Service Projects

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Soroptimist International of
Moreno Valley
improving the lives of women and girls
in local communities and throughout the world

Service Projects Service Projects Service Projects Service Projects

Throughout the year, Soroptimist members are actively involved in a myriad of projects and fundraisers that ensure women and girls enjoy equality, live in safe and healthy environments, have access to education, and have leadership and practical skills. Some of these projects are highlighted below.

Cultural Heritage Center

Cultural Heritage Center is a non-profit group in Moreno Valley that helps low-income youth with free instruction in music, drama, dance and academic tutoring. Their thrift store is the group's primary source of funding. Soroptimist donated time to sort a backlog of thrift store donations for sale. A Soroptimist and her husband, co-owners of a local glass company, donated and installed a wall of mirrors for the studio.

Mary's Mercy Center

In December 2009, Soroptimist collected and donated jackets, coats, sweaters and blankets to Mary's Mercy Center for the poor and homeless.

Kenya Fundraiser

In June 2008, Soroptimist members sponsored an international fundraising effort that provided direct aid to a village in Kenya. The idea stemmed from a program meeting presentation by a woman whose brother's family was directly impacted by the ethnic cleansing within 2 Kenyan tribes after the 2007 election. Her brother's livelihood relies solely on tourists for the sale of his homemade jewelry, baskets and purses; however, tourism stopped with the civil unrest. Consequently, her brother's family and his village suffered extreme economic hardship. In an effort to help, Soroptimist was entrusted with an assortment of his Kenyan handcrafts, which Soroptimist sold to local friends and at the 2008 Golden West Region Spring Conference. Over $3000 was raised . . . which will help feed 30 families for a month, provide a wheel chair to a widow, and cover educational expenses for five children for one year.

Touch of Home office

Touch of Home

Touch of Home Support 4R Military is a nonprofit community service corporation that supports deployed military in Iraq with approximately 100 monthly morale-boosting "love packages" containing recreational supplies and personal care items. Soroptimist supports this project by donating money and a myriad of "love package" supplies. Club representatives also help with packing activities at the program headquarters in Crestline.

For more information about Touch of Home, click here

Kids Kingdom Orphanage

Soroptimist members help support El Reino de los Niños (Kids Kingdom) orphanage near Ensenada, Mexico through monetary donations and large quantities of school supplies. The orphanage relies on charitable donations for support, and the contributions of Soroptimist makes it easier for the orphanage to funnel their meager funds to other necessities. Through e-mail, our club receives on-going feedback from the orphanage’s staff about their needs and the students’ progress. Besides creating international goodwill, it is gratifying to witness the degree that students overcome social and economic hardships to achieve their potential.

Festival of Trees

Soroptimist members design and donate a Christmas tree entry in support of Riverside County Regional Medical Center Foundation’s annual Festival of Trees fundraiser. At the heart of this event, magnificently decorated trees are auctioned off to community business. The event raises over $440,000 to benefit the neonatal and children's units at Riverside County Regional Medical Center.

Born Free

Born Free is one of the programs offered by the Riverside County YWCA which provides shelter and support to pregnant women so they can get off drugs and alcohol and subsequently have their baby born free from addiction. In additional to an annual donation, Soroptimist helps support this program by donating hand-crafted bags full of gifts and person care items for both mom and baby.

Holiday Adopt-A-Senior

Annually, Soroptimist gets referrals from Moreno Valley Senior Center to adopt low-income seniors for the holiday season. Members assembled gift baskets containing food, personal care items and holiday gifts. Soroptimists added the personal gift of friendship as they delivered the gift baskets and spent one-on-one time visiting with the senior shut-ins. Besides spreading holiday cheer, the program helps ease some of the loneliness felt by the elderly.

ADV Mother's Day

Each year for Mother's Day, Soroptimist donates hand-crafted tote bags filled with gifts and personal care items to the mothers housed at Alternatives to Domestic Violence Shelter.

Soroptimist
Saturday of Service

Soroptimist Clubs around the globe participate in "Saturday of Service" projects in their community the first Saturday of March each year to mark International Women’s Day in a special way. Saturday of Service is a day to emphasize and provide visibility to our organization by raising awareness about the Soroptimist mission to improve the lives of women and girls in local communities and throughout the world.

For the third consecutive year, our club celebrated 2010 Soroptimist Saturday of Service by spending time with the 60 residents at Integrated Care Communities assisted living facility.

"Hopes and Dreams for Everyone"

Soroptimist International

President's Appeal 2009

Hopes and Dreams for Everyone

Every year on December 10th, the Soroptimist International President asks all Soroptimists to join her in making a small sacrifice by contributing to a project that will assist women living in extreme poverty. President's Appeal 2009, Hopes and Dreams for Everyone, aims to prevent human trafficking from Moldova by providing life-skill education and sustainable living conditions for vulnerable children.

Soroptimist International 2007-2011 Quadrennial Project
Project SIerra: A Family And A Future, a four year partnership between Soroptimist International and Hope and Homes for Children, aims to raise $2 million to help disadvantaged women and children in Sierra Leone, West Africa face their future with confidence. Sierra Leone is one of the poorest nations on earth. More than 70% of the population are unemployed and live below the national poverty line, surviving on just $1 a day. Life expectancy for women is 42 years and nearly a third of all children die before their fifth birthday.
The partnership will:

Improve the health, self-esteem and life chances of thousands of women and children living in abject poverty
Promote stability in a post conflict society by integrating the most vulnerable children and young women in family and community life
Provide education, training, small business and life skills support so that families can become self-sufficient
Build the capacity of local childcare professionals and create models of excellence

By strengthening families at risk of breakdown, helping young children living on the streets return home and empowering vulnerable young mothers. Project SIerra will enable more children to grow up in a caring family environment--giving them the opportunity to fulfill their potential. Link here for more information about Project SIerra: A Family And A Future.

