This is part of a weekly series introducing readers to individuals passionate about our Mid-Valley community.
A seven-decade-old Salem institution is staging a return, after folding a dozen years ago.
Soroptimist International of Salem started in 1943 with a drive for war bonds. It bought playground equipment for Bush's Pasture Park, put on a citywide baby shower for low-income moms each year, sold gingerbread and lemonade at the Salem Art Fair and Festival, and provided grants for women with children to improve their education.
"We had all sorts of little projects. But we ended up with fewer and fewer members," said Tracy Learn, a former member and a force behind the organization's return.
Learn is now serving as co-president of the renewed organization, renamed Soroptimist International of the Salem Area to reflect its wider geographic membership.
The local chapter is part of Soroptimist International, a global volunteer organization focused on empowering women and girls.
One of its core programs is the Soroptimist Live Your Dream Awards, need-based education grants for women who provide primary financial support for their families. Awards can be used for anything needed, like tuition, books, childcare or transportation.
"They can use if for whatever they need to," Learn said.
Recipients can go on to earn higher grants at the club's regional and international levels.
In 2025, its first year back, Soroptimist International of the Salem Area raised $2,000 and provided $1,000 grants to two Salem-area women.
In September, it's kicking off what it hopes will be an annual 5K and 1K Fun Run/Walk at Santiam Golf Club in Aumsville to raise even more money for the grants.
Learn, a Stayton resident, says she grew up volunteering.
Her mom was a Rotarian, who worked as a social worker at the now-closed Fairview Training Center and later was a nursing home administrator.
"I grew up pushing wheelchairs," Learn said.
Learn attended the now-closed Rosedale Elementary School and graduated from Jefferson High School.
She earned a degree in zoology from Oregon State University, then spent 28 months as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ecuador, where she became fluent in Spanish and learned Latin dance.
In 1998, looking for a place to continue using her Spanish skills, she began volunteering at Salem Outreach Shelter.
The Soroptimists also donated time and goods to the shelter, so she joined the organization, in 2001.
Learn dropped out of the club just before it folded because she was battling stomach cancer.
"I was pretty sick for a few years," she said.
In 2018, Learn married Mike Gotterba, another longtime Salem-area community volunteer.
He offered to take her back to Ecuador to visit her Peace Corps family. She warned him he'd have to learn Latin dance if he wanted to go.
The couple have been passionate about ballroom dance ever since, dancing weekly at the Elks Lodge and performing with Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Salem.
In the spring of 2025, Learn read that the McMinnville Soroptimist group was trying to form a new Salem club. She got involved, and Soroptimist International of the Salem Area was chartered in September.
Soroptimist International of the Salem Area's Fun Run/Walk begins at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 22 at Santiam Golf Club.
Tickets are $20 for a single walker, $50 for a family of up to four, $10 for each additional family member, and free for kids under 5. Tickets include entry, a snack and a medal.
The organization also is soliciting sponsors for the event.
And, it's recruiting new members.
For more information or to register for the event, go to sisalemarea.org
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Tracy Loew covers environment and education at the Statesman Journal. Send comments, questions and tips: [email protected] or 503-399-6779. Follow her on X at @Tracy_Loew
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Tracy Learn is helping revive one of Salem's oldest service clubs