SITS News February 12, 2026

Published Feb. 12, 2026

President Paula opened today’s meeting

Our Invocation from Lydia reflected on Valentines Day and the love and devotion we should give each other every day of the year.

Sunshine: Positive thoughts go out to our SITSters Jeanne Prestella as she recovers this week and to Lydia and her son Dietrich, our SoroptiMister Rick Pence, Jennifer Gurecki, Ron and Claudia Elkin, Marylou Whitcomb and the family and friends of Nancy Guthrie. Our Prayers and well wishes are with all of you.

Today’s meeting was our monthly business meeting and as such, minutes of last month’s meeting, finances, correspondence and new business were discussed.

An Ad Hoc committee was formed to update and revise our bylaws and code of conduct. The committee will present their work to the club at the March business meeting and we will have 2 weeks to offer suggestions or input before voting on the final draft in April.

Reminder about the marketing meeting on zoom happpening today at 5 pm.

Enjoy the upcoming snow and be on the lookout for an email in case we move to a ZOOM meeting next week.

There are ways you can help our club earn the money we put back into our community. See below

ONE

Become a Club or Event Sponsor! This can be a business or an individual. Look to the column at your right who has joined us so far!

A SITS Club Sponsor includes recognition on our SITS Website, our Facebook Page, our SITS FUNdraiser page, our WEEKLY e-newsletter and all written ads and articles plus you are highlighted at ALL of our community events. YOUR support works for our club all year long.

A SITS Event Sponsor includes recognition our SITS Website, our Facebook Page, our SITS FUNdraiser page, our WEEKLY e-newsletter and all written ads and articles, plus you are highlighted at one of our SITS community events such as our Awards Presentation or Scholarship Presentation.

Go here to purchase a Sponsorship today!

TWO

Beginning February 12, 2026, you can purchase a Vacation Stay Raffle Tickets. We have two separate raffles and we will sell only 200 tickets for each opportunity, so your odds are great!

• One raffle is for a beautiful condo stay at Maui Kamaole in Kihei, Maui! It is generously donated by Jean Bergner and Cookie Rork.
• The second raffle opportunity is an “Anywhere in the World” Timeshare, and we mean it! the winner will select from a timeshare exchange such as RCI or Interval International and choose a timeshare wherever they want to play.

Both options are for the STAY only, TRAVEL IS NOT INCLUDED. You can secure your ticket through a member or email our team at [email protected] and simply state, “I want to purchase a ticket” and we’ll guide you from there. Winners will be drawn at our amazing Mad Hatter Tea Party on Sunday, May 17th. Winner does NOT need to be present at the event. Tickets are $50 each and we can’t wait to run out of them!

Lisa H will have packets of tickets prepared for the Feb. 12 meeting. Email [email protected] with the number of tickets you’d like to begin with!

THREE

Mad Hatter Tea Party at Valhalla Tahoe!

And speaking about having a magical time. This Mad Hatter Tea Party is simply stunning thanks to the creative efforts of our members led by Lisa Cali and an amazing menu led by our member, Jeanne Prestella. It takes our entire club to provide such a magical experience. Tickets will be on sale soon, so be on the lookout as we sold out quickly last year! Keep checking our fundraiser site at www.SITS2026.org and keep up to date on what’s happening!

FOUR

Our Annual Online Auction!

Members are out working with the community to receive donations from our business community and community members who want to share their talents! Items, shopping and dining certificates, and experiences of all kinds turn into funds for scholarships, awards, programs, and necessities, by people who bid to win! Our online auction opens up for bidding on Sunday, May 17 and closes on May 29, 2026 at 8:00 PM sharp!

If you’re a community member, you can register to bid NOW and follow along at all we collect at our auction website, www.SITS2026.org. If you aren’t the winning bidder, you can still donate money as your contribution!

If you’re a business owner and have an item or experience to contribute, you can contact a member or donate directly on our site here. It’s easy and quick and we will be in contact for additional details such as your logo or item picture. We connect your donation to the public directly through your website or social media page in addition to our own! We want the community to know who our partners are.

And if you’re an individual with a talent and want to share, we’d love your donation as well. A home chef who will teach a small class cooking, avid fisherman who would teach beginning fishing, an archer who wants to expose someone to the sport, a troop or school club leader who has a group of youth that can donate a couple of hours of pine cone raking, an avid hiker who would take a small group on a hike, a home painter who would paint a room in a home, a boater who would take a small group out on the lake, anything! Let your mind go wild because we’re all in this together!

Thank you to the many members working behind the scenes to make all of this happen. YOU, and our generous supporters, are the reason we are able to provide so much to our community.

