By Greg Knight, News of the North
One of the largest annual social events in Juneau — and by far the largest fundraiser of the year for AWARE, Inc., Women of Distinction — was held Saturday, March 8 at Centennial Hall.
This year’s event, which fell on International Women’s Day, honored nominees Becky Bohrer, Sherry Patterson, Valorie Ringle and Brenda Taylor.
A posthumous lifetime service award was presented to Leona Santiago, Kaax’kwei, Yaan Waa Tláa, for her work on Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women and for assisting survivors of domestic and sexual violence.
Mandy Cole, the executive director of AWARE, explained why the annual event is so special and inspiring, saying, “Tonight is really about celebrating the beautiful lives of those women and in that room and learning what motivates them, what challenges them, and what they do to get through the things that are tough for all of us. I think that’s where I find a lot of inspiration.”
Amy Dressel and Bailey Woolfstead, who both serve on the AWARE, Inc. Board of Directors, were the “Mistresses of Ceremonies” for the event.
Woolfstead serves as the co-chair on the board. She said Women of Distinction is an event that brings the community together and celebrates and honors the women in the community who have spent their lives and careers uplifting women and children.
“When we uplift women, we uplift entire communities, and we make huge changes when it comes to issues like domestic violence, and issues like housing insecurity,” Woolfstead said. “This is an event that not only recognizes and honors them, but it also is a big fundraiser that helps support AWARE’s work to help people make that transition from victim to survivor.”
The gala event also featured a silent and live auction as part of the fundraiser for AWARE. Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl served as the live auctioneer.
“This event is fabulous for two reasons,” Kiehl said. “First, it honors women who’ve done remarkable things in our community, who’ve who’ve led, who’ve educated, who’ve made Juneau and Southeast Alaska really a better place for all of us. But second, it raises money for AWARE and their absolutely critical work.”
According to AWARE’s demographic information, the non-profit assisted 579 individuals in 2024, while providing 8,079 nights of safe emergency shelter, 7,080 nights of safe transitional housing, 2,355 nights of permanent safe housing, and receiving 734 hotline calls.
More information can be found at awareak.org.
