SI of Metro Vancouver

Charter Year: 2007

Soroptimist International of Metro Vancouver was chartered on May 1, 2007. It was chartered on May 1, 2007. Soroptimist International of Vancouver (Canada's oldest Soroptimist club), sponsored the new club. Five members transferred from the old club to the new club and formed its core, along with two past S.I. of Vancouver members.

As the name suggest, members come from all over the lower mainland. In fact, one member makes the trip from Galliano Island. There are currently 23 members in the club. They range in age, but most are under forty. Occupations are diverse and include stunt performers, photographers, aestheticians, personal trainers, librarians, finance, fashion and social services.

The club is patterned after the Renaissance Campaign initiated by Soroptimist International of the Americas. Meetings are kept to a minimum, and as much as possible email is used for club members to communicate and keep in touch. The members take a very grass roots approach. At each meeting a service project is undertaken. Projects have included: Baking Hampers, Mother's Day Baskets, and collecting running shoes for single moms in the downtown eastside. Some of the members have formed a book club. Most meetings include an internal fund-raiser.

Business Meeting Information

Violet Richardson Award

This award is given annually to a high school student who is between 14 & 17 years old and who by volunteering demonstrates she is a leader of the future. Half the award money goes to the volunteer organization, and half to the recipient.

Women's Opportunity Award

This award is given annually to a woman who needs financial help to improve her education, skills, and employment prospects. Eligible applicants must be women who provide the primary financial support to their families, and who are enrolled in or have been accepted into a vocational/skills training program or an undergraduate degree program.

Charities

The club has supported Aunt Leah's Independent Lifeskills Society - Thresholds Program, Fir Square, The Steven Lewis Foundation - Living with Aids in Africa, and Coming Home Society - Young Wolves Residence, as well as Soroptimist International of the Americas and Soroptimist International.

History of Metro Vancouver

According to Archaeologists, the coastal Indians settled in the area in 500 B.C. Modern day exploration began in the late 1700s, and by 1824 The Hudson Bay Company had started setting up a network of fur-trading posts along the Pacific slope. In 1858 gold was discovered in the Fraser River changing the course of history. Thousands of American prospectors came rushing in, which prompted James Douglas (the governor of the colony of Vancouver Island) to declare the mainland a British Colony. Logging became a major economic factor in the 1860s. In 1867, John Deighton, a former Riverboat captain enlisted the help of mill workers to help build a bar, and thus Gastown had its beginnings. In 1871, assured its entry would bring it the railway, British Columbia joined confederation. It took 15 years for the promise to come true. After the arrival of the railroad, the area received a constant influx of newcomers. The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 also helped Greater Vancouver prosper, as it considerably shortened the amount of time for ocean journeys. This spurred the ports growth. Things fairly hummed along until the depression, when the area, like everyone else suffered major economic losses. Then WWII started. Local shipyards were very busy, as was the Boeing Aircraft factory. Young men were going off to war and the canneries couldn't keep up with production, so single young women came from all over the Prairies to work in the canneries along the Fraser River. Many stayed on. And so the population continued to grow at an exponential rate. It wasn't until the 1950s that Greater Vancouver began to split up. First Langley and then White Rock broke away. In 1967 The Greater Vancouver Regional District was incorporated, bringing with it a new level of government. For several decades there was a trend for people to move away from Vancouver, but that trend has been reversing itself, In recent years The Greater Vancouver Regional District has been renamed Metro Vancouver. Still, some things haven't changed. We are still at the forefront of Canada's social and economic boom.