Greetings to All!

President Lisa Cali opened our meeting today in our amazing sunshine. Not sure if we are ever going to have a winter!

Invocation: Provided by Lydia focused on our recent celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. and all of the work he began in our nation to end hatred in our nation. He and his followers weren't fighting for human rights and the rights of dignity for one race, but for the rights and dignity of all. It is our duty as citizens in our nation to be vigilant, to be active, to be heard.

Guests included Mirelle Zamudio who we were excited to see again! Also joining us today was Nicole Thomas, a very active woman in our community. Welcome ladies!

Sunshine goes out to the family and friends of retired physician Mike Schankerman who recently passed. He helped countless people in our community.

Reminder: Fires continue to rage for our neighbors in Southern California. We in Tahoe and our surrounding communities are no stranger to fire and understand this unimaginable time for you. Want to help? Information is below on a supply drive in Tahoe and Truckee.

And we have TWO SHOUT OUTS!

The first is to Principal Karin Holmes and the staff at Sierra House School for their innovative focus and implementation of math. They have been recognized on the county and state level for their hard work! Karin Holmes was also honored with California school administrator award this past year. Thank you to all at SH who are educating our kids!

And the 2nd shout out is to Elizabeth Prestella, daughter to Jeanne, and amazing woman who has been our speaker and supporter for many years. Here's a terrific piece on Liz that tells her amazing story and how she started out slinging tires and working in the garage for NASCAR! And don't forget her clothing line for women at www.torqdclothing.com This interview is so much fun!

Share this with a young female in your life!

Today's speakers were Zach Thomas, Director of Development Services for the City of South Lake Tahoe, Anna Kashuba and Jessica Wackenhut Lomeli.

Zach has over 20 years of successful project delivery in the fields of affordable housing development, capital projects, project management, land use planning, environmental review, and real estate development and has worked with private, public and non-profit institutions. Today, he and his team provided us with an interesting update of our community. The department itself has three Divisions: Building, Planning, and Housing, all of which are very busy.

Anna Kashuba, Senior Planner in the Planning Division spoke to us concerning long range goals in our city that target commercial and public service areas for improvements. All considerations involve not just improvements of buildings throughout our community but how those buildings interact with transportation, recreation, open spaces, and land use. She highlighted three separate corridor areas undergoing improvement: Mid-town, Tahoe Valley, and the Ski Run plans.

Jessica Wackenhut Lomeli, Housing Manager for the Division spoke to the many aspects of housing in our community. The city partners with other agencies in our community to make more housing possible as our goal in Tahoe is those that work here, can live here. She too spoke too the partnerships that occur between the city, county, state and federal level when it comes to funding and regulations behind those dollars and how they work. While we are making progress, a lot more needs to occur in the future. We learned that "Affordable Housing" has it's threshold of income that an applicant must make in order to quality for a project such as Sugar Pine. That project, when completed will provide for 248 units of housing. Phase 1 is already completed and people are housed. Each of the following three phases will each house 68 units as well. The frustration is the threshold of income that follows the application which is 30% of the median income for El Dorado County which amounts to approximately $25,000 a year. Those individuals who can't make this threshold have the opportunity to work with the properties managed by Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless.

What a comprehensive overview today. Thank you so much for your time. You can see this presentation here . The team is a phone call or email away!

Specifically SITS

Members, mark your calendars for our upcoming dates of our Fundraising events: Signups will be happening shortly. Kudos to Jean B and Laurie F for getting the signup.com prepared.

• Bread & Broth with Lasagna Love, Feb. 10.
• Online Auction, May 16 - 30, 2025.
• Vacation Raffle Ticket Sales, April 1-May 30.
• Mad Hatter Tea at Valhalla, May 18, 2025
• Celebrity Tournament, July 9-13, 2025

We are a hands on club, and we need all hands on these important projects to raise funds for our community.

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 calendar.

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!