COMMITTEE HAPPENINGS

We’re a busy group!

• Fundraising/ONLINE AUCTION is key to the funds we provide back into our community through scholarships, books, life essentials, and so much more. Members who requested specific donors were given their hard copy letters. We have more donation requests that need a member for follow up, so please contact. [email protected] to help out!
• Fundraising/VaCa Stay Raffle! Thanks to the Bergners, Prestellas, and Rorks, we again have the opportunity to sell vacation stay raffle tickets as a big part of our fundraising. Tickets will be $50 each and only 200 will be sold for either an “Anywhere in the World” timeshare (thanks Jeanne), or a beautiful condo on Maui (thanks Cookie and Jean). Selling all tickets can net our club $20,000 for the work that we do in the community. In Person sales begin TODAY(Lisa H. will have tickets at the business meeting), as do a person’s ability to contact us via email to secure a ticket. Two lucky winners will be drawn at our Mad Hatter event at Valhalla on May 17!.
• Donations are already coming in! Go to Sits2026.org to view or donate items.
• HWHW (Healthy Women/Healthy World) is organizing a Monthly Movement series. Each will take place following our business meetings around 9 am. Join us and bring a friend! Save the dates and let’s move!

1. Feb. 26 we will have a BUNCO Night. Location and time will be announced shortly.
2. Mar. 11, we are tagging on the Encompass Youth’s fundraiser at the Tahoe Knight Monsters game so buy your tickets through the QR code below! We’ll do dinner first somewhere in town.
3. Mar. 12 is Ski with a Ranger at Heavenly.
4. Apr. 9, May 14, and June 11….activities will be announced.

• HWHW will once again host Bread & Broth for our community on Monday, March 2, 2026. If you’d like to be one of the 5 volunteers, contact Kim V. now!
• March 12th, Ski with a Ranger at 9 am at Heavenly.
• Social Committee: Bunco Night is coming in February. Date to be finalized.
• Technology Committee continues to be available to our ladies to learn more about our google account, our mail, and whatever else you need to help you be more efficient. Technology isn’t a fad, so get the amazing assistance that you need! Get a hold of one of the ladies at [email protected]

SITS Member Reminders

Quarterly Member Dues for Jan-March and Happy Dollars: These funds are how we pay for our overhead expenses, so they are very important. Thanks to our Tech team and Treasurers, we continue to evolve into the most efficient payment and accounting methods. Use THIS LINK or QR Code to PAY YOUR WEEKLY, QUARTERLY, or YEARLY DUES AND HAPPY DOLLARS! *Be sure to use the drop down menu on the service charge and click “Other”, then type in “0”. You will not pay a service fee in doing this.

SITS Committee Signups~ Go to our signup listing site for this year of fun committee options here!

NEWS team signups are here!

Our Soroptimist apparel line is ready for purchase! Liz Prestella’s Torq’d clothing line for women is our supporter of this endeavor. Members and appreciators of SITS are now able to purchase apparel and items from her website. See what items are offered and to order go here. Thank you to the SITS team and to Torq’d for all of the hard work.

SOROPTIMIST CONFERENCES!

• District 5 Winter Forum Leadership Summit, hosted by SI Sierra Reno is February 27th! Details here.
• SNR conference celebrating 50 years from June 5-7, 2026, in Reno.
• Biennial Soroptimist International conference will be held in Incheon, South Korea from July 22-25, 2026.

NON-SITS

Fun and Opportunities in Tahoe

There’s actually so much going on so you’re going to want to check out the EVENTS tab on www.southtahoenow.com, but here’s a few to get you started!

Tahoe Women’s Community Fund is thrilled to announce that TWCF has $120,000 to donate back to the community here on the South Shore of Lake Tahoe for our 11th YEAR OF GIVING and our applications are now available: click here to access the application portal! 

Applications are due no later than March 10, 2026. We want to support as many great programs as possible!  If a nonprofit received a grant in 2025, they are ineligible to apply this year. And as always, the proposals must DIRECTLY serve the South Shore of Lake Tahoe! 

SISLT GRANTS : With the success of our 52^nd Wine, Food and Beer Tasting, “Peace, Love, and Vino” on November 7, 2025, Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe is returning $35,000 to the south shore community in the form of community service grants to be awarded to nonprofit organizations whose programs and or projects (as specified in their application) improves the lives of woman and or children in the South Shore Lake Tahoe community.

These grants are designed to support nonprofit organizations making a meaningful impact on the lives of women and children throughout the South Shore in the Lake Tahoe community. Funding will be awarded to projects that demonstrate strong community benefit, measurable outcomes, and a commitment to serving those most in need. Click here to apply!

