene products.
They launched an initiative called Period Positive, partnering with local salons and hosting hygiene product campaigns.
Once the women in the community realized the need, Soroptimist was able to donate four large bags filled with women’s products to the local school district.
“We want to continue to be involved in the community. We’ve been here since 1956, and many people are concerned about what we’re here for and what we’re trying to accomplish.” I don’t know if there are any,” Malago said. “We want to continue partnering with businesses and have applied for grants for local billboard coverage. We want to get the word out.”
The club is always looking for new officers who bring ideas and want to accomplish great things for women in our community.
To donate funds or for more information, please visit https://www.soroptimist.org or call 724-323-4567.
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