President's Message
Greetings Friends!
Wishing you and your family and friends a wonderful Holiday season! How did we get to December already; 2024 is knocking on our doorstep!
Please join us as we meet in person on Thursday, December 14th for our Party with a Purpose benefitting Greenlight Operation and Bethesda Mission Women's Shelter. We have some wonderful activities planned for this evening.
On November 15th we had an amazing Rally at the State Capitol with our partner of the event, Greenlight Operation, Zonta Says No to Human Trafficking with Emphasis on Massage Parlors in PA focused on HB 1241. We had excellent speakers; all of whom can be listened to online at our website or YouTube (see link below). I’d like to thank the Advocacy Committee for organizing and orchestrating a super event; Kathy G and Karen S for reaching out to organizations to network with the public prior to the rally; Jim for picture taking, filming, and getting our PR stash to the rally; Nancy for contacting the news stations and meeting with legislators prior to the rally; and to all the members of the club who joined us at the rally that day. We had a super crowd of supporters holding signs and networking with our guests and speakers. A truly awesome event!!
We are currently in the midst of the ZI 16 Days of Activism Social Media Advocacy Campaign. Please share the posts on Facebook so others can see important information and perhaps be helped by the information or know how to help someone in distress.
Please feel free to Voxer or email me with any ideas you may have for the upcoming year or future.
Looking forward to seeing you all at our December meeting.
Blessings for a wonderful Hannukah, Christmas, and Holiday season.
Happy New Year! Amy
| |
Membership Corner
Alice Kirchner and I attended the Support Other Sisters Fundraising Breakfast on November 4th. Jordan Pine from Greenlight Operation and Amy Thurston from Hope Inspire Love presented. We both were impressed by the number of young ladies showing their support for the work of this organization to combat Human Trafficking. Courtney Schmechel who is the CEO and Founder attended the Zonta Club Assembly on November 15th.
We’re having a Party! Join us on Thursday, December 14th at 6:00 pm for our Party with a Purpose X 2 at the Giant Center, 2300 Linglestown Rd. We are calling it that because it is an opportunity for each member to bring a guest(s) to the event AND to package gifts bags for Bethesda Mission Women's Shelter and Greenlight Operation. We will have sweet and savory hors d'oeuvres and beverages that evening to share as we mingle with our guests. The cost to attend is to bring an item to share with the non-profit organizations. Please use the SignUpGenius link to RSVP and select your gift item. We want to thank the members of the Service and Membership Committees for putting this party together to celebrate the holidays!
It was great to see everyone at the November Zoom meeting. There were 15 members and 7 guests at the Zoom meeting. Both of the speakers are Professors of the Medicine and Public Health Sciences and presented information about policy implications of women’s health research. Anyone interested in the recorded meeting should contact Alice Kirchner.
Kathy Gates, Membership Committee Chair
| |
Nominating Committee
The Committee has met to begin planning for the current/upcoming open positions on the Board of the Zonta Club of Harrisburg-Hershey. They are President, Vice President, Club Treasurer, (2) Directors and (3) Nominating Committee members. If anyone would like to talk to the committee about any of the roles or volunteer to fill a position, please contact Kathy Gates, Cathy Paul or Eileen Baylor. We encourage everyone to take this task seriously and think about the sustainability of the Zonta Club of Harrisburg Hershey. We ask you to “step up” and take your turn to fill one of the positions. We will start to make calls in January. Thank you.
Kathy Gates, Nominating Committee Chair
| |
2024 International Fellows Program and Zonta
Mark Tuesday, March 5, 2024 on your calendar for our Club’s luncheon meeting at the U S Army War College (USAWC) in Carlisle. On that date we will have an opportunity to meet with women from around the world whose husbands are students in the International Fellows Program (IFP) in the USAWC Class of 2024. We will be able to share our Zonta story with them as we celebrate March 8, 2024 International Women’s Day by giving them a Zonta yellow rose.
| |
Zonta Anniversary
Diana Laughner - December 1, 1992
Claudia Barry - December 5, 2019
Maria Todaro - December 13, 2018
Grace Huber - December 13, 2018
| |
|
Birthday
Eileen Baylor - December 6
Deb Crum - December 13
Nancy Fodor - December 18
| |
| |
|
Foundation FUNdraising
Thank you again to members, former members and friends who supported our annual wreath fundraiser this year! Our final wreath tally was 407 sold – an increase of 4% to 2022! In addition to wreath sales, we were blessed this year to receive Wreath Donations in the amount of $1,017. We are waiting on a few final amounts and expect our profit to be in excess of $7,000!
