Sorensen to receive Carson City Soroptimist Ruby Award

During its lunch meeting on April 24, Carson City Soroptimist will present the Ruby Award to Susan Sorenson, the founder and director of the Northern Nevada Dream Center.

The club will also be giving $6,000 in donations to local non-profit organizations to aid in their work to improve the lives of women and girls in our community. The meeting, noon until 1 p.m. at Glen Eagles, is open to the public, with prior reservations required. There’s no charge to attend, however, a plated lunch with choice of entrees, selected in advance, is available for $16. To reserve a seat, and select an entree, email sicarsoncity@gmail.com or leave a message at 775-297-4890. Reservations deadline is Monday, April 22.

The Soroptimist Ruby Award honors non-Soroptimist women who, through their personal or professional efforts, inspire and encourage other women. The award is named in honor of Ruby Lee Minar, the first president of Soroptimist International of the Americas. In addition, a ruby is a gemstone associated with wisdom, importance, vitality, strength, power and love — all words embodying award recipients. This award gives the club an opportunity to say “thank you” and encourage others to explore ways to assist women today.

Ruby Award recipients are chosen from nominations made by the community at large. Sorenson was nominated by Kara Miller and Ada White. Of Sorenson, they said, “There are many people who reach out to others in need and are willing to help, but what is so special about Susan is her incredible kindness, compassion and complete lack of cynicism regardless of result. She has the rare gift of seeing what people can become and then does everything she possibly can to help them.”

As founder and director of the Northern Nevada Dream Center, Sorenson has built an organization that provides food and clothing to more than 1,000 people each month. The center was created to bring hope and relief to residents in the community, meeting basic needs and providing assistance through emergency food boxes, monthly outreach to families living in motels, rescue bags of necessities handed out to the homeless, educational services for job seekers, and fun activities and services for children of those served.

“As impressive as that may be,” said Miller, “it is the way Susan personally gets involved in the lives of others that is especially noteworthy. When many others would give up, Susan keeps showing up.”

As part of honoring its founder, Carson City Soroptimist will also be giving a donation to the Northern Nevada Dream Center, and sending Sorenson’s name to the Soroptimist Sierra Nevada Region for further consideration. For information about the Northern Nevada Dream Center, go to www.nndreamcenter.org.

During the same meeting, Soroptimist will also be presenting monetary donations to other organizations in the Carson area that improve the lives of women and girls. Recipients include Volunteer Attorneys for Rural Nevada (VARN), Friends in Service Helping (FISH), English as a Second Language (ESL), Carson City Literacy Volunteers, and the Eagle Valley Children’s Home. For information about Soroptimist in Carson City, go to www.sicarsoncity.org.