Slavery's New Face:
Sex Trafficking of Women and Girls

Slavery is a harsh reality for millions of people the world over who find themselves trapped in an exploitative and abusive system, bought and sold like objects, and treated with no dignity or human decency.

How extensive is slavery's reach? Human rights groups estimate that anywhere between 12.3 million and 27 million people are enslaved in forced or bonded labor, child labor, sexual servitude, and involuntary servitude at any given time.

Slavery exists in a variety of permutations, but all forms of slavery share some common characteristics: slaves are forced to work; are owned or controlled by an "employer"; are dehumanized and treated as commodities; and are physically constrained and unable to move.

One type of slavery and exploitation that continues to proliferate at an alarming rate—and that has a particular relevance to women and girls—is sex trafficking/slavery.

In 2007, Soroptimist launched a project to create awareness about this heinous practice with a special event on Sunday December 2, 2007, the International Day for the Abolition of Slavery. In the United States, the program launched on Friday, January 11, 2008, the first National Day of Human Trafficking Awareness. On both days, club members placed sex slavery awareness cards in visible locations throughout their communities—police stations, women's centers, hospitals, etc.

If you suspect an incident of trafficking in the United States, call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center’s 24-hour toll-free hotline number at 888-373-7888. Callers can receive a number of services including crisis intervention, urgent and non-urgent referrals, tip reporting and comprehensive anti-trafficking resources. Visit Soroptimist's Sex Trafficking FAQ and Stop Sex Trafficking sections

June 8, 2010

Each June, Soroptimist International of Moreno Valley hosts a "Service Awards Day" that spotlights many of its sponsored community service projects and organizations. Leaders from these groups provide updates on the progress and current focus of their organization to benefit the community, and Soroptimist presents cash awards to help support these efforts.

	Riverside County YWCA Born Free program helps pregnant women with addictions overcome substance abuse during and after pregnancy. Director Willistine, Director of Born Free, and Dona, Executive Director YWCA of Riverside County, accepted Soroptimist's donation of $1,000 along with tote bags filled with clothing and personal care items for the new mom and baby graduates.
	Alternatives to Domestic Violence Riverside CEO, Eliza, was presented with $1,000 to help support the organization's shelter and community outreach programs.
	Community Assistance Program provides food assistance to low income and homeless residents in Moreno Valley. An average of 275 families are helped each month, and 68% of those helped are children. The organization's president, Dorothy, accepted Soroptimist's donation of $1,000 to help fund this program. As board member of Friends of Moreno Valley Senior Center, Dorothy also accepted Soroptimist's donation of $500 to help fund Senior Center MoVan, which transports over 300 Moreno Valley senior citizens each month to their appointments within a 35-mile radius.
	RCC Health Partnership Scholarship was awarded $250. RCC Forensics, which supports speech training for school children in grades K-12 through the Listening Ear program, was awarded $250. Judy, a board member of both organizations, accepted the Soroptimist donations.
	Larry, Executive Director of Riverside Area Rape Crisis Center, accepted Soroptimist's donation of $1,000 to help support victims of sexual assault and promote community awareness of non-violent interaction and positive social skills.
	Becky, a supervisor for Riverside County Department of Social Services GAIN program, accepted Soroptimist's donation of $500 in WalMart gift cards to help purchase interview-suitable clothing for their female social service clients.
	To help support "Project SIerra: A Family And A Future, " a 4-year partnership between Soroptimist International and Hope and Homes for Children, Soroptimist collect loose pocket change and hold fundraisers throughout the year. Prior to awards day, our club donated $1000 to this project. Kathy, Project Sierra Liaison for Soroptimist International of the Americas, accepted Soroptimist's additional donation of $704. Funds are used to improve the lives of disadvantaged women and children in Sierra Leone, Africa. To learn more about Project SIerra: A Family And A Future, visit the partnership's web site at http://www.projectSIerra.org
	The directors of Touch of Home Support 4R Military accepted Soroptimist's donation of $500 and a basket of assorted personal care products and snacks for the "love packages" sent to our deployed military in Afghanistan.
	Jeri, Director of Riverside County Regional Medical Center (RCRMC) Foundation, accepted Soroptimist's donation of $500. Funds are used to help purchase needed equipment for RCRMC Neonatal Unit. Throughout the year, Soroptimist volunteers time in support of other RCRMC Foundation fundraisers, including their annual golf tournament and Spring Garden Tour.
	For the 2010-2011 term, Soroptimist committed to allocate $1000 in support of Riverside County Regional Medical Center (RCRMC) Child Abuse and Neglect Unit. Funds will be used to purchase clothing and miscellaneous items on an as-needed basis to make the children feel safe and comfortable while forensic evidence is gathered. Accepting Soroptimist's commitment is Crystal, Executive Assistant of RCRMC.
	Sami has crocheted over 200 gowns and blankets, which she donates to local hospitals to clothe stillborns or new borns, who have died. To help support this service project, Soroptimist presented Sami with multiple baskets of yarn.