Other donations for November included $75.00 honoring the memory of Ruth “Skip” Carlson (Amy’s mother), and Miscellaneous donations in the amount of $113.47.
SAVE THE DATE; April 13, 2024 – Annual BINGO fundraiser.
A donation in honor of birthdays, anniversaries or other special events is a great way to support the Foundation throughout the year. Donations to the Zonta Club of Harrisburg-Hershey Foundation may be sent anytime to:
Zonta Club of Harrisburg-Hershey Foundation
P.O. Box 590 ~ Hummelstown, Pa 17036
Thank you for helping to build a better world for women and girls!
| |
Advocacy Update
Thank you to all who participated in the Zonta Says NO to Human Trafficking Assembly with emphasis on HB 1241 on Wednesday, November 15th. The event was just amazing. There were 9 non-profit organizations set up an hour prior to the event who were able to network with many folks and there was quite a bit of transient foot traffic through the Rotunda.
We thank Greenlight Operation for co-sponsoring the event and guiding the committee through choosing a relevant local hot topic, ideas for the types of speakers, etc. We thank all the Zontians who attended the event, networked with the non-profits, and stood behind the speakers holding signs throughout the assembly.
And we thank Jim Gates for creating some new posters as well as filming the event and taking many pictures!! Jim has already uploaded clips of the event to a YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCPQ4QP_9cpk3MY4rDIt9pDnsQKUr0dYr
Advocacy Committee
| |
Ms. Judith Redlawsk, recipient of 2023 Auxiliary Aviation Award of Excellence. | | |
|
42 year Zonta Club of Harrisburg-Hershey member Judy Redlawsk, (holding the plaque), received the 2023 Commander David Bartlett and Commodore Lloyd Nicholls Auxiliary Aviation Award of Excellence, sponsored by the Coast Guard Aviation Association on November 2, 2023.
She received this national award for 'exceptional performance in Auxiliary Aviation Operations' through her USCG work with the Atlantic City, NJ flotilla. When not working with the Coast Guard around the country, Judy is a corporate pilot for an international company, HQ'd in Philadelphia.
Way to go, Judy!!
| |
| |
|
UN Committee - Zonta International Programs
Adolescent Girls’ Health and Protection in Peru
Adolescents, especially girls, must have opportunities to empower themselves so they can speak up for their rights and develop the self-confidence and autonomy needed to take control of their lives and bodies. Significant inequities based on gender, age, geographic location, ethnicity and income persist for many Peruvian adolescents.
Indigenous adolescent females living in a rural area are most likely to be impacted with various conditions of exclusion. UNICEF is therefore supporting the development of protective and healthy environments for adolescents— particularly adolescent girls—including at schools.
The Adolescent Girls’ Health and Protection project will contribute to guaranteeing the rights of indigenous and rural adolescents, especially girls, and respond to their needs by preventing pregnancy, addressing mental health concerns and providing a protective environment from violence by providing quality, gender-sensitive, and culturally adapted health, education and protection services.
HOW ZONTA HELPS
From 2020-2022, Zonta International contributed US$1,000,000 to UNICEF USA for the project. For the next two years, Zonta has committed US$750,000 to improve the capacity of services to respond to the health needs of adolescents, in particular adolescent girls, in a timely manner and prevent all forms of violence in schools and other services in Ucayali, Loreto, Huancavelica and Northern Lima. The project is expected to reach 50,364 adolescents (24,829 girls) in these four regions. The program aims to achieve two primary outcomes:
- Health sector provides quality and comprehensive adolescent care with an emphasis on strengthening resilience and violence prevention and develops pilot program to support adolescent parents and prevent a second pregnancy.
- Protection and education sectors have improved their abilities to promote health and prevent violence in schools.
| |
Enjoy some of the November activity! | |
Click here for the calendar of all upcoming meetings, events and special days. | |
|
|
