Achievement Reports, 2018-2019

Peconic Bay's activities for the Zonta year of June 2018 through May 2019 are summarized in the following achievement reports.

President's Report

Service

We work with a local nonprofit group called The Butterfly Effect Project, which aims to build self-confidence and academic skills in girls from elementary school through high school. In August 2018, we purchased and delivered backpacks to the Butterfly girls in Riverhead, NY to help ready them for school. In December, we donated 58 gift-wrapped journals and pens for the girls.

We also provide educational workshops for the Butterfly girls. Anita Cohen, a friend of Peconic Bay Zonta, offered a workshop on “Traveling with a Disability” for 25 Butterfly girls. Cohen has multiple sclerosis but she has managed to visit four continents, including all 50 states in the U.S.

Liala Strotman, a club member and former educator, along with three other club members, offered some of the youngest Butterfly girls a workshop in specialized physical exercises to develop better concentration, relaxation, learning skills and emotional well being. 

In a new venture, we partnered with the Zonta Club of Suffolk to offer the local community a workshop on Zonta’s scholarship opportunities, including the four Zonta International scholarships and local club scholarships. Ten people attended the workshop by many more school officials in local high schools and colleges were sent information about the scholarships. 

Peconic Bay Zonta member Betsy Kaplan helped to assemble birthing kits in a project sponsored by the Zonta Club of Long Island. These kits were sent to midwives in Haiti and Africa to help ensure healthy births.

During the holiday season, several of our members volunteered to sell woven goods made by Guatemalan women through a fair trade organization called Mayan Hands. The payment the craftswomen receive for their goods helps to feed their families.

Advocacy

On April 2, 2019, Peconic Bay Zonta member Diane Loffredo was pictured on our website wearing red to signify that women in the U.S. are in the red because they have to work one year, three months and two days to earn what the average man earns in a year. We said on our website: “Zonta believes in equal pay for equal work.” Also, we publicized the issue online (Facebook) and talked about it in our book clubs.

For International Women’s Day, March 8, 2019, we included this on our website:

“We must carry forward the work of women who came before us and ensure our daughters have no limits on their dreams, no obstacles to their achievements and no remaining ceilings to shatter.”

We participated in Zonta’s 16 Days of Activism by posting a sign on our site that says “Zonta Says No to Violence Against Women.” We also included information and a quiz about child marriage, and President Diane Greenberg gave a brief talk about child marriage at the cooking lesson fundraiser we held in November 2019.

Scholarships

We have continued to give two $300 scholarships to women who have completed level 3 of the English as a Second Language (ESL) course at Suffolk County Community College in Riverhead, NY. The intent of the scholarship is to further the applicant’s education.

In January 2019, we awarded the ESL scholarship to Heidy Cach, a native of Guatemala who came to the U.S. five years ago. Cach said the scholarship would give her greater opportunities to study or find a better job. 

In June 2019, the ESL scholarship winner was Erika F. Flores Fuentes who came to the U.S. from Mexico 25 years ago. She raised her three children here and she said, “Now it is time for me.” Currently employed as a housekeeper, Fuentes said her goal is to become an interior designer.

For the second year, we are funding year-round violin lessons for Margarita Basurto, who is studying at East End Arts. Her instructor says she has blossomed in her self-confidence and music skills, and she plays ever more challenging music pieces. Our club is committed to funding her lessons through her high school years as long as she is interested.

Membership / Mentoring

Our club had one new member join this year: Vivian Daddino. She has been an asset to the club; she primarily helps with our participation in the Butterfly Effect Project. Unfortunately, we lost one member because she had too many other commitments, but we continue to send her meeting agendas and minutes, and she is still welling to help out. For instance, she donated baked goods for our yard & bake sale.

Membership chair Betsy Kaplan mentors new members. Because our group is small (nine members), we all are often in contact with each other and can informally act as mentors. We have a new flyer that describes our key programs and our website, maintained by Mona Rowe, is comprehensive and up to date.

Centennial Planning / Celebrations

We honored Tijuana Fulford, founder and executive director of the Butterfly Effect Project, our first event to commemorate Zonta’s Centennial. We invited Fulford to dinner at the Dark Horse in Riverhead, NY, a restaurant whose owner has donated to Peconic Bay Zonta. We gave Fulford a bouquet of yellow roses, the signature flower of Zonta, as well as other gifts, and our members conversation with Fulford, learned more about the Butterfly Effect Project and the needs of the girls in it.

We hope to plan more events as the year progresses.

Fundraising

We have held four major fundraising activities this year to ensure that we will have enough funds to pay for our club’s scholarships and service projects.

In September 2018, we held a Lunafest film festival, which featured short films for, by and about women. We rented the films for a one-time show at the Congregational Church in Patchogue. About 30 people attended the event. With the admission proceeds ($20 per person) and a raffle, we made about $300.

