At Soroptomist International of Friday Harbor’s annual Notable Women’s Luncheon on March 6, four women where given financial awards to help them pursue dreams and goals in their careers, education and personal lives.
Friday Harbor High School senior Madden Shanks was the winner of this year’s Violet Richardson Award. The $750 award is given to a young woman, between the ages of 14-17, whose volunteer work has a positive impact in the community.
Shanks has been involved in a number of volunteer projects, including her effort to raise money for Heifer International, an organization dedicated to ending world hunger. Shanks raised nearly $15,000 for the organization.
She will use the money awarded for college expenses.
Emma Billington was the recipient of the Education Opportunity Award, a $2,000 award given to a woman pursuing higher education or training.
Billington recently started her own business in horsemanship training, where she teaches her students how to train their horses on San Juan, Orcas and Lopez Islands.
The award will help Billington pay for the tool kit and travel expenses associated with the Pacific Hoofcare Practitioners Program.
The Fellowship Award of $3,000 was given to Natasha Frey. The award is given to a woman with an undergraduate degree that is enrolled in a graduate studies program.
Frey holds a bachelor’s degree in equitable policy development from Western Washington University Fairhaven College. She is pursuing her master’s degree in adult higher education at Western’s Woodring College of Education.
The Live Your Dream Award is a $4,000 award given to a woman that is the primary financial supporter of a family that has been accepted to an undergraduate or certification program, and is motivated to complete their studies.
The recipient, Holly Schutza, ran an at home daycare, worked as a mid-wife’s assistant, and as a doula throughout her life as a mother to four children.
Members of her family have struggled with addiction, which has inspired Schutza to attend City University in Seattle and gain her degree in human services with a focus on adolescents and drug addiction.
— Emily Greenberg
