President Paula welcomed everyone to our meeting this week.

Invocation was one of Lydia's past gems where she and Henry VanDyke remind us that the "official" day of spring and the feeling of real spring don't often match. And with this winter, we all know that feeling! Just remember, all good things come to those who wait.

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Sunshine: Positive thoughts and healing prayers to our ladies who are not in attendance as they are not feeling like their perky selves and also to a SoroptiMISTER Jim, hubby of Shirley as he gets over pneumonia. Reminder to all, don't mess around with respiratory ailing. Get to a doctor please. Our Happy Sunshine and thanks goes to Jeanne Prestella for ALL of the amazing coordination and planning she is doing for the Mad Hatter Tea Party. The food and libations for this event are going to be stunning!

Guests: So happy to see Janet Blumberg again! Love having you join us in the morning.

MEMBERS PLEASE READ: Please take a look at the auction website www.sitsfundraiser.org and verify that all the donations you have received are input correctly. If you have any donation forms that have not been turned in, please give paperwork (in person or via email) to Laurie Flesher, gift cards can go to Laurie or Lisa. If you have a physical item, please hold on to it for now. If it needs to be "basketized" please give it to Cookie.

Shout out to sister club SISLT for their Women's Status: Advocacy 101 on April 19, 2023 at the South Lake Tahoe Library from 5 - 6 PM. Read about it here and reserve your seat!

Today was our Business Meeting. We hold these the second Thursday of each month and it's "How" we run the club. We are a busy group as we Bee The Change!

NEW Business

Slate of Officers: We are so excited about our new slate of officers for 2023-2024! Thank you to all the ladies of the Nominations Committee and also to the ladies who accepted nominations for this fabulous group. We will be voting at the May Business meeting but this is everyone's opportunity to nominate another individual or themselves! You have one month to do so.

• President-Shelly Martinez
• President Elect-Lisa Cali
• 2yr Treasurer-Andrea Solis
• 1yr Treasurer-Jeanne Prestella
• Recording Secretary-Nancy Muller
• Corresponding Secretary-Jackie Kerby
• 2yr Delegate-Laurie Flesher
• 1yr Delegate-Amy Simons
• 2yr Director-Theresa Papandrea
• 1yr Director-Margie Kovarik-Maxhimer
• Past President-Paula Peterson

Scholarship Breakfast: Next week is our amazing Scholarship Breakfast where we honor our youth who have worked so hard this past year. The YES (Youth, Education & Scholarship) committee has done a remarkable job in their selection of 19 students who will receive awards and scholarship funds due to their achievements. Our club recognizes those or academic milestones and also most improved. Please remember that we expect close to 90 people at our event next week so members are needed early in the morning for set up and arrangement of food. Thank you to all the members and the community who make our fundraising efforts so successful. We will be awarding over $18,000 next week!

For your calendars

• SITS Installation: Mark your calendars now for June 22! This is such a fun event. No one does a better job at thanking their current Board and welcoming in their new one. It's always entertaining!
• SNR Conference: June 2 - 4, 2023 in Reno. Pres. Paula will send out information but this is not only a vital point of learning about Soroptimist and all that we do, but it's a load of fun as well. Remember ladies, it is our Happy Dollars (funds from our members each week) that we are able to budget funds to attend this conference.
• Mt. Tallac Prom: Our students at Mt. Tallac will be having their Prom on June 3. Stand by for help they may need with decorating! And thank you to our friend Keith Rogers, whose beautiful art that was auctioned off last year, is providing the funds for this wonderful occasion. We miss both our dear Sandy and Keith each day and appreciate their love.

President's Project: Each year, our club budgets $500 for our President to select a project they want the funds to go towards. President Paula selected the Kindness Project which is a two-day assembly instilling kindness in our youth at two or our elementary sites. Together SITS and TASK (Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids) are providing funds for both Tahoe Valley Elementary and Sierra House School to have these assemblies. Great choice Paula!

CONTINUING BUSINESS

Fundraising Update: Our online auction site continues to grow! Keep those donations coming in ladies. All money raised goes into all of our service projects! The Auction goes LIVE on Sunday, April 30! We want to thank Heavenly Lake Tahoe, LTCC-CONNECT Community Education, Lois & George Downy, Rose Petal Florist, Sherwin Williams, and Ken's Tire Center for their in-kind donations towards our Mad Hatter Tea Party. We have only 20 tickets left for purchase and you won't want to miss this fun event! Members: If you would like to put together (alone or with friends) a basket or item to include in the Mad Hatter Tea Party on-site raffle, please get in touch with Paula or Kim and let them know what you're thinking. Remember, we used to do this for Elegant Evening and it was such a blast.

News from SI Sparks Club! We are so excited about this new club and the fantastic membership that they already have! Our ladies attended their opening and loved seeing the enthusiasm of these members and send a hearty thank you out to our past members, Trudy and Doris for mentoring them. Kuddos to all of you ladies!

