The 13th-Annual Bay Area Women’s Luncheon held in May raised more than $40,000 for the Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon. As many as 625 women attended.

The luncheon was sponsored by Honda World, Pony Village Mall and Umpqua Bank to benefit the programs offered to more than 3,000 youth each year.

This year’s luncheon, held at the William J. Sweet Memorial Tennis Center in Coos Bay, was catered by Four Seasons Catering and featured presentations by members who have benefited from club programs.

The event began with Boys & Girls Club’s singing group, Musical Fusion, singing and dancing to the Disney hit “Under The Sea.” Shortly after, Torie Dellinger, a level 10 gymnast who advanced to the National Junior Olympics this year, talked about the opportunities provided to her in the club’s gymnastics program, and the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed. The Marshfield High School sophomore later showed off her skills with a performance on the balance beam.

Dancers from the Club’s Pacific School of Dance also gave the crowd a brief look at their annual recital, as some upper level dancers performed near many of the luncheon’s 80 tables.

The lunch also included a presentation of the annual Women Making A Difference Awards to 2008 recipients Donna Leveridge-Campbell and Denise Gould.  Leveridge-Campbell has been an advocate of Early Childhood Education for more than 25 years. Gould operated a pre-school for many years before becoming the executive director of the Boys & Girls Club.

The fundraiser was capped off with a speech by the 2008 Boys & Girls Club of Southwestern Oregon Youth of the Year Andrew Clemons, a senior from Marshfield High School. Clemons’ speech, “What The Boys & Girls Club Means To Me,” talked about how the club taught him to overcome many obstacles in life, provided him the opportunity to meet new friends and provided him with hope.