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Commission Recognizes Outstanding Area Women
Stan County

 

The Stanislaus County Commission for Women will honor the 11 Outstanding Women and three Outstanding Young Women of 2016 on Saturday, March 12.

The 37th annual dinner will be held at the Assyrian Cultural Center of Bet-Nahrain, 3119 Central Ave., Ceres. The event begins at 6 p.m. with a social hour and dinner at 6:30 p.m.

The cost is $45, and paid reservations are required by March 7. Tickets will not be available at the door. For more information, call 209-404-4414 or email jenniesweeney@gmail.com. Dinner information and the reservation form may be found at www.stanislauswomen.org.

Each year, the Stanislaus County Commission for Women honors women who demonstrate exemplary service to the community as it relates to the objectives of the SSCW: to promote issues that concern women of all ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, economic backgrounds and beliefs; to promote within women the knowledge of their strengths and resources and to support women in the pursuit of their individual choices; to validate and celebrate the achievements of women collectively and individually throughout Stanislaus county; to support legislation and programs that address the needs of all women and children.

Among the honorees are Linda Lagace and Carla Strong.

A volunteer court-appointed special advocate, Lagace spends at least 30 hours per month mentoring and advocating for a 13-year-old developmentally disabled child in foster care. Through LearningQuest’s adult literacy program she tutors on a weekly basis. For the past year her client has been a young woman from Mexico. She is an active member of the local Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and Deferred Action for Parents of Americans Immigration Coalition. A Riverbank resident, she is also program chairperson for the local chapter of the Sierra Club. A retired scientist and engineer, she often speaks at high school career days to encourage girls to explore opportunities in science.

Strong brings business sense and an entrepreneurial spirit to community involvement. Work experience, both paid and volunteer, brought her to her current position as executive director at Howard Training Center. Her extensive community involvement in the last 10 years includes: volunteering with the Stanislaus Elder Abuse Prevention Program, helping to launch the Adopt a Grandparent Holiday Program of Riverbank Rotary, and serving on the board for the Riverbank Christmas Food Sharing Project. When she discovered that not everyone in need was open to service from an avowed Christian organization, she founded Riverbank Cares with similar goals to the Christmas Food Sharing Project but provided in a perceptibly more secular manner. During her years in the banking industry she provided SAFE banking seminars for the elderly and taught basic budget skills at Riverbank High School for three years. She was named Riverbank Citizen of the Year 2009.