Reports

Menstruation Punctuation Committee has completed putting together personal hygiene items needed by our female youth so they are prepared! Supply bags have been organized and delivered so thank you everyone involved! Great job to Theresa Papandrea for taking the helm on this and making it happen for our girls.

Online Auction Committee will be having a training on uploading donation items to our GiveSmart site on Wednesday, Jan. 29 at 5 PM. It is by zoom so if you want to be a part of the committee or just to see how this works, contact Laurie Flesher at laurieflesher@sitahoesierra.org

SITS Spring Fundraisers: Our Online Auction opens Friday, May 16 and closes on Friday, May 30, 2024 at 5:00 PM.

Club Sponsor & Event Contributor requests have gone out and we hope to hear from potential supporters soon!

Reminder to club members that your hard copy letters will be provided in January. Vanna recently sent out an updated version of our listing so please sign up.

SITS2025.org. Donations are being accepted NOW! Sponsorships and Event Contributor positions are accepted NOW!

Members, to sign up where your talent lies, go here.

We also need ladies to sign up for donors yet to be claimed! Please go here.

Mad Hatter Tickets go on sale SOON through the website AND we have a return of our Vacation Raffle opportunities thanks to the generosity of the Jean Bergner, Cookie Rork, and Jeanne Prestella! Here we go ladies! Members, to sign up where your talent lies, go here.

Vacation Raffle tickets will be sold starting March 1 and run through May 30. Tickets will be $50 each and only 200 per trip will be sold. You have a choice of a week in a 2 bedroom Maui condo, or a week anywhere in the world in an RCI timeshare. Members, to sign up where your talent lies, go here.

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!

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!

South Lake Tahoe and Truckee Holding Supply Drives for Southern California Fire Victims

For information on specific items needed (cash as well), drop off locations, days and times go HERE.

TONIGHT! January 23, 2025 - 6:00pm - Live Violence Free announces return of 80s themed Bowl-a-Thon

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Live Violence Free has announced the return of its Bowl-A-Thon fundraiser, and the community is invited! The 80s-themed event will be held at Tahoe Bowl on Thursday, January 23, 2025, from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. Whether you are a seasoned bowler or just looking for an entertaining evening with friends and co-workers, this event is the perfect opportunity to strike up some fun while supporting Live Violence Free.

This SATURDAY!

Looking for a book discussion group? The Friends of the Douglas County Library is having its Annual Membership Meeting on Jan. 25, 2025 at the Douglas Co. Community & Senior Center (1329 Waterloo Lane, Gardnerville. Their Special Guest Author is Mary Bell Meyer, author of At Last.

Challenge Day is a two day event and you can sign up for either day or both! Challenge Day for STMS students will be on Wednesday Feb. 5 and the School Assembly will be on Thursday, Feb. 6.

 Learn more about the life changing event for our youth at the Challenge Day Volunteer Sign up here. Challenge Day is supported by SITS financially and with our amazing volunteers. Calling all Service Clubs in our area. Join our efforts now!

Tahoe Arts Project brings magician Alex Ramon to the schools Feb. 3-7 and will offer a FREE public performance on Feb. 7 at Harvey's, 7:00 p.m. Use the QR code or the following link for free tickets:

https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/alex-ramon-public-show

Only 200 tickets will be offered.

Feb. 7, 2025 - Night to Shine - Tim Tebow Foundation. This is a worldwide celebration event, celebrating people with special needs. Now in its 12th year, our community is invited to support and participate in this event. It will be at the Tahoe Blue Event Center. For more information visit

https://www.laketahoecf.com/nighttoshine

Volunteers are needed in the areas of security, EMT/Medical, Hair Stylist, Makeup, Florist/Flowers, Photographers, Videographer!

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!

Volunteer NOW for the 22nd Annual Drug Store Project on April 1, 2025 here! The event will be held at LTCC and will not only change the life of a child, but yours as well. Learn more about the project at www.drugstoreproject.org Drug Store is supported by SITS financially and with our amazing volunteers. Calling all Service Clubs in our area....Join our efforts now!

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 October 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 now

·       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!