Soroptimist International of Harrisburg recently celebrated its 2019 annual awards evening by distributing more than $6,000 to local organizations and individuals. At this year's awards evening, Elyse Erdman was recognized for her volunteer service with Hope Springs Farm by receiving the club's Violet Richardson Award. Both Erdman and Hope Springs Farm received awards for their work.
Soroptimist International is a worldwide organization of women dedicated to helping other women. Members provide service and financial support at the local, region, national, and international levels with the goal of advancing human rights and the status of women. Soroptimist International of Harrisburg members have a mission to use their time, talent, and resources to advance the status of women and children. To accomplish this mission, they establish and support specific projects to address needs locally, regionally, and internationally.
The Violet Richardson Award recognizes and honors young women ages 14 to 17 who improve the community and the world through volunteer efforts such as fighting drugs, crime, and violence; cleaning up the environment; and working to end discrimination and poverty. Volunteer actions that benefit women or girls are of particular interest. Although Hope Springs Farm serves to help both men and women with disabilities in the community, the Soroptimist Club recognized Erdman's unique volunteer work to improve the farm's community outreach.
Hope Springs Farm is a nonprofit organization with a day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities and autism. The program is located on a family farm setting in Hershey. Participants, called "Growers," range in age from 21 to 59 and have many different needs.
Erdman is a senior at Lower Dauphin High School and has volunteered with Hope Springs Farm since September 2018. Her volunteer work includes writing press releases and blogs, managing social media accounts, and organizing fundraisers. Fundraisers she has promoted through social media and press releases have included the fall harvest barbecue, cookie sale, and pancake breakfast. This year's new fundraisers that she helped plan and create were #GivingTuesday and the golf tournament outing. She worked on #GivingTuesday as an individual project using little supervision from the farm's director, Jim Gainer. Erdman's efforts promoting #GivingTuesday in the press and through social media, email, and the website generated nearly $1,000 for the farm and its programs.
When Erdman began volunteering, the farm's Facebook page needed attention, and the organization did not have an Instagram account. Erdman worked to establish consistent social media accounts that all disseminated the same message as Hope Springs Farm's mission statement, which is to provide meaningful and purposeful days for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Erdman will use the Violet Richardson Award to continue her education at Florida Southern College, where she will major in marketing. Hope Springs Farm has decided to use its portion of the award in a way that will benefit what the Soroptimist International of Harrisburg stands for. The farm will put the donation into its Sharing Hope Program, which entails Growers going into the community and serving organizations, in this case organizations that empower women. The farm will make contact with organizations for women's and girls' causes and find out what materials or supplies they need. The Growers will buy supplies and materials from the organizations' wish lists and deliver them to the organizations. The program is called Sharing Hope because members of the public who donate may give to their charity of choice, and they also share their donation with Hope Springs Farm in the form of a full day of community volunteer work for Growers.
For more information about the Sharing Hope Program, community members may visit http://www.hopespringsfarm.org.
Leave a Review