By Bob Groeneveld/Langley Advance Times
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Purses, fun, and a good cause will be the backbone of a “typical women’s night out” being arranged by the Soroptimists of the Langleys.
Local Soroptimist Shirley Stewart explained that the proceeds of the Power of the Purse evening will be put towards purchase of a breast ultrasound probe for Langley Memorial Hospital’s mammography clinic.
The probe will help to save women’s lives, providing mammography technicians with a tool that painlessly allows them to pre-screen deeper breast tissues than mammograms, while also allowing examination at different angles.
Billed as a “girls’ night out with a twist,” the Power of the Purse at Newlands Golf Club on Thursday was sold out days ahead of the event – again.
Last year’s inaugural Power of the Purse was also a sold-out event, raising about $5,000 for Ishtar Women’s Resource Society.
Ishtar, a Langley organization that helps women and their children to escape abusive relationships, used the money for a school program aimed at educating boys and girls about violence against women.
This year as last, a major fundraising effort for the evening will be centred on “gently used purses – or previously loved purses, as we like to call them,” said Stewart.
Most of the purses will be on sale for $5, $10, or $20, but some “unique and special” ones will be on the block for a live auction led by local celebrity firefighter poet and Langley Advance Times columnist Jim McGregor, who will also share the emcee spotlight for the night.
“He should be able to do a good job,” joked Stewart, adding, “It will be easier than selling bras,” in reference to the times he helped out with the local Soroptimists’ Bras for a Cause fundraisers of previous years.
In fact, the Power of the Purse will focus on more than one “good cause.”
In addition to raising money for a breast probe, the evening will include recognition of three Live Your Dream grant recipients.
Live Your Dream awards are presented all over the world by Soroptimists chapters, helping women who are single heads of households and seeking to return to school.
Awards of $1,000, $1,500, and $3,000 will be presented Thursday evening.
“That money can be used for anything they need – rent, daycare, books…” said Stewart. “We don’t force them to spend it on just tuition.”
The top award recipient in Langley also becomes eligible, with top winners from Soroptimists chapters throughout Western Canada, for an additional US$5,000 regional award.
“This kind of event is also a good way for women who are not in Soroptimists to understand more about what we are,” explained Stewart.
Soroptimists of the Langleys is part of Soroptimists International, a global organization for women in business.
“We are in practically every country in the world,” she noted.
The group’s mission is to support programs that benefit women and girls.
“Locally we support a lot of groups like Best Babies and Ishtar,” said Stewart.
Langley Soroptimist charter member Sharon Fisher will be the international body’s president – “president of the whole world,” declared Stewart – in 2020.