In November 2018, we held a cooking class and food tasting at the home of club member and former catering professional Annika Shapiro. She demonstrated easy-to-cook dinner party meals. The admission price was $50, and sixteen people attended. With additional donations, we made about $1,000 from this event.

In February 2019, we held a wine and cheese tasting fundraiser at a local shop, The Cheese & Spice Market in Wading River, NY. About 30 people came to the event, which featured numerous cheeses and accompaniments as well as several wines from Marcari Vineyard, a Long Island winery. Also, a local vendor donated a basket of wine for a raffle. We made about $300 on this event.

In June 2018, we held a yard and bake sale at the Hampton Bays home of one of our members, Mary Ann Miller. All of our club members donated items for the sale, and Miller’s sisters baked breads for the sale. The weather was good and the sale was well-attended. We made $1,000 on this event. The items that were not sold were donated to local thrift shops and Big Brothers, Big Sisters.

Special Events

Dinner for Tijuana Fulford – See Centennial Planning/Celebrations

History Project – Mona Rowe wrote a history of Peconic Bay Zonta, from its found in 1987 until 2019. It is posted on our website (see column on left).

– submitted by Diane Greenberg, President

Advocacy Report

Focus on Child Marriage

Peconic Bay created opportunities to bring awareness of child marriage to adult audiences at three club-sponsored events. To strengthen our messaging, the advocacy chair tuned in to the October 2018 Zonta Talk on child marriage and followed up with suggested research. She then prepared talking points for members, including information about the situation in the United States, state-by-state statistics on minors marrying and four recommended actions:

     1. empower girls

     2. mobilize families and communities

     3. learn about appropriate services

     4. establish and implement laws and policies. 

Empowering girls is an effective way to address multiple issues: gender equality, human trafficking, violence against women and, certainly, child marriage. Peconic Bay has worked to establish a relationship with The Butterfly Effect Project, a local organization that mentors girls. We reported separately on our service activities to benefit these girls. Here, we highlight our major advocacy effort for this pre-18 age group: a planned series of workshops designed to promote education and training and to build self confidence.

The first two workshops were held this 2018-2019 Zonta year:

March 2019, Anita Cohen Talks to Butterfly Girls About Travels with her Scooter, Cane and Can-do Attitude – Anita Cohen has multiple sclerosis, but that hasn’t stopped her from visiting four out of seven continents around the world. She spoke to the Butterfly girls about the difference between disability and inability, telling them how important it is to try to surmount either with education and training. Said Cohen, “I hope I did some gentle empowering by sparking an interest in the wider world and emphasizing how important it is to keep trying, whether dealing with a disability or an inability.” Click here for details.

April 2019, Exercising with The Butterfly Girls to Improve Learning and Emotional Well-being – Liala Strotman, a former elementary school teacher and principal, demonstrated specialized exercises to develop better concentration, relaxation, learning skills and emotional well-being. For example, the girls practiced the “elephant” movement, a movement that activates the inner ear, releases tense neck muscles and helps develop academic skills, such as listening comprehension, speech, spelling and memory for sequences in math. Click here for details.

Peconic Bay’s website also carried information on child marriage around the world, highlighting programs funded by the Zonta Foundation to combat the problem. Click on this link.

Our website is an up-to-date accounting of Peconic Bay’s activities. It also reports on women’s issues important to Zonta International: gender equality and human rights. Note the following events that were part of our advocacy efforts:

Workshop on Zonta Scholarships – Local students and parents learned about Zonta scholarships at a workshop hosted jointly by the Zonta Club of Suffolk County and Peconic Bay Zonta on February 28, 2019. Diane Greenberg read an essay written for the occasion by Isabella Sorgi, winner of the 2018 Young Women in Public Affairs Award at the district level as Peconic Bay Zonta’s nominee. Sorgi, now a student at New York University’s Stern School of Business, wrote, “Receiving the YWPA award was a confirmation of my volunteer work and my small efforts to make the world a better place through service and advocacy.”

Equal Pay Day, April 2, 2019 – Diane Loffredo wore red to symbolize how far women are “in the red” with their pay. Diane went to work shouting that message!

LUNAFEST Fundraiser – On September 29, 2018, Peconic Bay Zonta sponsored LUNAFEST, a film festival that featured nine short films by, for and about women. The films ranged from animation to fictional drama and covered such issues as women's careers, relationships and breaking barriers. The audience gave the films an enthusiastic “thumbs up.” We shared information on Zonta International’s efforts to end human trafficking, violence against women and child marriage.

– submitted by Mona S. Rowe, Advocacy Chair

Membership Report

1. We have 9 paid members at this time.  One new member joined in Fall of 2018.

2. One member resigned. She had many other obligations that conflicted with her ability to attend meetings and functions.  She felt that she was unable to fully commit to our program, but has stayed in touch, and will support our chapter as best she can. 

