Zonta work and fun often happens at the Committee level. t 2008 Zonta Xtreme Dream Raffle winner was Karen Jordann!
2008 Raffle - Zelda flies high
2010 Local Raffle RecipientsBoys and Girls Club SMART Girls programCollege Dreams - incentive and enhancement fundingYWCA Girls FitnessThe Zonta Club of Grants Pass Foundation - various programs to empower and improve the lives of women and their families2008-2009 Local Raffle RecipientsDream$avers - 3:1 match for college scholarshipsHeading Home - Housing assistance for 17 families in transitionStepping Stone Residential Services - Sexual abuse prevention curriculumThe Zonta Club of Grants Pass Foundation - various programs to empower and improve the lives of women and their familiesCHECKS DISTRIBUTED TO 2007 RAFFLE RECIPIENTSIn December 2007, checks were presented to the major local recipients of Zonta’s fund raising efforts:Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance, $,5000 for the Capital Project to purchase property and build resedential facility; Family Friends $2,000 for Parenting Project; Boys & Girls Club for Smart Girls Program to boost self esteem in Grants Pass and Cave Junction. FUND RAISING
2007 Raffle winner receives prize! Robin Focht bought only one raffle ticket. Upon seeing the Zonta booth at Growers Market, she bought a ticket on an impulse - she recalled that her dear friend Rhonda Omdahl spoke with fondness and admiration for the work of her Zonta sisters. (In memory for more information about Rhonda.) Robin never expected to win, but really enjoyed choosing her $10,000 worth of furniture from Gates Home Furnishings. Zonta remains grateful to Gif Gates for his added generosity - charging cost to Zonta while providing Robin with full value. 2008 Zonta Xtreme Dream Raffle Tickets will be on sale from Boatnik in May through drawing night - Back to the Fifties Concert in the Park in July. There will again be four spectacular Xtreme Dream prizes from which the winner will choose.
The Grants Pass Chapter is famous for its spectacular, well organized fund raisers including its “Touch of Class Dinner Dance“. The concurrent Auction provided a huge array of items for both silent and oral bidding each year for 19 years. The Touch of Class Auction and Dinner Dance drew large audiences and provided sit down dinners. In 2005, the Chapter innovated the Zonta Xtreme Dream Raffle and drew the winning tickets during its Touch of Class Dinner Dance. Offering a selection from among four prizes valued at $10,000 each, ticket buyers help the chapter raise profits for projects while enjoying good odds of winning a dream prize. See the Herstory Page for a list of community, regional and international projects that benefited from our efforts.
Look for promotional information about our fund raiser throughout the community during the spring and early summer each year. See the Awards Page for lists of Award winners. See the Scholarships Page for lists of winners. In 2007 Xtreme Dream Raffle winning tickets were drawn during Concerts In the Park during Back To The Fifties week. All members of the Chapter work in Teams to produce our events providing the opportunity for members to contribute with service of time and/or service of money to the realization of our Mission. The Fund Raisers are organized by our EVENTS CHAIR or AUCTION COMMITTEE.
New for 2008 was the Zonta Touch of Class Champagne Bruch where “honors” were presented. The date was selected to coincide with International Women’s Day, Women’s History Month and Zonta Rose Day. Visit http://www.zonta.org/ to read more about Zonta Rose Day.
RECENT ADDITIONS
2009 Zonta joins AAUW, Soroptomists and many others in sponsoring the first Parent Daughter Fair in Josephine County on March 7th. In 2010, the event was renamed Girls Rock!
2009 The first Domestic Violence Leadership Summit. Zonta seeks to coordinate this effort with other non-profits with similar missions.
Our Foundation Board recently voted to include the Bright Futures Foundation through a restricted fund designation. The Bright Futures chair, Catherine Wood, is a valued member of Zonta. Bright Futures has built, staffed and funded a health clinic in Nepal and provides scholarships for very smart children from all across Nepal for attendance at a leadership training boarding school. Attending boys are required to sign a pledge to assist another student to succeed after they graduate and a pledge to never hit a woman or girl. Valued member, Cherryl Walker, has positioned her efforts to build a pre-school facility in Botswana for HIV-AIDS orphans as well. We are proud to be associated with these caring, thoughtful, energetic women and the projects they support.
2007-2008 REDUCING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN/EMPOWERING CHILDRENFunds raised in this cycle again support the capital project of the Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance as well as the Boys & Girls Club Smart Girls Program and Scholarships for Mothers to attend Parent Programs through Family Friends. In addition to funding, service during the coming years place Advocacy high on the priority scale. Efforts will focus on positioning Zonta as the ‘go to’ organization for women’s issues.2006-2007 FOCUS ON REDUCING VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMENAs non-partisan, non-sectarian organization, advocacy assumes a more prominent role in Zonta as a whole, the Grants Pass chapter has selected local service of money and service of time projects designed to address the critical issue of violence against women. Local raffle proceeds were directed to the Women’s Crisis Support Team’s new project Outreach to Men and Boys to Stop Sexual Violence and the Illinois Valley Safe House Alliance Advocacy Center and Safe House building programs. The WCST program placed men volunteers in schools to discuss more appropriate dating behaviors and relationships. The Alliance project provides More Than a Safe Place for survivors of violence and their families. President Carol Dickson presented a ZCGPF check for $5,000 to the Alliance during its June 12th reception and announcement of a major leap forward. The Alliance secured a major gift from Home Valley Bank in the amount of $147,000 toward the purchase of the bank’s 103 Kirby Avenue property. In October 2007, the Alliance will provide programs at the current building which will serve as its Advocacy Center. Upon exercising its option to purchase the building and its contiguous property, by the end of two years, the Alliance will seek funding for construction of a Safe House. Purchase of these properties represents a savings of an estimated $730,000 over securing raw land and building both facilities from scratch. To honor the bank’s donation, by far the largest in the history of The Alliance, the complex will be named Home Valley Center for Advocacy, Resources, Education and Services – Home Valley CARES. W.O.W. Project
In past years a Request For Proposals (RFP) was offered at a variety of community locations so area non-profit organizations could submit applications for funding. Representatives were invited to “defend” their proposal before a meeting of members who then voted on the project(s) to be funded by current year fund raising. The amount of support was dictated by the proceeds of the event.
