President Lisa Cali opened our meeting today as we greet the cooler weather.

Invocation: We did not have a formal invocation today but our Guest Speaker's presentation is one in itself. Karma Yoga is yoga of action. This desire is one shared within the work of SITS.

Sunshine: We're sending out good vibes to our Sitster Shirley for her knee recovery. We miss ya lady! Also missing those gals who were not able to attend today. Your smiles are in our hearts.

Quarterly Member Dues! Just a reminder to all of our members that even if you can't make a meeting, we still have costs! quarterly invoices will arrive at your inbox from our lovely ladies. Let's work together to keep our general budget and operations strong! Thank you ladies!

This week's guest speaker is a supporter and friend of SITS, Susan Glasson. Susan is not only an accomplished yoga instructor but an incredible human as well. She utilizes her talent of sharing yoga here and abroad, and she supports youth and their needs through a few programs in Cambodia.

Susan has the attitude that yoga is for every body. Susan creates a safe, non-competitive space for her students to dive beneath the surface of their daily lives to find deeper meaning and inspiration. Her classes offer creative sequences with intentional themes, emphasizing alignment, pranayama and mindfulness. Students are encouraged to explore different variations of poses without judgment. Both new students and experienced yogis alike feel welcomed.

Traveling and experiencing new cultures are her passions. Together with her husband, they organizes and lead Karma Yoga Cambodia and Flow Through Provence Retreats. These retreats emphasize culture, food, history and sharing resources with others. Based in Lake Tahoe, Susan is a Relax and Renew® Advanced Trainer, a Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher, E-RYT-500, and a Certified Stand Up Paddle Yoga Instructor. She completed her 300 hour Advanced Certification with Pete Guinasso, Lighting the Path. She earned her RYT 200 Yoga Alliance certification through Lake Tahoe Yoga School, specializing in Raja Hatha. Being a lifelong learner, she continues to study both for her understanding and to share with her students.

Before Susan's presentation this morning, she led our group with yoga highlighting a few breathing and body awareness exercises. Thank you so much for this beautiful way to begin!

Her passions have her sharing her time with several organizations such as JWOC, Journeys Within Our Community. They have a Better Futures Program, are a 501C, and are based out of Truckee. Their mission is to partner with low-income Cambodian youth to fulfill their potential in education, employment and engagement within their community. They have developed a program to be self-sustaining in that JWOC sponsored individuals then donate their time to the program after their own completion. JWOC is collecting used laptops to take to this program. Their other needs include a projector, small Bluetooth speakers and other teaching supplies. Providing scholarships for the Better Futures Program is life changing for an individual. Scholarship information is located on their website.

The travel group experiences the land, the culture, and amazing people. They help in villages, bring donations, visit historical sites such as the Killing Fields, while very sobering, is a reminder to remember history so that we all learn and do better through peace. They help villagers plant Mangroves which stabilize the coastline to reduce erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. They visit and work with the Cambodia Landmine Museum and Rural Schools Project. Both of which bring awareness to the participants.

She also shared with us, Days for Girls, a wonderful non-profit

out of Seattle that provides reusable hygiene kits for girls and women. Days for Girls works to eliminate the stigma and limitations associated with menstruation so that women and girls have improved health, education and livelihoods. To date, they have reached over 3 million women and girls with these life-changing menstrual health solutions. Susan is currently collecting donations for this effort. While a pattern for this kit is on the website, consider sponsoring a kit which costs $15. Money collected will be used to purchased made kits in Cambodia. This money will not only help girls with a kit, but with the local economy there as well.

In Tahoe we are fortunate to have several service organizations. If you are a member and would like more information from Susan, contact her here.. And if you can assist with needed donations, she'd love to hear from you too!

Thank you Susan for an amazing presentation this morning.

SITS Member Items & Our Projects

This weekend!

