4 minute read
Heart and SOuL
Itstarted about 16 years ago with five women from the small community of Corte Bella in Sun City West. They wanted to create an organization that would give back to the community while promoting love and sunshine. So, SOuL was born. It stands for “Smiling Out Loud.”
“The reason we have the sun and Smiling Out Loud is that we try to keep smiling, try to keep working, try to be happy, and try to be positive,” said Linda Wright, a member of SOuL. “We try and make a good, positive impact wherever we’re serving.”
The organization supports a number of worthy charities
including the Salvation Army, an organization helping at-risk teens, Valley View Food Bank, StreetLightsUSA, which works with girls who have been victims of human trafficking, and Ryan’s Cases for Smiles that makes pillowcases for children suffering from cancer.
“What I really like about SOuL, what I think is important is we’re focused on the West Valley,” said Tracy Lewchuk, President of SOuL. “So what we’re doing, we can see the need, and we’re able to fulfill it. And you can see what you give back.”
“SOuL gives back,” said Gail Garey, SOuL member. “It
10-15 ladies wanting to volunteer, the Human Relations Department for the Dysart District made a special trip to Thompson Ranch to help out and get the SOuL ladies cleared and issued badges.
“This is a continued commitment,” Wright said. “We are going to be here as long as they let us. We all had to do the volunteering and fingerprinting paperwork. We have always felt that this school was worthy of something like this and our commitment.”
So now teachers can sign up for time slots and come into the library with their class to check books in and out when the ladies of SOuL are volunteering. The teacher along with a few ladies from SOuL will help the students navigate the library and find what they are looking for, whether it’s something for a school project or just a subject they are interested in learning more about. A couple other volunteers from SOuL will check the books in and out for the students, and then help put the books away.
“I had great experiences growing up in the library,” echoed Tracy Lewchuk, President of SOuL. “I remember being read to and just the newness of books and how great that was. So, giving these kids the opportunity to do that, it’s special.”
The teacher can also sign up to have the ladies read to the students. Mr. Q brought in a carpet and rocking chair and the ladies will read a picture book, oftentimes to the younger grade levels. This effort by the ladies of SOuL to help the school revamp and reinvigorate reading into the students is first and foremost meant to provide foundational knowledge for students in their educational growth.
“The vision of what we’re doing is building it up, getting books in kids’ hands, and getting those books going home with them,” said Mr. Q. “It helps our reading scores and it helps our students at the end of the day.”
“I look at my own grandkids and the things they come up with and ask me or talk to me about what they read,” said Paula Penkauskas, a SOuL member. “You know, I’ve got a grandson who is 12. And the other day he talked to me about microplastics. He had to do a paper on it. And I thought, what the heck are microplastics? He read it, and he was talking about it, and I thought, hey, if he didn’t read, he probably wouldn’t know anything about it.”
Despite all the effort and support the ladies of SOuL have given the library, they’re already brainstorming new ways to improve it. They want to develop a reading room, where teachers can come with their students and all sit and read the same book together.
“I have just a lovely group of women who really have bonded through this experience, and we’ve made friends, and we’ve just accomplished, I think, a lot,” said Lewchuk.
“For us, this is meaningful because we are learning a new skill, contributing to the welfare of this school, and individually getting to know these children and seeing them excited about literature,” said Wright. “To me, if a child can read, they can do just about anything.”
