Soroptimists Offer Scholarships, International Aid

For 70 years the women of Soroptimist International of Spokane have dedicated themselves to helping people in their community and the world.

When the Spokane chapter started in March 1926, it was a professional group that allowed only one member from each profession - and charged the astronomical annual membership fee of $20.

“It was set up to attract women who were higher up,” said member Jan Polek, manager of the Gender Equity program for the Community Colleges of Spokane.

After a few years, Soroptimist members decided to broaden the professional classifications and allow more women of the same profession to join, and to lower the membership fee to $10, which was more in keeping with other Spokane clubs of the time.

Now, 70 years later, the 35 members pay $55 per year, which is used for overhead expenses and their annual service project. Each year, members pick one organization as their project for the year. In past years, recipients have included the Salvation Army and the Domestic Violence Shelter at the YWCA.

An organization has not been chosen for this year yet, Polek said, but last year the club donated $2,000 to the Women and Children’s Free Restaurant. The “restaurant” at St. Paul’s Methodist Church serves dinner to women and children every Tuesday and Friday.

Members also award a scholarship to a high school student who has helped his or her community. They don’t look for a valedictorian or student body president, Polek said. Instead, they search for a teenager who did something to help someone else - even something as simple as shoveling a neighbor’s sidewalk after a snowstorm.

“It’s for a student who is an all-around good kid,” she said.

Another scholarship is given every year to a woman returning to school.

The Soroptimists conduct fund-raisers to meet their costs. In years past, they held handkerchief auctions, Polek said, in which members wrote to movie stars and asked for handkerchiefs to auction.

Now, they hold garage sales and sell Christmas cards - and host an annual wine tasting, which raises thousands of dollars, Polek said.

The wine is donated or purchased by the club, and members make hors d’oeuvres. This year the event will be in early May at the South Hill Senior Center.

As an international club, Soroptimist has 70,000 members in more than 120 countries.

During World War II, the Spokane chapter joined with chapter members in Plymouth, England, to help residents in that war-torn country. Spokane Soroptimists mailed packages of scarce and rationed items to Plymouth, whose members delivered them to those in need.

Now, members around the world raise money for several causes, including a relief fund that works to reunite families in Bosnia, said Ruth Fish. Another international project raises money for the removal of land mines in Vietnam, Rwanda and other countries, Fish said.

Polek, a member for 10 years, likes the club because its purpose is to think of nice things to do for the community.

Fish, who joined Soroptimists in 1974, appreciates the fact that people the world over work together to achieve common goals.

“I have met a lot of nice people, made a lot of friends both internationally and in the United States,” Fish said. “We’re still all working for one and the same things.

“It’s just a remarkable club.”