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Aiding Women in Abuse and Rape Emergencies (AWARE) will hold its 12th annual Women of Distinction Gala and Silent Auction at 5:30 p.m. March 8 at Centennial Hall. The event will honor four distinguished women - Alberta Aspen, Betsy Brenneman, Helen Abbott-Watkins and Susan Baxter - who have made significant contributions to improving the lives of Juneau's women and children.

Festivities will include a no-host bar and silent auction, with music provided by the Rob Cohen Group. Emcee Liz Dodd will extend a welcome and the Auke Bay Elementary School Orca Singers and Little Orcas will perform at 7 p.m. A catered dinner will follow.

Sen. Kim Elton, D-Juneau, and Rep. Andrea Doll, D-Juneau, will confer awards to the four honorees. Gov. Sarah Palin also received an invitation to attend. The public is invited and can purchase tickets by calling 586-6623.

Cost is $50 per person, or $600 to reserve a table for 10. One-third, one-half and full-page advertisements or messages of good cheer also can be purchased to print in the program book.

Funds raised from the Women of Distinction Gala will support AWARE prevention and intervention efforts, providing services to those affected by domestic violence, sexual assault and child abuse in Juneau and the nine Southeast communities: Elfin Cove, Gustavus, Haines, Hoonah, Klukwan, Pelican, Skagway, Tenakee Springs and Yakutat.

AWARE offers crisis intervention, advocacy and support, housing and legal advocacy, safe shelter, support and education groups for women and children, prevention education, community education and training, law enforcement/medical and court accompaniment, counseling, and rural outreach to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, child abuse and other trauma.

Community members submitted nominations, and the honorees were selected by AWARE's board of directors.

"Life is difficult for some groups of people," said Aspen, administrator for Tlingit and Haida Community Council. "If in some small way I can contribute to their comfort and pride in themselves, then it is my obligation since life has been good to me."

Aspen has provided that instruction manual to Native women and children, instilling in them a sense of pride in their culture and in themselves, as far back as 1985, when she first joined the Alaska Native Sisterhood. In 1992, she became the Juneau Community Council's president and executive director. She facilitates a variety of classes that not only pass on Native traditions, but instill in her students a sense of pride and a desire to help those less fortunate.

Aspen is the volunteer coordinator and instructor of a Saturday Wellness Program at the Community Council called "Our Aunties House," which teaches participants how to make traditional Tlingit dance regalia. Aspen also has served as a board member for the Boys & Girls Club and Big Brothers Big Sisters. She recently completed a term as board member of the United Way. She has a passion for sewing and is constantly making button blankets for her eight grandchildren who "keep getting taller."

"I was a college freshman in America's watershed year of 1968," said Brenneman, a self-described communicator and connector. "How could I not become involved?"

Brenneman has served as president of AWARE, vice president of Kids Voting and for two years used her media and communications background to coordinate the Kids Voting media project. She was a co-founder of Capital Associates, a women's investment club and the Women's Classic Soccer League. She was an active classroom and library volunteer at Capital School, Harborview Elementary School and Dzantik'i Heeni Middle School, as well as a member of the Harborview Parent Teacher Association and Dzantik'i Heeni Site Council.

Brenneman also has been a Big Sister to Timmy for the past seven years in the Big Brothers Big Sisters School Program. She recently left her position as Big Brothers Big Sisters' director of recruitment and Partnership Development for Southeast Alaska and plans to start her own communications consulting and media production business.

Abbott-Watkins married when she was 18 and had a son and two daughters. The marriage was violent, but she, who looked to her mother's strength for inspiration, had the courage to leave the marriage.

Now married for 26 years, Abbott-Watkins enjoys sharing the skills her mother taught her, and the blessings of her life, with others. She volunteers at the Glory Hole once a month with her daughters, granddaughter, great granddaughters and husband. She volunteers at Gastineau Elementary School in her great-granddaughter's class and is on the board of directors at SEARHC. She's a regular speaker on traditional Tlingit food in schools and workshops.

"I try to do something special every day for someone," she said, whether it's bringing fish or jams to elderly Native women who can't catch or make their own or crocheting hats for the Navajo reservation. "I enjoy sharing my blessings."

"By volunteering for what you believe in, you can let your passion motivate your actions," said Baxter, who mentors beginning teachers in Juneau, Yakutat, Haines, Gustavus, Tenakee Springs, Angoon and Wrangell through the Alaska Statewide Mentor Program, a joint project of the University of Alaska and the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development. "I have found that the volunteer hours I put in feed my inner need to contribute to the well-being of Juneau's children."

Baxter, who earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Skidmore College and a master's in education from the University of Alaska Southeast, has been a professional educator for 32 years. Her first teaching job was at Juneau's Capital School in 1976.

Baxter went on to teach in three schools, including all elementary grades, special education, and extended learning. She served as volunteer coordinator of the Sea Week Program for 15 years, was volunteer coordinator for the Science Fair Special Awards and was a founding board member of Discovery Southeast, where she helped create the natural history program for Juneau students.

Baxter has served as a board member of AWARE and the Alaska Natural Resource and Outdoor Educators and was a founding member of the Juneau Coalition for Pro Choice.

The Women of Distinction Gala is AWARE's annual fundraising event, drawing more than 300 people. AWARE is delighted to have the support of its corporate sponsors who help underwrite the annual event: gold corporate sponsor, First National Bank of Alaska; and silver sponsors, Alaska USA Federal Credit Union, Dr. Nell Ann Wagoner, F.A.C.O.G., Wells Fargo, KTOO Public Broadcasting and Holland America Line - Westours.

AWARE thanks Alaska Housing Finance Corp., Elgee Rehfeld Mertz and certified public accountants Albert and Diane Adams and Sam Kito Jr. These contributions enable AWARE to share this community celebration and to provide prevention and intervention services for those affected by interpersonal violence.

For more information about AWARE or the Women of Distinction Dinner, call Executive Director Tabachnick or Special Events Coordinator Kathryn Toth at 586-6623. To contact the honorees, call AWARE at the same number..