Members were so enthused about the W.O.W. project in 2005 that the RFP process was suspended for the 2005-2006 cycle.The W.O.W. project received a donation of $10,000 in 2005. The project was a cooperative effort by the Zonta Club with other non-profit, for profit, faith, and governmental organizations. We are proud of our participation in this project and the partnerships with our community that made it work. For Links to participating Organizations such as Pathways to Care Network, Four Way Foundation, Rotary, Siskiyou Clinic and more see our Links Page.
SERVICE OF TIMEThe Zonta Club Board sanctioned an addition to our Literacy program. The 2006-2007 Freshmen With Futures program offers the hands on opportunity to mentor ninth grade students for 50 minutes each month of the school year. Expressing interest in students through mentoring has a measurable impact on graduation rates. Women professional and executive mentors add another level of impact on both boys and girls by modeling improvements in the status of women. Three county school venues were offered. Mentors had 5-7 students and basically shared life/work experiences to show how the basics (reading, writing, math, etc.) are used in real world professions. Curriculum materials were provided. Mentors in ALL professions were sought by Three Rivers School District: bookkeeping, LTCs, CPAs, secretaries, artists, business owners, florists, bankers, mortgage brokers, sport pros/coaches, construction trades, automotive trades, etc. Besides our 2006-7 President, Lisa Woodruff, Zontians and Zontmen enlisted: Dale Woodruff, Colene Martin, Danette McCann, Toni Markley, Carol Dickson and Mark Dickson and Beth Williams.
STANDING AND LOCAL COMMITTEESThe basic business and Mission connected committees listed below assure the smooth running of a complex all-volunteer service organization as well as opportunities for direct service to our local and extended community. To view of the list of members who serve on these committees click the Members Page tab.
| MEMBERSHIP-ATTENDANCE-CALLING-YEARBOOKOur Yearbook is accessible in print or electronically. Members tend to keep this ‘ready reference’ book handy to the phone and computer, and refer to it often. The MEMBERSHIP-ATTENDANCE-TELEPHONEAssures prompt attention to new members, compliance with member requirements and bi-monthly contact with our members who have successfully resisted the electronic age.The PROGRAM COMMITTEEProvides fascinating speakers for our Program meetings held the second meeting each month.PR/NEWSLETTER/WEBPAGE COMMITTEEThe monthly newsletter can be accessed by the Newsletter Button on the left Menu Bar. The webpage receives quarterly updates per policy. |  |
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The SERVICE/LITERACY Committee meets most months to review unsolicited requests for support from community organizations. An attempt is made to assure support for Mission sensitive projects. Requests in this category are typically under $300 each. Our annual presence at the Kids Care Fair has become a tradition much appreciated by Asante Health Care organization and local families. Over 1,000 new books are selected by children receiving immunizations and health screenings at this August event. Quality age diverse books are selected by the committee in advance of the event. The STATUS OF WOMEN Committee manages all our Award and Scholarship programs. See those pages for details.KIDS CARE FAIR LITERACY PROJECTWith lots of help, the Zonta Club of Grants Pass Oregon distributed 1411 books to children attending the Kids Care Fair in August 2006. Each child approaching immunization is offered the opportunity to select a book for their very own. Sorted and inventoried by children’s librarian and member, Linda Becraft, the books offered are attractively displayed in age/grade appropriate groupings. Linda is grateful for all the help from members (especially Francie Michelon for pre-sale inventory assistance), Zontmen, and the cheerleaders from Grants Pass High School. This event was supplanted with Girls Rock! |
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ZISVAW (Zonta International Strategies to Eliminate Violence Against Women) also falls under the Status Committee. With the conviction of her murderer in July 2006, and his effective life sentences in December of 2006, news of this memorial project can be published. The Evangeline Project places non-threatening advertising messages on grocery register tapes that provide contact information for Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault victims. Over 22 million ad ‘impressions’ were published in over 60 locations in four states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana), during its first two years with a retail value of over $115,000. Donations are being accepted by the Zonta Club of Grants Pass, OR Foundation in support of this project. (See the Contribute or Foundation Page for information.) Begun shortly following the murder of Anchorage Zontian, Evangeline Landers, on November 19, 2004, the project has been blessed by partnership with RTA, Inc., an advertising firm in Everett, Washington, whose CEO is also a Zontian. |
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The Evangeline Landers story will be highlighted on the Montel Williams television show during the 2006-2007 season in an episode titled “Dangerous Divorces.” The most striking aspects of her story are the age of Evangeline and her murder (72), their education level (both college graduates), the secrecy of their decades long problems (they were married 29 years), the blaming of the victim, the manipulative behaviors of the murderer even during the justice system process and blaming the victim in court. Her story helps illustrate there are no boundaries to Domestic Violence: not education, age, gender, economic status, geography, religion or culture. |
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The INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - AMELIA EARHART Committee provides the program for our January meeting in memory of Ms. Earhart. See www.zonta.org for detailed information about our connection to Ms. Earhart and graduate school funding available to qualified applicants. The small BYLAWS/STANDING RULES Committee takes on the periodic onerous task of housekeeping the rule books. This business year provides one of those periodic opportunities. The SECRET SISTER Committee is really good at keeping Mum about who is providing cards and gifts to whom. Participation in the Secret Sister program is at member option.