February 27, 2018
Kate and I had the honor of receiving 2018 Soroptimist Violet Richardson Award! We were invited to the Clawson Steak House to accept our monetary award and met some inspirational women.
What is the The Soroptimist Violet Richardson Award? It is a recognition program for young women ages 14-17 engaged in volunteer action within their communities or schools. The award is given to young women whose activities make the community and world a better place.
Presentation of the Awards was done by Ms. Althea Grant, the Awards Chairperson. Kate and I gave a speech about what we do and what our future goals for MK Blanket Wraps was. We were given award certificates and a check for $500. Kate and I also brought in a few sample blanket wraps and the women asked if they could buy them. We made more money to buy more fleece! What are we going to do with the $500? Well, our goal is to buy more sewing machines so we can teach the women in shelters how to cut and sew our blanket wraps. When we visited the shelter, they were eager to help so we hope that we can show them the skill of sewing. We are very excited and will be working on putting together our program.
Our favorite part of the night was showing all these women, which included the Governor Midwestern Region USA, Vivian Walczesky and District III Director Midwestern Region Darcy Merritt of the Soroptimist Club of Oakland County what we do, telling them about our future goals and getting their feedback. We met some great new friends.
We must also recognize the other award winner, Sharice N. Hunter, who was awarded the Live Your Dreams Award. This amazing young woman served 2 tours in the military, was injured and is now going for a degree in HR for health services. She is a role model for us and all young women.
We have sewn over 300 unique colored and patterned blanket wraps to hand out around the Metro Detroit homeless community. Each one is as unique as the person who receives it. We considered ourselves blessed to be able to do this for other people. We are so glad that this award will help us continue this organization!
We want to thank the Soroptimist Club for the $500 Violet Richardson Award and for inviting us and our parents to the dinner banquet. It really was an honor to be there and we will use this money to continue to make a difference!
Thank you so much,
Mackenzie and Kate