Sierra Nevada Region's FALL DISTRICT MEETING will be on September 21st, 2024. The event will be held Sept. 21st from 9-3 in Truckee at the

Glenshire Club House,

15726 Glenshire Drive. Fall is a Season of Transformation, a time to embrace new opportunities for growth and renewal. Gather with our District 5 members as we hear Governor Stacey and Governor-elect Kathy share the latest Region and Federation news. Lunch and snacks will be provided. Car pooling is the best part! Anyone interested in going, please reach out to President Lisa. It is so worthwhile.

Committee Happenings!

Reminder: When hosting an event/meeting, please forward a photo and paragraph to techhelp@sitahoesierra.org so we can add it to our website and social media!

Healthy Women/Healthy World Committee invite all members to play!

YOGA with Susan Glasson is on Wednesday, October 9, 5:30 - 7 PM at the South Tahoe Association of Realtors, 2307 James Avenue. This is going to be a wonderful way for us and other ladies to gather to enrich our own lives, and also the lives of others All donations will go towards needed supplies for her sponsored schools in Cambodia. Questions? Contact Kim Valverde.

Technical Committee

Chairs (or designated individual for your group) and interested SITS members, please join us at our 2nd Tech Café as we gather at the home of Andie Solis on Monday, October 14, 4 - 6 PM to develop our skills as we move our club forward. This is a hands on, tasks accomplished class and we'll take you through everything in small groups! We even have a couple of computers to use in case you can't bring yours. Questions? Laurie Flesher will be happy to enlighten you.

Our agenda for the class!

1. Calendar - how to schedule your committee meetings on the calendar
2. Zoom - how to start up a Zoom meeting
3. Google Drive - how to use the drive for your committee, along with best practices on cleaning it up, creating folders, etc.
4. Tech manual - brief overview of the tech manual for all the things you need for SITS
5. Content - relook committee content to make sure it is up to date

Please prepare by bringing the following with you to the meeting:

1. A computer
2. List of committee events and meetings
3. list of documents you need to be on the drive for your committee.

Recruitment & Retention

Wendy David is opening her home to us once again for a Recruitment Social on Thursday, Oct. 17, 7 - 9 PM. Bring a friend and enjoy the camaraderie and relearning of all things Soroptimist.

Menstruation Punctuation

Theresa is in communication with our schools. State mandate requires the district to provide supplies for grades 6 - 12. SITS, with a targeted grant will provide for grades 4 - 5 and other areas in our community such as the Boys & Girls Club, the College, etc. More to follow.

MEMBER Weekly Contribution or Quarterly Contribution can be paid online here! It's fast and easy! It can go through your Paypal or Credit Card. Get er dun!

COMMITTEE Signup Portal!

This is how we get things done.

Our SITS club and all that we do are driven by the committees that we maintain. All members are asked to join at least ONE Service Committee and ONE Technical Committee. Service is what we do and Technical is how we roll! Our Committee Signup portal is ready for members to sign up on! Simply click here! Newsletter Team sign ups are here and all are welcome to learn a new skill and join in!

NON-SITS

Fun and Opportunities in Tahoe

There's actually so much going on so you're going to want to check out the EVENTS tab on www.southtahoenow.com, but here's a few to get you started!

Sample the Sierra is this weekend! This is South Lake Tahoe's Farm to Fork Festival.

Get the details here!

Get your tickets now for the October 4-6, 2024 Documentary Film Festival here.

Set amidst the natural beauty of South Lake Tahoe, CA, a captivating Multi-day Documentary Film Festival comes to life. 

We provide a welcoming space for filmmakers, industry professionals, and audiences to connect through screenings, discussions, workshops, and vibrant parties.

Our mission is to entertain, enlighten, and inspire by showcasing remarkable films, building community, and igniting a passion for storytelling that transcends boundaries, empowers, and fosters compassion and awareness.

TAHOE ARTS PROJECT announces its 2024 Dancing with the Tahoe Stars lineup for Oct. 12, 2024

For more information click here.

