Letter: Service club writes on end of relationship with Edgewood

This letter was sent to South Tahoe Now. We will be running all three "Letters to the Editor" received on the subject at the same time.

To Our Community,

It is with great disappointment that Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe has been informed its partnership with Edgewood Tahoe, during the annual American Century Celebrity Golf Tournament, has come to an end.

Since the very beginning of the tournament, now 28 years ago, Soroptimist and Edgewood have enjoyed a mutual partnership that allowed our members to run, staff and serve the patrons of the Celebrity Golf Tournament through the food concession tents. We have taken great pride in this role, volunteering over 2,500 hours per year and raising valuable funds that go back into our community.

Under the previous Edgewood management, Soroptimist was a trusted and valued partner. We have served countless hot dogs and beverages over our tenure, worked thousands of volunteer shifts and enjoyed a relationship that entrusted us to manage an important facet of guest services.

It is a relationship in which we have taken a great amount of pride and we are grateful to have so many fond memories from over the years. It has also evolved into one of our biggest fundraisers of the year, supporting our community grant and scholarship programs.

Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe's mission is to serve women and children in our community. We regret that Edgewood, under its current management, will no longer be a partner in our work to support our mission.

We have so enjoyed serving you, our community and visitors, during the golf tournament over the years. We thank all of the community volunteers who have offered their time and talents to participate in this event with us, including our sister club Soroptimist International of Tahoe Sierra. The camaraderie along with the love, work, sweat and tears poured into running the concessions will always be remembered by our members and will be a part of our club's history.

Over the past year Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe awarded 22 scholarships to high school and college students, provided 15 cash grants to community organizations working with women and youth and supported international efforts in partnership with Hope 4 Women International. We are also building a long-term project fund that will make an even bigger positive impact in our community. We look forward to continuing this important work.

With gratitude to our community, visitors and friends,

Soroptimist International of South Lake Tahoe
Pam Barrett, President