3. Peconic Bay's membership plan was revised this year. See our plan for 2019-2024 in the left column.  

4. We meet monthly, and twice yearly those meetings focus on reviewing the past few months and in planning for the upcoming months. Our group keeps in regular contact through email, phone, and text as we share ideas, news, and get a consensus on group decisions. 

5.  The Membership Chairperson is responsible for mentoring new members. Due to the size of our group, proximity to each other, and the fact that new members are brought in by existing members, we are able to be in close communication with each other. Zonta International information is quickly sent out to all members and our chapter’s website is kept up to date. New members are quickly involved with functions or events, along with more experienced members, and new ideas are welcomed. 

6. As part of our recruitment efforts, we promote awareness of our chapter through news releases in our local newspaper, coordinate service events with local groups and businesses, maintain an updated website, and create an email list of all supporters so we can keep them informed as to our mission, goals, and events. We also spread the word through our informal social contacts. 

7.  Retention strategies include: regular and informative communication through monthly meetings, emailed minutes of each meeting, updated website, and Zonta International emails. Additional strategies include shared decision making, welcoming new ideas and having each member involved in an event, or holding an office within our chapter. We aim to keep our meetings, short, engaging and productive. Due to the size of our group we are able to be quickly supportive of each other, both in terms of chapter business and social needs. 

8. Our club was not involved in establishing a new club.

– submitted by Betsy Kaplan, Membership Chair 

Public Relations Report

The nine members of Peconic Bay Zonta strive to improve the status of women and girls both locally on the East End of Long Island, and internationally under the auspices of Zonta International.

Two members of our club handle public relations: President Diane Greenberg and Advocacy Chair Mona Rowe. Greenberg writes news releases, takes photos and writes captions for the news and our website, and handles other publicity, such as calling the media about our fundraisers or other events. Rowe keeps our website up to date by posting information sent primarily by Greenberg but also by herself and other members. This year Rowe wrote and posted a comprehensive history of our club, from its founding in 1987 until 2019. Although Rowe lives in Hawaii, she is an active member and vigilant about keeping our website current. The website address is: www.peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com.

We send news releases to local newspapers about our public events beforehand to attract an audience. We also send photos and captions to the media after our events to gain publicity. For example, for the first time this year, we hosted a “Cheese and Wine Tasting” fundraiser at a local cheese shop, The Cheese & Spice Market in Wading River. We sent a calendar listing about it to local newspapers, and one local paper included a photo and caption about the event on its front page. We also included information about it on our website after the event. About 30 people came to the event, and we made about $300 to help fund our music scholarship program.

For the first time, we partnered with the Zonta Club of Suffolk County to offer a workshop on Zonta International and local club scholarships. Greenberg wrote a news release about the program, which was held in February 2019 at the Bates House in Setauket, NY, and the Suffolk club created a flyer about the scholarships as a handout and to be emailed to appropriate personnel at high schools, colleges, and the media. We shared making calls to the local schools about the event, and Greenberg contacted the media. Ten people participated in the workshop in person, but many more were notified about our scholarships by phone or email.

As a handout for this event and subsequent events, Peconic Bay Zonta had a graphic designer create a one-page flyer about our club. It provides information about Zonta for the general public, and may be helpful in recruiting new members. We also printed more of our popular index cards, which provide key information about our club for those interested at our events.

We worked closely with The Butterfly Effect Project, a local nonprofit organization whose aim is to develop self-confidence and academic skills in girls from elementary school through high school. We provide donations and services, such as educational workshops for the girls. For example, in August 2018, we delivered backpacks to girls in Riverhead to help get them ready for school. We posted photos of the girls with their backpacks on our website, and we sent a photo of club members with the backpacks we purchased to local newspapers. One local paper, The Community Journal, featured the photo with a caption on their front page.

Most recently, on June 3, 2019, we honored Tijuana Fulford, founder and executive director of The Butterfly Effect Project, an event to commemorate the Zonta Centennial. We invited Fulford for dinner at a local restaurant that has contributed to Peconic Bay Zonta, and we bought Fulford a bouquet of the signature yellow roses of Zonta as well as other gifts. We sent a news release and a photo of the event to the local media and we will post it on our website.  

Another first for us this year was holding a LUNAFEST® film festival. We rented the films by and about women for a one-time showing at the Congregational Church in Patchogue, NY. Publicity included sending out a news release to local media as well as inviting friends and associates. The Peconic Bay Zonta President gave a brief talk about Zonta’s goals and our club’s activities at the event, which attracted about 30 people. The fundraiser was successful, raising about $300.

