Central Alberta women celebrated at annual Soroptimist International awards

“We go to great lengths to promote concerns, challenges, and achievements of women everywhere. With our awards programs, deserving women and girls in the community are recognized and honoured.”

Smith noted that the theme for the broader International Women’s Day is ‘Give to gain,’ meaning that together, women and even men can help forge gender equality through abundant giving.

Among the awards given out was the Ruby Award, named for Ruby Lee Minar, founding federation president of Soroptimist International.

This year’s Ruby Award — for someone who has worked to improve the lives of women and girls, has had a significant impact on those lives, and has inspired other women — went to Dieulita Datus-Hall.

Datus-Hall is program director at Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership, and current executive director of Ubuntu-Mobilizing Central Alberta, an organization she co-founded in 2020.

Ubuntu recently launched the Roots Cultural Centre in downtown Red Deer, a space where women, and many other folks, can access programs, develop skills, and engage in meaningful conversations in a supportive environment.

“I receive this award with gratitude, but also with a clear understanding that no recognition like this belongs to one person alone. It belongs to the women who shaped us, the women who stand beside us, and the women whose courage we may never witness but whose lives are bound to ours,” she said to attendees.

“We know that women have each other’s backs, whether it’s helping with the zipper of a jumpsuit in the bathroom, sharing menstrual products in time of need, or an extra scrunchie to hold a ponytail, this is what it means to fix each other’s crowns.”

Datus-Hall called on those listening to widen their circle of attention, to include women sitting in detention centres, women whose freedoms are constrained by religious or political oppression, and those who risk punishment for simple things such as seeking education, dancing, or autonomy over their own lives.

“Let us remember the women who are carrying their babies across water and through dangerous crossings, navigating uncertain seas not because they want to leave home, but because they are trying to create the possibility of life for their children,” she added.

“They are not searching for charity. They are searching for safety, dignity, and a chance to live.”

There were also the Violet Richardson Awards, so named for the first president of the first Soroptimist club, in Alameda County, 1921. The Violet Richardson Awards honour young women between the ages of 14-18 for volunteer actions.

This year’s Violet Richardson honourees were Keevah Rellis and Ella Citrigno, both students at Iron Ridge Secondary in Blackfalds.

Rellis is heavily involved in the Walk for Wellness and Suicide Prevention, and the Anam Rural Youth Association. Citrigno has dedicated much of her time to helping with the Beyond Food Community Hub.

Both Rellis and Citrigno were awarded cash to give to local charities of their choice (the ones they’re involved in), as well as a cash reward for themselves.

Then there were the ‘Live Your Dream’ Awards, which are cash awards meant to help women offset tuition costs, acquire transportation, or find childcare, among other things, as they take on their educational journey.

These awards went to Samantha Porfoun, Shannon Denault, and Chelsea Gibson.

Porfoun is a single mother in Medicine Hat, currently attending Medicine Hat College in hopes of becoming a health care aide, with a focus on care for the elderly.

Denault is a resident of Lethbridge, and has shown courage in the face of a turbulent past. She is pursuing a diploma in graphic design, and a bachelor’s degree in interior design, while showing her son to never give up, regardless of any challenge.

Gibson is a Metis mother of three, pursuing a bachelor’s degree for addictions counselling. Meanwhile, her resilience is showing that healing, and the breaking of intergenerational trauma, are possible.

by rdnewsNOW staff

Central Alberta women celebrated at annual Soroptimist International awards

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