Committee Reports:

Lisa H thanked the HWHW Committee and all of our members for their volunteer and financial support for the 20th Annual Drug Store Project held on April 4, for our 6th grade youth in the community. Big success ladies!

YES Committee: For years, our club has been hosting the reception for the Senior Projects with homemade cookies and we're back at it again! The reception will be on June 6 but cookies need to get to Shelly by June 5. We also want to be sure that some of our members are present on the 6th so please coordinate with Shelly. STHS is still in need of Senior Project Judges and this is such a great thing to participate in. If you are interested, please email Ashley Aminian at aaminian@ltusd.org. (Note: school is on break this week!)

NASCAR Foundation from Jeanne!

2023 FUNdraiser Wow, do we have a lot to offer in the way of fun! We must be bonkers! We have FOUR things going on at once!

Come to the inaugural Mad Hatter Tea Party from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 30, 2023 at Valhalla! Tickets are available at www.sitsfundraiser.org. Only 20 tickets left! You’ll enjoy an array of tasty treats, tea, and fun activities, and you’ll have a chance to bid on Signature Soroptimist Baskets all within the beauty of the Grand Hall at Valhalla Tahoe. Raffle tickets for our exciting vacation opportunities will also be on sale at the Mad Hatter event. (see below)

Our club has started two (yes two) raffles for exciting vacation destinations out of the snow. One is a week's stay in a Kihei, Maui condo, and the other is a week's stay at a timeshare anywhere in the world!

Your odds of winning are amazing ! Just 200 tickets will be sold for each vacation location! Tickets are $50 each and include six nights and seven days of accommodations (no airfare). To purchase raffle tickets, please email us at raffle@sitahoesierra.org. Winners will be drawn at 5 p.m. on May 12, 2023. No need to be present to win, and the club's president will call the winners that night!

Check out our club's famous ONLINE AUCTION We post new donations almost daily (we end up hosting about 350 donations annually!) and you can begin your bidding on April 30th as well! The generous business community is donating so there are many items to bid on, and they can be viewed HERE.

SITS is now a part of NASCAR'S DAY GIVEATHON!

SITS Member Items & Our Projects

SITS Members, Wendy David, Jeanne Prestella, Lydia Rogers, Brenda Heldoorn and Nancy Muller joined formers members Doris Groelz, on far left, and Trudy Mills, not pictured, celebrate the chartering of Soroptimist International of Sparks on April 1st. Doris and Trudy helped create this new club which chartered with 25 charter members. SITS members presented them with a gift of $75 on behalf of our club. Congratulations to SIS!! 

Members: If you would like to put together (alone or with friends) a basket or item to include in the Mad Hatter Tea Party on-site raffle, please get in touch with Paula or Kim and let them know what you're thinking. Remember, we used to do this for Elegant Evening and it was such a blast.

Info for Challenge Day volunteers at Middle School: We have one all-day program day on Wednesday, May 3rd which will host 100 youth, mostly 7th graders, and an assembly for all 7th and 8th graders on Thursday, May 4th. Please volunteer so that all 100 kids can get this amazing opportunity.

Click here to volunteer- Middle School Challenge Day Sign Up

NON-SITS Fun and Opportunities in Tahoe

May 6, Nationally, is Wildfire Preparedness Day: What You Do Makes a Difference.

Recreation Center, 11-3 PM and ALL of Tahoe is invited! More details to follow but get this on your calendar! For details to here.

TECH TREK - STEM CAMP APPLICATIONS

Nominations for seventh grade girls interested in STEM camp. The date for camp at UC Davis is July 9-15 this summer. Any girls now in 7th grade, granddaughters, parents of girls to inform, please spread the word and have them contact Jan directly and she will see about getting them applications. Contact details below.

Jan Lynds

Tech Trek coordinator for SLT branch of AAUW

jklynds@gmail.com 530 318-5903

Click here for full flyer

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless seeks community support in keeping people warm this winter

As our Tahoe winter settles in with snow and frigid temperatures, most residents retreat to the inside for activities, comforts, and warm beds in a place we call home. Our South Shore community has been able to sleep better knowing that our homeless population has this option as well. This winter season marks the seventh anniversary of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) providing warm beds to the most vulnerable in our community.

They are also in great need for clothing items and will accept donations at their office

The office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-4 at the Red Lodge, 1137 Emerald Bay Rd. As the temperature drops they are in need of warm clothes and jackets, gloves, and hand warmers. 

More details here

Blood Donations are Needed!

Our Nation continues to have a blood shortage everywhere. Giving blood is giving life. So GIVE!

Vitalant Blood Donations. Click here to find a blood draw near you!

Wed - Mon Carson City Vitalent Donation Center

256 Winnie Lane

Carson City, NV

Click here to find more dates and locations

Between Horses and Humans continues to grow! If you're a lover of youth and a lover of horses, this is a program for you! You can keep up on their information by reading their newsletters here! Volunteers and donations are always needed.