We continued giving out a $300 scholarship to two female students per year who have completed English as a Second Language Level 2.3 at Suffolk County Community College in Riverhead, NY. These winning students wish to achieve an educational goal, and the intent of the scholarship is to further the applicant’s education. Each time we hand out the scholarship, we invite the student to meet us for a photo session, and the photos plus captions, which explain the scholarship and the mission of Zonta, are sent to the local media and posted on our website.

We sponsored a cooking class fundraiser at a member's home, as we had done last year. It was very successful, again netting about $1,000, but it was also a public relations vehicle. The club’s president gave a brief talk about Zonta and about one of its current issues, the dangers of child marriage, to the 16 community members who attended the event.

We also held a successful fundraiser yard & bake sale in Hampton Bays. We told customers who were interested about Zonta’s goals.

Among other posts on our website are a commemoration of “Equal Pay Day” on April 2, in which a club member wore red and had a photo of herself taken to show average women are “in the red,” taking one year, three months and two days to earn what the average man earns in one year in the U.S. During Zonta’s 16 days of activism our website featured information about the negative effects of child marriage.

Also, one of our members helped to assemble birthing kits in a project sponsored by the Zonta Club of Long Island, and we posted a photo of her at that event on our website.  We believe interacting with other clubs helps to publicize Zonta International and our club’s events in a wider area and may attract new members.

During the holiday season, several of our members volunteered to sell woven goods made by Guatemalan women through a fair trade organization called Mayan Hands. At our table, we provided information about Zonta for those who are interested.

We look forward to the new year and Zonta's centennial anniversary, and we hope to continue to sponsor and possibly expand our successful events in the in 2019-2020. We plan to hold our second LUNAFEST® film festival later this summer, this time partnering with the Zonta Club of Suffolk. We will buy notebooks for Butterfly girls, as Tijuana Fulford specified they are a needed back-to-school item, and we will hold a new cooking class in the fall. We hope to also partner with a local woodworking business called R.E.N. for a fundraiser in which participants make their own painted wood decorator signs using stencils. Through publicizing our fundraisers and service projects in the media, and partnering with local businesses and community leaders, we hope to expand our reach and our influence, possibly get new members to join our small but active club.

Area, District and International Involvement

One member attended the Governor Seminar fall 2018. In addition, a member of our chapter handled the registration for the entire conference. One member attended a 2019 Area Workshop.

All upcoming workshops and seminars are discussed at every meeting, and the details are emailed to each member.

Our club provided financial assistance for both the registration and hotel for the Governor Seminar.

– submitted by Diane Greenberg,

President and Public Relations Chair

United Nations Report

1. Did your club observe UN Day or present a program highlighting UN themes or issues?  Does your club have a UN chairman who keeps the club informed about international issues?

Peconic Bay’s UN chair and other members do keep the club appraised of UN events and programs. This Zonta year:

• UNICEF USA Annual Summit, March 2019
• UN General Assembly side event, September 2018

2.  Did any of your club members attend the UN Event in New York in March 2018?  If yes, did one of your members make a report about the event to the club membership?  Did attendance at this event increase awareness of ZI and its partnership with the UN?

No.

4.  Did any of your club members attend other UN events?  If so, please explain

No.

5.  Has your club enlightened the community about Zonta International’s involvement with the UN?  If so, how?  Explain.  Attach copies of your publicity.

Yes, we make it a point to talk about Zonta’s involvement with the United Nations at all our events. Club members note in particular:

• International Day of the Girl Child, October 11
• International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25
• Human Rights Day, December 10 

6.  Did your club take part in the 16 Days of Activism?  Explain. If yes, did your club disseminate information to the public about this program?

Yes, we pursued multiple avenues of action. See the following:

Planning Activities with the Butterfly Effect Project – The Butterfly Effect Project is a local nonprofit community group that works to empower young girls by giving them tools to help them achieve academic success and self-confidence. During the 16 Days of Activism, Peconic Bay began discussions about how to talk to this group of pre-18 girls about domestic violence and child marriage. That led to a planned series of workshops in 2019. For details, see Peconic Bay's 2018-2019 advocacy report.

Outreach on child marriage – During a Peconic Bay fundraiser on November 8, 2018, the club's president gave a presentation on child marriage. Members sent follow-up notes to the 30 participants thanking them for their support and reminding them of Zonta's 16 Days of Activism.

Conversations with family and friends – During the 16 Days of Activism, every members pledged to have a conversation with three individuals of any age, including one male, about child marriage. Talking points were provided.

7.  Share any other information about your club and its involvement with international events/programs.  (Keep in mind that if your club is involved in a service program in another country, it is considered to be a local service and should not be included for this report.)

Club members are active in such international programs/events (which partially explains their involvement in Zonta), but Peconic Bay did not participate in anything as a club.

– submitted by Mona S. Rowe for

Liala Strotman, UN Liaison