Newport Harbor Soroptimists honor local women

JIM DE BOOM

In honor of International Women’s Day, Soroptimist International of

Newport Harbor held a luncheon to recognize its 2005 Violet

Richardson and Women’s Opportunity Awards winners.

International Women’s Day, March 5, marks the advances made

globally and locally in the movement for women’s rights.

The Violet Richardson Award program, named after the president of

the first Soroptimist club in Oakland, Calif. in 1921, recognizes young women ages 14 to 17 for their volunteer work with a monetary

award and a donation to their volunteer organization.

This year, Newport Harbor honored 16-year-old Xiomara Hartzler

with a $1,000 check for her volunteer work with children and the

homeless, both here and in Mexico. Additionally, $250 has been

donated in her name to the First Evangelical Free Church of

Fullerton.

She began working as a teacher’s assistant in children’s programs

with the Presbyterian Church of the Covenant in Costa Mesa when she

was only 9 years old. Later, she began working with First Evangelical

Free Church.

Recently, she traveled to Mexico every month for a year with

Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa to bring donations of food and clothing to

the poor people of Tecate. She also worked for six months in a poor

and homeless outreach, sponsored by Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, in

Santa Ana as well as numerous other volunteer efforts.

Xiomara (a Spanish name for a famous Aztec warrior princess) said

she feels the irony of her work with the homeless, because she has

first-hand experience. She, her mother and her siblings left an

abusive father to live in a domestic violence shelter last year.

“I know what it’s like to not know where you’re going to sleep,

where your next meal is going to come from, and to have all your

belongings stuffed into your car,” She said. “Living the kind of life

I led has showed me that I need to keep doing good ... Just keep

passing the kindness on. Like one of my favorite movies says, ‘pay it

forward.’”

She said she plans to continue her love of working with children

through a career in elementary education.

Teresa Elkins, a single mother of three school-age children who

lives at the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa, was the

recipient of Soroptimist International of Newport Harbor Women’s

Opportunity Award of $1,500.

Soroptimist International of the Americas created the program in

1972 to help women improve their ability to provide for their

families. It targets women who serve as the primary wage earners for

their families and provides them with the financial resources to

offset costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education

or additional skills and training. The award can be used for tuition,

books, child care, travel or any other education-related expense.

Elkins, 32, has had many hardships over the last three years. She

and her children became homeless after losing her children’s

grandmother. She had to care for her three children -- a daughter and

two sons -- work and try to earn enough money to support their

family.

Now in the Second Stage housing program at the shelter with her

daughter (now 12) and sons (ages 11 and 10), she works at Target and

is studying full time at Orange Coast College to be a medical

assistant.

“I can still be a strong woman, finish my schooling and show my

kids that a hard fight is always worth taking on, especially when you

have the heart, strength and help to do it with, and I do,” Elkins

said. “With your reward, I know I can make it all the way through.”

Elkins has since won the district competition and is being

considered for a region award of a $5,000 award, or one of two $3,000

awards. The awards will be announced at the Soroptimist Desert Coast

Region’s Spring Conference on April 17. The region winner will be

considered for a Soroptimist International of the Americas federation

award of $10,000.

Newport Harbor is one of 1,500 clubs that make up the Soroptimist

International of the Americas Federation.

For more information on how Soroptimist makes a difference for

women, call club President Diane Ashe at (949) 631-7213.

ROTARY GOLF TOURNAMENT TO PROVIDE COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS

On April 11, 140 golfers will tee off in the ninth annual Newport

Irvine Rotary golf tournament at the Mesa Verde Country Club.

The event is the club’s major annual fundraiser with a goal of

$25,000. The funds are designated to provide community college

scholarships and support for other Rotary activities.

The day’s program will feature 18 holes of golf, lunch, a silent

auction, banquet dinner and, for the first time, daylong games of

poker, blackjack and bridge for nongolfers.

All District 5320 Rotary members are eligible to compete for the

Burnham Cup, a trophy plus a $2,000 college scholarship named for

Keith Burnham, a prominent Rotarian who was the district governor

when the Newport Irvine Club was founded. An additional $1,000 prize

will be awarded to the winning Rotary team.

Registration will be at 9:30 a.m. with a fee of $275 per golfer.

The package includes meals, a high quality driver and wedge for every

player, a subscription to Golf Digest magazine and a golf glove. At

the end of the tournament, cocktails and dinner will be served at 5

p.m.

Individuals and business groups may participate as players,

tournament sponsors or program advertisers. Registration and

additional information is available at https://www.nirotary.org.

WORTH REPEATING

From the Thought for Today, provided by Greg Kelley of the Newport

Mesa Irvine Interfaith Council: “The richest person in the world is

not the one who has the first dollar they ever earned. It’s the

person who still has their first friend.”

-- MARTHA MASON

SERVICE CLUB MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Help your community and the world through a service club! For

many, service club membership is an extension of our religious

beliefs and congregation affiliation.

You are invited to attend a service club meeting this coming week

to learn more about opportunities for service. Most clubs will buy

your first meal for you as you get acquainted with them.

TUESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The 48-member Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary Club will

meet at the Five Crowns restaurant to hear Violet “Vi” Cowden, a

World War II Women’s Airforce Service pilot (https://www.

newportbeachsunr iserotary.org).

Noon: The Rotary Club of Costa Mesa, now in formation, will meet

at the Holiday Inn.

WEDNESDAY

7:30 a.m.: The Newport Harbor Kiwanis Club will meet at the

University Athletic Club.

Noon: The Exchange Club of the Orange Coast will meet at the Bahia

Corinthian Yacht Club.

6 p.m.: The 50-member Rotary Club of Newport-Balboa will meet at

the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club for the High School Vocal Contest

(https://www.newport balboa.org).

THURSDAY

Noon: The 50-member Costa Mesa Kiwanis Club will meet at the

Holiday Inn for an Eagle Pride program, coordinated by George Cote

(https://www.kiwanis.org/ club/costamesa); The Kiwanis Club of Newport

Beach-Corona del Mar will meet at the Bahia Corinthian Yacht Club

(https://www.newportbeach kiwanis.org); The 100-member Rotary Club of

Newport Irvine will meet at the Radisson Hotel (www.nirotary.org);

The 85-member Exchange Club of Newport Harbor will meet at the

Nautical Museum to hear Darr Hashenpour discuss energy (https://www.nh

exchangeclub.com).

* COMMUNITY & CLUBS is published Saturdays in the Daily Pilot.

Send your service club’s meeting information by fax to (714) 921-8655

or by e-mail to [email protected].