Soroptimist International of Cody, Wyoming

They then worked with the project team to turn their ideas into melodies alongside drama games, improvisation, and creative exercises designed to build confidence.

As the songs developed, the group decided to create a story to bring them together.

One participant, Isaac, came up with the idea of a school trip where a group of students become trapped inside a mysterious cave.

The spirit of the rock then appears and tells them that the only way to escape is to reveal their true heart's desire, and in true musical theater fashion, they have to do it through song.

The project also gave carers the opportunity to meet other young people in similar circumstances.

Shannon Howe, young carers transition lead at Carers Trust, said, "It was wonderful to see some new faces as some young carers accessing the project had not previously attended our typical young carer groups.

Young carers who were feeling isolated had now formed friendships and developed a skill." Alan Pollock, theater director at the Albany Theatre, said, "We want more young people to have the opportunity to discover what theater can do for them.

This project is a brilliant example of what can happen when you give young people the space, encouragement, and support to be creative.

If you do, if you just did one contact a day times five, that's 20 a month, that's 250 new contacts in your database every year.

And you could do that through organizations and groups, Soroptimist, Rotary, local football games, cheerleading, dance, whatever, right? You do these three things in your database and, and operationalize your business around it, you'll double your business if you're not doing it now.

Doesn't matter if you're doing 12 or 200 deals, it will double you the business.

Okay? I appreciate you.

Uh, that will be available as a podcast shortly after 2:00 today, and again, a rerun of The Morning Mix tonight.

And of course, I mentioned it there, Shine a Light is looking predominantly at the role of the Soroptimists.

Absolutely.

But I know Catherine has her say, and there will be a further update, m- more detailed information on the stats to-

Absolutely.

But if I can talk about the role of the Soroptimists.

So a service like the refuge, everybody, and, and we'll touch on this in the Before We Die campaign as well.

Yeah.

I know I'm very proud because we've got this fantastic history of helping organisations and contributing.

And I was looking at one of the members drew up a wee list just saying about some of the key things, like the very first defibrillators in Wexford were funded by the Soroptimists.

We've backed so many other ones in terms of bursaries for young people.

We've done, sponsored the absolute, the complete funding of the Autism Sensory Garden.

But how many, how many people, how many women go to regular Women's Institute meetings now? I would say a fraction of what would, what they did in the '50s and '60s.

My mother was a member of the Soroptimists, which we always thought was a huge joke.

What is the Soroptimists?

Well, it was sort of a organization for women who were, like, in professional jobs, which of course nowadays you think, "Well, what's unusual about that?" But in the '60s and '70s, it was unusual.

Although my mother was a complete, I mean, she wasn't in a professional job, but she got dragged along and hated it.

Films made in the desert or created with desert-based collaborators are also considered local.

For more information, visit yuccavalleyfilmfestival.com. For Z1077 News, this is reporter Hilary Sloan.

In a high desert first, the Lombardo Family Grant and the Soroptimists of Yucca Valley are supporting a new initiative in the interest of supporting local filmmakers.

And arts and entertainment reporter Charlie Thomas rolls the clip on this exciting new program.

The Lombardo

Family Grant and Soroptimists.

Optimist International of Yucca Valley are proud to be a part of a new initiative, a first in the high desert.

The Joshua Tree Film Office, in partnership with the Yucca Valley Film Festival, is launching its first two micro-grants with the clear objective of creating new opportunities for independent and emerging filmmakers.