SOROPTIMIST INTERNATIONAL of PATTERSON
COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT - El Solyo Village

SI Patterson’s favorite service project this year was the work that we did at El Solyo Village, a senior housing project here in Patterson. This facility was flooded and badly damaged during February 1998. A grant provided funds for doing many repairs but no money was available to paint the exterior of the buildings. Soroptimist International of Patterson located a donation of 200 gallons of paint and coordinated volunteers in the community who painted the entire facility of 46 units. Volunteers included members of Rotary, Lions, Fire Department Explorers, Boy Scouts, churches, and various other members of the community.

Light fixtures were removed and then replaced, windows washed and bushes trimmed. A total of 924 hours of work was volunteered, including Soroptimists. The cost of the project was $4,763 of which our club donated $450.00. It was a very big undertaking for our small club and a real hands-on project with minimal financial cost to our club. We helped a lot of local residents and gained much P.R. in our community. Patterson now feels that Soroptimists are capable of almost anything.