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Any questions regarding membership can go directly to our membership chair, Sylvia Barry, who can be reached via email at sylvia@SylviaBarryRE.com or by calling (415) 717-0293.

Gilead House has been serving the women of Marin since 1998. The Gilead House mission is to bring hope to low income and vulnerable homeless or at-risk women and their children by providing transitional housing and life skills education that lead toward a stable life and permanent housing. For many years, Gilead House has supported three families at a time in a rented home; a new and larger home that will house six families was recently built in downtown Novato.

Soroptimist International of Novato has supported Gilead House for many years. In addition to annual donations of funds, the club has implemented an annual Holiday Gift program. Resident moms provide the club a wish list of gifts for their children, and club members purchase the gifts for the mothers to give their children. “It means so much to the moms and their children to see that people care. It is part of the hope that is Gilead House,” says Jacque McLaughlin, Gilead House Executive Director. “We are very thankful for this grant and the longtime support of Soroptomist International of Novato. You are making a difference,” she further stated.

For more information about Gilead House, go to: www.gileadhouse.org.

This festive event will be held from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm on Saturday, May 14, 2011 at the Margaret Todd Senior Center in Novato. A delicious lunch will be catered by Preferred Sonoma Caterers, and fashions will be provided by Novato’s own Anne’s Secret Hang-ups.

The fashion show features lots of music, dancing, and entertainment, in addition to the lovely spring clothing (thank you, Anne), modeled by well-known local women and our extremely handsome male guest strutting their stuff!

The Silent Auction offers dozens of items and services for bid, including baskets filled with goodies, jewelry, hotel and restaurant certificates, household items, handmade crafts, and lots of eclectic decorating objects.

Tickets for the event are $45 and can be purchased by calling 415/897-6830 or 897-8772.This event sells out every year, so call soon. Proceeds benefit Soroptimist scholarships and awards, community service projects, and local charities, such as Gilead House and the Novato Youth Center. Our mission is to improve the lives of women and girls, in our local community and throughout the world.

Spring Luncheon and Fashion Show
Saturday, May 14, 2011
11:30 am to 2:30 pm
Margaret Todd Senior Center, Novato

If you are not able to attend this year’s event, but would like to support the projects of Soroptimist International of Novato, tax-deductible donations are welcome (we are a 501(c)(3) organization). Please click on the button below or mail to P.O. Box 1267, Novato 94948.

Our hope is to support women who are working in fields that have great social importance to the world or are under-represented by women. We hope that the recipient’s work will reflect and further Soroptimist ideals. We believe that these women will become a strong voice for all women.

Founder Region Fellowship offers grants to women enrolled in graduate schools within the boundary of Founder Region who have advanced to candidacy and are entering into the last year of their doctoral programs. These grants-in-aid are proffered to assist women in the completion of their doctoral degrees.

The Fellowships are announced and formally presented at the annual Founder Region Spring Conference. The grant requirements are:

• Competition is open to any outstanding graduate woman who is working toward a doctoral degree, preferably in the last year of study but permissibly during the last two years provided she has advanced to candidacy. She must be enrolled in a graduate school within Founder Region; including the Northern California counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Del Norte, Humboldt, Lake, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Solano, Sonoma, the State of Hawaii, and the U. S. territories of Guam and The Marianas.
• Candidates must submit to the Fellowship President. a completed application with supporting materials (as described in the application), applications to be postmarked not later than the 1st of February. The forms are available on this website or may be obtained through the dean of the applicant’s graduate school or by emailing the Fellowship President.
• Candidates considered for final selection will be required to appear for a personal interview on a date requested by the Fellowship board.
  • March 12, 2011 if in Hawaii
  • March 26 or 27, 2011 in California
• The awards are announced and formally presented on April 29, 2011 at the annual Founder Region Spring Conference.

If you need more information, or need help with the application you can click here to request an application form or contact Renee Roberts at rroberts.novato@gmail.com.

If you have questions or need more information about Soroptimist International of Novato, we’d love to hear from you.

“Llama beans” are the ultimate organic gardening fertilizer

Llama beans are the natural output of llamas—in short, llama poop. Llama beans are one of the most desirable organic fertilizers available. They are organic, can be spread right on the garden without composting, have a compact pellet size (similar to deer droppings), are virtually odor free (can be used indoors), are almost completely devoid of weed seeds, and are not “hot” (a nitrogen analysis of about 1.7 percent).

Carole Bennett, a member of Soroptimist International of Novato, owns three llamas – Llouie, Llovee, and Lluna. She suggested packing and selling the llama beans as a way to raise funds.  Llama beans are now one of the ways our organization raises money for the many local projects that our club funds each year to improve the lives of women and girls.

Carole and her husband collect the llama beans, club members make bags made of old sheets, and they fill them with approximate 2 quarts of llama beans for easy purchase.  The Club sell the bagged llama beans on Organic Gardening Day, which is usually the first Saturday in May, outside Pini Hardware store at 1535 South Novato Blvd in Novato.  Details will be available on this website closer to the date.

Larger quantities (unbagged) are available any time directly from Carole’s home.  If you are interested in bulk quantity, please contact Carole Bennett at profcb@comcast.net or call her at 897.6830.  A tax deductible donation is appreciated.

You can view archived editions of our SOUNDING BOARD programs on our special YouTube Channel! A special Sounding Board channel has been established on YouTube showing the continuously growing collection of videos that have been produced and shown on NPAT.

From running the cameras, writing the scripts, developing the captions and leads, directing the production, and moderating the show, club members do it all!  Please see our link for SOUNDING BOARD SCHEDULE to see the variety of shows we produce.

During election time, we work jointly with the League of Women Voters of Marin County to produce lively candidates debates and other panels discussing voting issues.

Novato Public Access Television (NPAT) provides the studio, cameras, and technical support for our productions.  They are shown at 7 and 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings and rebroadcast on Saturday mornings at 9 and 9:30 a.m. The shows are also broadcast through CM2 in southern Marin.

Here is one of our shows.