By Pam Cha
Soroptimist International of Price is pleased to announce our 2022-23 Live Your Dream Award Winners. Our first place winner is Keara Myrick of Price and our runner up is Carmen Villalba Araujo of East Carbon. Both recipients received cash awards at our Feb. 15 meeting.
Additionally, Myrick has advanced to the region competition where her application will be judged with winners from the Pikes to Plain Region. States in this region include Colorado, Idaho, Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming. This phase of the award process will take place in mid-March.
Soroptimist International of Price hosts its annual wine tasting event to raise funds for this award. The club also donates to a number of local organizations, including Carbon Caring for Kids, the Carbon County Women’s Shelter, Castle Country Pregnancy Resource Center, the food bank, Utah State University Eastern’s Student Food Pantry and the Helper Express Playground, to name a few.
In addition to donating to local organizations, members also actively donate their time to many community activities, including United Way Day of Caring, delivering Christmas to seniors through the Senior Angel Tree and delivering/serving dinners at the Carbon County Community Cares Christmas dinner. Soroptimist International of Price has been helping women and girls in our community for 65 years.
On an international level, Soroptimist International distributes more than $2.8 million in education awards to about 1,700 women all over the world. Nearly all of the women and families served have overcome enormous obstacles, including poverty, teen pregnancy, and drug or alcohol addiction. Live Your Dream Awards recipients may use the cash award to offset any costs associated with their efforts to attain higher education, such as books, childcare, tuition and transportation.
Since the program’s beginning in 1972, it has disbursed about $30 million in education grants to tens of thousands of women to help them achieve their dreams of a better life for themselves and their families.
Congratulations to Myrick and Villalba-Araujo. We look forward to continuing to provide help to our local community.