International Women’s Day Comes to Orcas, March 8

— from Michele Bane —

The Policial Action and Civic Engagement (PACE) Action Team of the Orcas Women’s Coalition (OWC) presents a community-wide celebration of women on March 8, 2017, in honor of International Women’s Day. We welcome the island’s participation in a variety of events:

1. From 3:00-5:00 PM, San Juan County Parks is sponsoring “Raise Her Voice,” a gathering on the Village Green in Eastsound which will include an all-female Open-Mic event, a self-guided “Follow in Her Footsteps” walking tour of American Women’s History, and an opportunity to express yourself alongside your fellow Orcas women by bringing a sign of your creation to add to our “Wall of Women” – signs might feature historic women, important events in Women’s history, important modern-day leaders, interesting facts, artwork, fun quotes, or whatever inspires you on International Women’s Day.
2. Throughout the week, local businesses are encouraged to display posters (printed and provided by PACE) depicting their personal “sheroes” – female heroes who give life to that business. A business’s shero might be the owner, a stellar employee, mentor, or family member, but would preferably be a local Orcas woman. Businesses are also encouraged to display posters of historic and/or famous sheroes who inspire them. Businesses can submit photos and bios of their sheroes to PACEorcas@gmail.com by March 2 to have their posters created and delivered by PACE by March 4.
3. Businesses are encouraged to participate in our International Women’s Day campaign to raise money for the Island Reproductive Health Initiative (IRHI.) Each business can donate a percentage or amount of their choosing from their proceeds on March 8 to the IRHI. IRHI helps prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, by providing timely, confidential, and affordable local reproductive health care for teens and young women of child-bearing age, and their partners, on Orcas Island. Those businesses interested in donating should email PACEorcas@gmail.com by March 2 with the details of your donation. For example, all of the proceeds from a particular product could go to IRHI, or a small percentage of that business’s total proceeds for the day.