Sierra Nevada Alliance, in partnership with The League to Save Lake Tahoe, invites you to join upcoming community litter cleanups and get connected with future volunteer opportunities!

Cleanup Dates:

•  February 16
•  March 27
•  April 6

These cleanups will take place along Fallen Leaf Lake Rd in South Lake Tahoe, with time permitting to cover nearby Kiva Beach. The data gathered from these events directly supports local litter-reduction solutions — like the plastic water bottle ban and the installation of cigarette butt containers at popular recreation sites.

???? Register for a cleanup and learn more

(You’ll be redirected to The League’s volunteer page to create an account and sign a waiver.)

And if you’d like to hear about more ways to get involved — from restoration projects to community events and education efforts — join our Sierra Nevada Alliance Volunteer List!

???? Sign up here to stay in the loop

Have any questions? Contact Shannon Flynn at [email protected].

Thank you for helping keep Tahoe clean and our Sierra community strong — we can’t do it without you!

This is the 39th Season of Tahoe Arts Project!

Katie Jane Band-March 2 – 6, 2026,

Living Voices-“Our Revolution” will be presented in our LTUSD schools March 23-27, 2026, with an evening Community Presentation at LTCC on Wednesday, March 25, 2025, hosted by the Lake Tahoe Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution in collaboration with TAP and LTCC.

Encompass Youth will be the spotlighted organization at the Tahoe Knight Monsters Hockey Game on March 11th at 7:00 PM, they will earn a percentage of ticket sales. Tickets must be purchased with the below QR code to benefit our youth (scan below). Then mark your calendars and get your green items out of your closet. Questions? Contact Karen at [email protected].

Tahoe Alliance for Safe Kids

Drug Store Project: This year’s date is March 31st. Volunteers from the community are needed! Email Theresa at [email protected] if interested.

Community Safety Tidbit: South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue is linked into a program purchased by El Dorado County. It’s the SMART911 program. Go https://ready.edso.org and create an account. Emergency services can gain important information on your home and who is in it as they are responding. You can provide as much or as little information as you want. Things like an elderly parent, pets, family members, Oxygen tanks in the home, etc., help first responders help you. Please take the time to check it out and SHARE.

Vista Rise Collective (previously Live Violence Free) is always looking for volunteers. There are many opportunities, for both direct and indirect services. Cash donations are always welcome, but every Tuesday they accept non cash donations such as furniture, clothing, etc. For more information about volunteering, donations and/or services provided click here.

PETAL KINDNESS is a non-profit organization that rescues flowers to uplift others and helps divert green waste from landfills. They are in desperate need of vases. Drop them off at 2941 Lake Tahoe Blvd. Leave behind wooden pallet wall.

Petal Kindness rescues these flowers from the landfill and provides them to non-profits, hospitals, senior centers, and community-based organizations to bring comfort, joy, and healing to our local community members. Donations and volunteers are always needed!

Blood donations are desperately needed . Please see details here and make your appointment today!

Looking for up to date resources in our community? Barton Health has a list for all of us and it is actively updated! SHARE this link with others!

ALL YEAR LONG!

LTCC Basic Needs Center is looking for food donations. A variety of foods and basic need items are on the list. Click here for full list and drop off details

If you’d like to donate through our club, please bring your donations to the monthly business meeting and Lisa C. or Andie will make sure they are delivered to the college. Please include an estimate on the value as LTCC needs to keep records of that information.

South Lake Tahoe Fire Rescue has a quarterly newsletter to keep us all updated on fire safety info. Their goal is to help people learn about the fuels reduction products they are working on, seasonal fire safety info and other fire dept related news. Click here to sign up for the newsletter

Saint Joseph Community Land Trust has changed their Motel to Home (MTH) program from a loan program to a grant program and we’re hoping this will attract families living in substandard housing, who would like to live in a more permanent and adequate home. Please click here for more details

Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless seeks community support in keeping people cared for.

Our South Shore community has been able to sleep better knowing that our homeless population has an indoor option. This winter season marked the 10th anniversary of the Tahoe Coalition for the Homeless (TCH) providing warm beds to the most vulnerable in our community.

The office hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 12-4 at the Red Lodge, 1137 Emerald Bay Rd.

More details here

Between Horses and Humans continues to grow! If you’re a lover of youth and a lover of horses, this is a program for you! You can keep up on their information by reading their newsletters here! Volunteers and donations are always needed. BHH Update-they are soon relocating to the Amacker Ranch!

Food Assistance Guide for So. Lake Tahoe. If you know of anyone in need, please share this information. Click and print!