St. Helena Soroptimist announces major donations

The club gave $30,000 to the Native Sons Hall, $15,000 to the UpValley Family Centers, $13,000 to Mission: Ukraine and $10,000 to the Monarch Justice Center.

The club issued a statement saying that more than 20 years ago members saw the need for a community center in St. Helena. The city was looking for a site to build one, and the club raised money for a substantial contribution.

The community center was never built, and although the club made a substantial contribution to Rianda House it still had money left in its “community center” fund.

A few years ago, club members formed a Long-Range Planning Committee to discuss how to spend that money in alignment with the Soroptimist mission statement, since a community center seemed unlikely to be built. The committee received financial requests from various local entities and researched programs and projects that would add value to the Soroptimist mission and the community at large.

Native Sons Hall ($30,000)

The committee decided that the Native Sons Hall is the closest thing St. Helena has to a community center, hosting weddings, funerals, ballet classes, service club meetings, and fundraisers. It’s the largest and most reasonably priced venue in town, the Native Sons rely on rent and income from their annual crab feed to pay for building repairs and maintenance.

In discussions between Soroptimist and the Native Sons, members agreed that while the hall needs well over $100,000 worth of work, the highest priorities are the floors, partial interior painting, and new tables and chairs to protect the new floors.

Soroptimist members requested that their donation be used first for chairs and tables, and that any remaining money go toward the floors and paint.

UpValley Family Centers ($15,000)

UpValley Family Centers case managers will assist 12 female heads of household or single mothers with connecting to resources that increase their housing and food security.

The contribution will provide $750 in housing assistance and $100 in grocery gift cards per woman, plus associated staff time to support the program.

Mission: Ukraine ($13,000)

Mission: Ukraine brought five students from war-torn Ukraine to study at Pacific Union College in Angwin. The college gave each student a 50% discount on tuition, books, supplies, room and board.

The cost to support one Ukrainian student at PUC for year, with the 50% discount, is $26,622.

Monarch Justice Center ($10,000)

The donation will help the Monarch Justice Center in Napa create an adult medical exam room.

Currently all adult victims of sexual assault and domestic violence must go to Queen of the Valley Medical Center for medical care and SART (forensic collection) exams. The Monarch Justice Center already has an exam room for child victims, and the new room will allow adults to be provided the same care, compassion and dignity available to child victims.