For Tickets go to

tahoeartsproject.org

TAP uses the money raised from the Dancing with the Tahoe Stars to provide free art to the schools and community. Take a look at the 2024-2025 season to come! It's quite an amazing list of events for our youth and community, don't you think?

Join SISLT for

Diamonds& Denim

on Friday, Nov. 1, 2024 from 6 - 9 PM.

Purchase your tickets now by scanning the QR code and get ready for a wonderful evening.

There are South Lake Tahoe Community Blood Drives, available for you to participate in, Friday Dec. 6th, 11:30 am - 5:00 PM at the Parks and Rec Center Gym. 1180 Rufus Allen Blvd. To schedule an appointment, call Vitalant at 775-329-6451

Marcella Foundation Partners with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Offer FREE books to Local Children

Marcella Foundation is thrilled to announce the launch of Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in El Dorado County. Each month, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library will provide an age-appropriate book for each registered child, absolutely free to the family. All 8,000 children ages 0 to their 5th birthday living in El Dorado County can enroll now to receive a free monthly book. Any child in the home can register, and books are available in both English and Spanish. In a show of support for early literacy for all children in our region, First 5 El Dorado, El Dorado County Library, Friends of the Library, El Dorado Community Foundation partnered with Marcella Foundation to help launch Imagination Library. Additionally, United Way of Northern Nevada and the Sierra is providing the initial funding to bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to each of the communities surrounding Lake Tahoe. 

Committed to FEED, READ, and LEAD

Click here for details on how to enroll your child

Looking for up to date resources in our community? Barton Health has a list for all of us and it is actively updated! SHARE this link with others!

ALL YEAR LONG!

LTCC Basic Needs Center is looking for food donations. A variety of foods and basic need items are on the list. Click here for full list and drop off details

If you'd like to donate through our club, please bring your donations to the monthly business meeting and Lisa C. or Andie will make sure they are delivered to the college. Please include an estimate on the value as LTCC needs to keep records of that information.

Important information for your family from TASK (Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids)

TASK's mission is to prevent and reduce youth substance use and related harm - Keeping kids safe in collaboration with our community partners. TASK's mission is to prevent and reduce youth substance use and related harm - Keeping kids safe in collaboration with our community partners. For more information about TASK click here.

For TASK's September campaign to keep kids safe, click here!

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue has a quarterly newsletter to keep us all updated on fire safety info. Their goal is to help people learn about the fuels reduction products they are working on, seasonal fire safety info and other fire dept related news. Click here to sign up for the newsletter

Saint Joseph Community Land Trust has changed their Motel to Home (MTH) program from a loan program to a grant program and we're hoping this will attract families living in substandard housing, who would like to live in a more permanent and adequate home. Please click here for more details

Tahoe Learning Haven - Click here for all their information and a link to each month's newsletter.

TAHOE LEARNING HAVEN: Are you aware of the FREE monthly educational forums that Kathy Haven has set up for students, parents, and all interested community members? These are great! Most TLH forums are the second Wednesday of the month from 6:45pm-9pm at the Boys & Girls Club of Lake Tahoe! See here or tahoelearninghaven@gmail.com. Mark your calendar:

·       11/13 – College application tutorial

·       12/18 – Student/alumni college panel & fair

·       1/8 – Scholarship application tutorial

·       2/12 – The college track: A-G requirements

·       3/12 – Playing at the next level: Athletics after high school

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless seeks community support in keeping people cared for.

Our South Shore community has been able to sleep better knowing that our homeless population has an indoor option. This winter season marked the seventh anniversary of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) providing warm beds to the most vulnerable in our community.

The office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-4 at the Red Lodge, 1137 Emerald Bay Rd.

More details here

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. BHH Update-they are soon relocating to the Amacker Ranch!

Food Assistance Guide for So. Lake Tahoe. If you know of anyone in need, please share this information. Click and print!