President Lisa opened today's meeting on zoom with a smile, as always. Who knew that winter would show up! Be careful out on the roads everyone.

Our invocation was a reading from our SITS Collection of writings done many years ago. It highlighted St. Patrick's Day. "May you always walk in sunshine, may you never want for more, may Irish angels rest their wings, right beside your door."

Sunshine goes out to: Rick and Colleen Pence for Rick's quick recovery.

Today's Business Meeting was jam packed!

Our first very special item of business was to celebrate a new member to SITS. We celebrated (and will recognize again at an in-person meeting) the induction of Mirelle Zamudio as a new member! Thank you Mirelle for selecting our club to put your passion and energy into. We are so excited!

We also welcome our newest Event Sponsor, Coldwell Banker Select Real Estate! Whoohoo! This Zephyr Cove office has been a consistent partner with our club and we are so excited and grateful their continued investment in SITS.

Correspondence Report: Amy shared two thank you letters. One from Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless and another from Catalyst Community.

Treasurer's Report: The members voted on a Board Recommendation to utilize unallocated service funds to support the LTUSD Infant Center's need for a wagon that will enable the staffers to take the non walking infants outside with the other kids. Our weather will be getting beautiful and we need our kids outside together. Amy also shared that the need for Early Childhood teachers and assistants is huge in Lake Tahoe. Just beginning your studies in this area at LTCC can provided an individual with a worthwhile job. If you know someone who would be a good candidate for this career, have them go here.

Committee Reports

Club 2025-2026 Nominations Committee: Consists of Nancy, Paula, and Vanna to get the ball rolling. A slate of proposed officers will occur in April and member voting will occur in May. Thank you ladies for doing this important task.

Middle School Projects Committee: Challenge Day Essay and Poster Contest Winners. Students received award checks and recognition this week at STMS. Winners will be celebrated formally at our Challenge Day Celebration on May 15! Essay winners included Owen Walker, Kinsley Papandrea, Evan Marroquin, Charlene Gale Casilla, Colby Loughlin, Eveleyn Anderson and Mira Vij. Poster winners included Amelia Mills, Nayeli Perez Ramos, Emma Dross, Julia Paul, Hanna Martone, Vita Flaherty, and Camila Luquin Ramirez! Congratulations to all of the winners.

Awards Committee: Thank you to Nancy and all the members who are making next week's Awards Celebration such a success. Our meeting will be at the STAR building and we expect 50 people joining us to celebrate the winners of the GIVE Awards, Ruby Award, and Live Your Dream Award. Each of these awards will be highlighted next week but you can learn about all of them here. An email to members will be coming around regarding food signups for the morning AND members are asked to park in other areas other than the STAR building if possible to allow room for our many guests.

Dream It Be It Committee: Aside from Dream It Be It Awards, this committee provides service in three capacities: Mt. Tallac Life Skills, partnership with our sister club SISLT and the S Club at STHS, and the Sitsters Club of LTCC. Kudos to the women of this committee as they have expanded the service to so many over the past couple of years. Kim shared that students from the Mt. Tallac Life Skills group participated in a presentation at OMNI Tahoe this week where owner Jess Broyles introduced them to yoga and a sound bath. The young women loved it and want to learn more.

YES (Youth Enrichment & Scholarships) Committee: the committee completed reading and scoring the 25 applications they received this year! Students will be formally recognized at the Scholarship Celebration on April 17. Location TBD. Thank you to the members for their time and thoughtful selections.

FUNDRAISING GALORE

Mad Hatter

• Decorations: The Social Committee is teaming up with decorations on April 29 from 3:30 - 5:45 at Michelle Black's classroom at STHS to create Huge, and I mean huge, flowers for MH. We will be working with those we support! S Club members, Sitsters from LTCC, STHS art students and school leadership. See Amy for more details.
• Beverages: Cork & More as a community supporter is providing our Champaign for the event! Thank you to Karla and Jeff Brennan!
• Food & Kitchen: Jeanne has everything under control and moving along. Taste testers have provided input she needed and she is excited about this year's menu.
• Raffle Baskets to auction off! Members are encouraged to create and donate a raffle basket for the Mad Hatter event. Please email Kim asap with your intentions.

Online Auction: Let us know if you need any assistance in securing your donation requests. And don't forget to be creative! Laurie Flesher is collecting items this week.

VACA Property Raffle Tickets: Please sign up with Margie for in-person sales. It's important to complete the paperwork so she can transpose it online. The websites provide the public with the process for the online purchase. Remember, only 200 tickets in each category will be sold.

Reminder to all members: Quarterly Member Dues are due April 1. These funds are how we pay for our overhead expenses so they are very important. Happy Dollars can be paid directly on line as well on our website www.sitahoesierra.org on the Donate button. "Note" what the payment is for to help out our team!

Celebrating our club all month long as well!

March 4, 1977 was the day that Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra was Chartered. Thank you to the many women who came before us who made this happen. Our club is officially 48 years old and we're going strong! Happy Birthday to us! Here's a great story about us!

Be a part of our Spring Fundraisers!

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

Club Sponsor & Event Sponsor; For community business leaders or anyone who wants to go that extra mile in supporting our efforts! This is a position which helps us all year long to enhance the lives of others. Please go to SITS2025.org for details and sign up now!

Donations for our online auction are gratefully accepted here! You don't have to be a business to help out. Think of a creative experience you can provide, a prepared gourmet meal, boating trip on Lake Tahoe, guided fishing experience, Troop Masters - yard clean up by the troop!, any kind of treat you can provide. We all can make a difference in the lives of others, together!

Vacation Raffle Tickets on sale NOW through May 30th or until they are sold out! Tickets are $50 each and only 200 per property will be sold. You can purchase tickets for a week stay in a Maui condo, or a week stay in a timeshare anywhere in the world. For detailed Information on the properties and how to order your tickets go here. OR just email us at raffle@sitahoesierra.org to get the ball rolling! OR see a member to purchase yours in person. So many options!

Club Events

Specifically SITS 

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

• Live your Dream Awards Celebration, March 20 at the STAR building. Set up 3/19 at 3 PM.
• Scholarship Celebration, April 17
• Earth Day SITS Kid's Booth and Snowshoe Thompson Event. Volunteers needed, April 19
• Challenge Day Essay Celebration, May 15
• Online Auction, May 16 - 30, 2025.
• Vacation Raffle Ticket Sales, NOW - May 30 or until sold out.
• 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!

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! Paying quarterly? Due dates are every 01/01, and 4/01, 7/01, 10/01. These funds pay for the business of SITS.

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!

Hockey to benefit Encompass Youth!

Use the QR code below to purchase Knight Monster tickets and help support Encompass Youth. March 28th.

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!

Tahoe Learning Haven: Our April 16th FREE forum will focus on the choices for athletics in colleges and universities...Playing for a college team, club teams at the college level and intramurals. Learn what you need to do NOW to be eligible to play at the college level! This forum is for 6-12 graders and their parents! Special guest, Phil Bryant, will be there to share his expertise in all things sports and college! Sign up here.

Our friends at Optimist have activities to calendar! Details are on their website at https://southlaketahoeoptimist.com/

Easter Egg Hunt April 19^th

Sawmill Pond Fishing Derby June 7th, and the

Day In Paradise is July 19th 

Zephyr Cove Library's latest programs for adults

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!

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 Did You Know? 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! Go here or tahoelearninghaven@gmail.com. Mark your calendar now

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!