A local club for dreamers and doers

January 04, 2017 11:00 pm • Last Updated: January 05, 2017 4:41 pm

A new club in Southeastern Connecticut is seeking what’s best for women around the world.

Officially chartered as “Soroptimist International Connecticut Shoreline” in December with 13 founding members, the club is a branch of Soroptimist International, a global volunteer organization that seeks to improve the lives and women and girls locally and globally through social and economic empowerment. The Connecticut Shoreline chapter of SI welcomes members from anywhere in the region. Initial responses have come in from Stonington to Westbrook and beyond.

“Anyone — women or men — who believes in our mission, which is to help women and girls economically and socially, can join,” says Beth Peterson of Groton, president of the new club.

Club meetings, which often include a speaker, will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on the second Monday of the month. Groton Public Library is the home base, but future meetings will rotate between towns, including Old Saybrook. A chartering party is planned for Feb. 26 at Flanders Fish Market in East Lyme.

Loosely translated from Latin, the “sor” and “optimist” in the organization’s name mean “best for women.” SI was started by 80 women in California in 1921, when women were excluded from male service organizations, to volunteer in their community. Since then, Soroptimist International has grown to 80,000 members in 120 countries and territories throughout the world, with clubs in developed and developing nations.

There are eight Soroptimist clubs in Connecticut, spanning from Bridgeport and Waterbury, Farmington and Middletown, to the Willimantic club, which is mentoring the new shoreline organization. Local clubs often partner with and support domestic violence support organizations, youth empowerment programs and soup kitchens and food pantries in their communities.

While the shoreline club is still in its formative stages, the newly-elected leaders envision members raising funds to support empowerment programs, mentoring and working with local organizations and reaching out to the community. There’s also the opportunity to get involved in SI Northeastern Region, which includes Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and the SI Americas organization, which includes North, Central and South America, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan.

A nuclear engineer and a mom of two sons, Peterson hopes the new club will partner with another Soroptimist club or an organization in a developing country, providing support, perhaps a micro-loan, and a market here for goods produced by women and girls there. Willimantic Soroptimist Club has a sister club in Ecuador and supports its efforts to provide vocational training in sewing, and potential income, to women and families.

Locally, the club already has embraced the Soroptimist Live your Dream: Education and Training Awards for Women and is seeking applications from women in southeastern Connecticut who qualify for a $1,000 award to help with their education for a college, vocational/training skills or certificate program. The deadline to apply is Jan. 30; information and the application form are at www.soroptimistner.org/clubs_shoreline.htm.

The club also has helped Safe Futures in New London by providing welcome packages of necessities for women and families escaping domestic violence situations.

Deborah Moshier-Dunn, the club’s vice president and a work-from-home mom in Waterford with two young daughters, hopes to apply her business background to help young women see themselves as future business leaders and professionals. Joanne Moore of East Lyme, who owns Shoreline Physical Therapy, will serve as club secretary. Kathy Greene of Stonington, executive director of The Light House Voc-Ed Center, is treasurer.

Another SI program, “Dream It, Be It,” focuses on middle school and high school girls, providing them access to professional role models, career education and resources.

“We’re very interested in STEM organizations and partnering with existing organizations doing science, technology, environment and math work with the girls,” says Peterson.

SI also has consultative status as a not-for-profit, non-government organization with the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council, which oversees UN activities and policies that promote human rights. Approximately 200 Soroptimist members from around the world are expected to participate in the Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March, providing local insights on what programs are working and what else is needed in developing nations in Africa, South America and Asia.

The new SI club will have its own Facebook page soon and more information on the SI Northeast website, www.soroptimistner.org.