SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL of TWAIN HARTE selects recipient for Violet Richardson Award 2005

Olivia Bentley is a young woman bent on making a difference in our community. Soroptimist International of Twain Harte, an organization with a mission statement that focuses on "making a difference" in the lives of woman and children, has awarded Olivia the Violet Richardson Award for 2005.

Violet Richardson Award Chairman, Marilyn Knudson, Parents, Tracey L. and Steve Bentley, Olivia and Soroptimist International of Twain Harte President, Stephanie McCaffrey

Olivia, a freshman at Summerville High School, started volunteering in this community in her middle school years at Soulsbyville School. While still in eighth grade, she volunteered to work for the American Cancer Society and became deeply committed to the Relay For Life Project. She recruits her own teams to participate in the event and has said ... "I cannot imagine my life without active volunteerism."

Indeed, the programs that Olivia has chosen to help, cannot imagine going on without her! She works at the Good Stuff store in Angels Camp, sponsored by the Watch Program. She is a member of the Peer Court, a program for first-time teen offenders, where punishment for a crime is decided by the adult judge and a court of the offender's peers. Olivia says she expected this experience to be interesting, but did not realize how much she would learn about seeing things from a different perspective!

Soroptimists agree that community service breaks down barriers and those who volunteer get back much more than they give.

A winner of several prestigious awards in her young career, Olivia will receive a $500. personal scholarship and $500. for her service project, The American Cancer Society, from Soroptimist International of Twain Harte. Her award was presented at a Soroptimist luncheon given in her honor at the Eproson House on March 15, 2005.

As a member of the newly reorganized "S" Club at Summerville High School, Olivia will encourage her fellow club members to learn the rewards of community service ... to step forward and dare to make a difference in our world.

Revised October 29, 2006