On October 7, Soroptimist International of Raleigh (SIR) was honored with a Community Partner Volunteer Award at the Dress for Success Triangle, NC (DFSTNC) Women Making Change Event, held at the Westin Raleigh-Durham Airport.
The recognition reflects the generosity of our members, who have volunteered more than 240 hours this year supporting DFSTNC. Our members work at sales events, help at the donation center, and serve as image and career coaches, helping women prepare for interviews and step into new jobs with confidence.
Our connection to Dress for Success Triangle, NC runs deep. In fact, its clothing boutique started with us! In 2004, SIR co-founder Linda Drummond helped secure a grant from Wake County to open a clothing closet to serve Raleigh area job-seeking women. Current Soroptimist members Pam Sinclair, Pat Lynch, Sarita Harkness, and Joyce Rothchild were part of the original group at the SIR Closet. When the project outgrew us in 2009, SIR partnered with the newly established DFSTNC to move our closet location, clothing inventory, 35 referring partners, and clients under the DFSTNC umbrella. Pam, Joyce, Lynn Kavcsak, and Terri Craig continued to volunteer as the SIR Closet became the DFSTNC Raleigh Boutique. It’s wonderful to see how our partner has grown from that initial seed to become a leader in workforce development for women.
Lynn remembers where her own volunteering began: “I have to share that Pam Sinclair trained me to be an Image Coach back in the day when SIR owned and oversaw the clothing closet. That had to have been 17 to 20 years ago! I have been an Image Coach with DFS since the transition. It remains one of the highlights of my life.”
Soroptimists attending the event were Linda Drummond, Traci Haas-Thompson, Lynn Kavcsak, Betsy Miller, Joyce Rothchild, Pam Sinclair, and Sue Whitehouse.
A highlight of the event was a featured conversation between Nancy Lublin, founder of Dress for Success, and Renee Chou, WRAL anchor. The two walked onto the stage to Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5,” with Nancy in a “What Would Dolly Do?” t-shirt.
Nancy started Dress for Success while still in law school and later went on to found the Crisis Text Line.
Renee Chou was a wonderful conversation partner. She has anchored WRAL’s morning news for more than a decade. She has also spoken publicly about women supporting one another in the workplace, which made her a good fit for a room full of people committed to lifting women up.
DFSTNC helps women gain confidence, land jobs, and build careers, a mission closely aligned with our own. Soroptimists collaborate with others in our community who strive to empower women. We are very proud to receive this community recognition. Congratulations to Service Committee Chair Elizabeth Perry and all of SIR!