Bucks County YWCA Will Salute Local Women Who Make a Difference with October Gala

The 70th year of the YWCA is here in Bucks County, and the organization will be hosting its 32nd Annual Salute to Women Who Make a Difference event on Oct 17. This is a hallmark event of the YWCA that honors female leaders who live and/or work in Bucks County.

“Over the past 32 years, we’ve honored hundreds of women, and it really gives an opportunity to do a few things,” said Kelly Pasquarella, YWCA’s Director of Resource Development. “One is to celebrate the amazing accomplishments of women here in Bucks County. It also allows our YWCA to honor our mission of eliminating racism and empowering women, and also to raise much needed funds to support the programs and services that support women, girls, and families here in Bucks County.”

The YWCA is looking to raise $80,000 from the event. Pasquarella said that is usually their goal every year. In the past, they were close to raising this amount, but they have not made it yet.

Kristin Chapin, YWCA’s Assistant Director, said local sponsors, ads in their program book and attendance at the event – ticket sales—will enable them to meet this goal.

Chapin said they are in the process of getting an mc for the event. “We can’t highlight that just yet,” she said. “We have a two women committee who rallies together, makes all the final decisions. It’s our board members that are in the committee.”

Pasquarella said the Salute to Women Who Make a Difference is a wonderful opportunity to come out and recognize the accomplishments of women.

“It’s a fun night,” she said. “It’s a gala event in addition to the program itself where we’re honoring the women and recognizing their accomplishments; we also have a wonderful cocktail hour. We have a lot of fun activities and raffles that we do prior to the program starting.”

It’s an opportunity to network and meet other people who share the values of the organization and support the work of women and their contributions, she added. All women being honored must either work, volunteer or live in Bucks County.

The 15 women and student being honored, and the categories are:

Advocacy & Civic Engagement:

Julie Dees – Chief Operating Officer, Family Service Association
Taneise Marshall –  Owner, The Collective by Rae Farrell

Community Engagement:

Cheryl L. Ammons – Cheryl serves as the Financial Secretary for a non-profit, tax-exempt organization that awards scholarships to graduating high school students attending Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Claudine Schuster –  Owner of Shanteel Yoga Sanctuary
Elizabeth Kearney – Founder of Neighbor in Need (NIN) – a nonprofit
Karen Lasorda – Senior Vice President of Commercial Lending at Penn Community Bank

Lynne Kelleher – Realtor / Founder of 100 Women Who Care
Theresa Lang –  Marketing Coordinator, Antheil Maslow & MacMinn, LLP

Corporate Social Responsibility:

Alina Pressman – Financial Planning & Analysis Manager – Compensation & Benefits at Veolia Water Technologies & Solutions
Franni Gargano – Director of Beverage Service at Parx Casino

Racial & Social Justice:

Leonore Hope – Retired from Bensalem School District, one of two Directors of Educational Programming at The Peace Center.
Savi Hiremath –   Tech Leader, Global Lead for PACE ERG, Verizon

Women’s Empowerment :

CJ Bachmann – Chief Executive Officer of 1SEO
Jodie Horger – Founder & President of Rick’s Tree Service / Founder of Misfits Girls Wrestling

Tracie D. Mattison – Award-winning, “Hall of Fame” Sales Professional with Merck & Co. Inc.

#GirlPower:

Catherine Potgieter, Student

For the nominations, they have several categories that align with the mission of the YWCA and “the general public can nominate women who meet the criteria,” said Pasquarella.

Chapin added that they will have one or two Girl Power honorees–a middle school or a high school student that lives in Bucks County.

“Every year, it’s very well attended,” added Pasquarella. “I think last year we had about 325 people attend. We anticipate around those same numbers this year. It’s a fun event that people can come out and enjoy.”

Tickets/Ads/Sponsorships are at: www.ywcabucks.org/salute .

Founded in 1954, the Bucks County YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. YWCA provides educational enrichment and social services programming supporting children, women, and families across Bucks County. Their initiatives are centered around three key areas: Youth and Family Services, Housing and Social Services, and Racial and Social Justice programs.