Soroptimist International of La Jolla is a nonprofit organization focused on helping women and girls with services running the gamut from resource for sexually abused women to recognition of high school girls’ work for charity. Jean Kauth McGrath, former president of the group, joined Soroptimist because she felt that membership in a group would help her contribute more. “We are hands-on people,” she says; “all money goes charity. It’s really rewarding to be a soroptimist,” loosely translated from a Latin word meaning “best for women.” Soroptimist International has 80,000 members in 132 countries. The La Jolla group was founded in 1947. Reboot, a service group with which Soroptimist has partnered, helps deployed female military personnel through a three-week training program on what to expect in life after the military. “Women in the military face the same issues as men do,” Soroptimist La Jolla President Bonnie Mendenhall said; “they are sent where the military wants them to go, and often, they have to leave their children and their family members.” San Diego has the highest North American incidence of homeless veterans. Studies show that women veterans, who number 12 percent of the military population, face greater challenges than their male counterparts, yet there are few programs to help them assimilate into civilian life. On Saturday, June 11, the La Jolla group will host its first Bucket List Bash, a fundraiser supporting Reboot’s mentor program. The event will be held beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Birch Aquarium, 2300 Expedition Way. Mendenhall says that one of the main issues women face is the need for education, because with education, they can become employed. Women also find themselves in crisis situations like those involving domestic abuse and poverty. Diana Hill, of the Soroptimist La Jolla board of directors, asserts that the group makes a difference in people’s lives. One woman, Hill said, was a winner of the Soroptimist Live Your Dream award, given every year to a single parent or a woman returning to school. She went on to become an executive director of The Big Sister League, a homeless shelter. “Our team came in and outfitted the residents of the shelter, including women veterans, with new fashions,” Hill says. More about the La Jolla group and the fundraiser can be found at soroptimistlj.org