Peconic Bay's activities for the Zonta year June 2019 through May 2020 are summarized in the achievement reports below.
President's Report
Service
Peconic Bay Zonta continued its involvement with The Butterfly Effect Project, a nonprofit community group based in Riverhead that helps girls from elementary to high-school age develop self-confidence and achieve academic success.
Our club donated 210 marble notebooks to the Butterfly girls as they started the 2019-2020 school year. During the holidays, we donated 56 pairs of colorful socks and candies to the Butterfly girls, and at Thanksgiving time, we donated home-baked brownies plus apple and pumpkin pies for 100 hungry eaters at a party for the Butterfly girls and their families.
Advocacy
In May 2020, our club’s webmaster Mona Rowe posted a notice titled “Rise in Domestic Violence During Global Pandemic” on the Peconic Bay Zonta website. Cited in the article is the International Violence Against Women Act of 2019, a bipartisan bill that provides the U.S. a global strategy to prevent and respond to violence against women and girls. Our club firmly supports this legislation.
In April 2020, Rowe carried on our website information from the Zonta USA Caucus about a national billboard campaign to expose the dangers of child marriage and end it. Clubs across the country are encouraged to participate. Rowe included a link to the Zonta USA “Stop Child Marriage” website, which gives more information and makes it easy for Zontians to contact their local elected officials about the issue.
On March 31, 2020, club president Diane Greenberg wore red in solidarity for women who are “in the red” because they do not earn as much as men for the same jobs. Women still earn only 81 cents to every dollar a man makes. March 31 was the day in 2020 that marked how far women had to work into this year to catch up to what men made last year. Rowe posted Greenberg's thoughts, along with her photo, on Peconic Bay’s website. Also included are comments from Anita Cohen, a self-described feminist and friend of Zonta, and Rowe, Peconic Bay’s advocacy chair.
Scholarships
In the 2019-2020 Zonta year, we continued to award $300 scholarships to women who completed level 3 of the English as a Second language (ESL) course at Suffolk County Community College in Riverhead, NY. The goal of the scholarship is to further the applicant’s education.
We awarded the fall 2019 ESL scholarship to Erika F. Flores Fuentes, a native of Mexico who came to the U.S. 25 years ago. A single parent, she raised three children in the U.S. Now that her youngest child is in high school, Fuentes, who earns her living as a housekeeper, plans to study to become an interior designer. We awarded the spring 2020 ESL scholarship to Wilma Ramirez, a native of Ecuador. Ramirez, a single mother whose children are now age 26, 21 and 18, employs three people in her company, Wilma’s Cleaning Service Corporation. While she is proud of her accomplishments so far, she is motivated to improve her skills. Her dream is to attend college.
For a third year, we renewed our commitment to provide a scholarship to Margarita Basurto, a high-school student in our area who is a talented musician. Our club’s scholarship funds her weekly violin lessons at East End Arts in Riverhead, NY. Her teacher reported that she is making excellent progress. While Margarita has been unable to continue her lessons during the pandemic, she hopes to start again in the fall if virtual lessons are offered and she has access to a computer.
Membership/Mentoring
A potential member participated in our May 2020 meeting via Zoom. We welcomed her and told her about Zonta’s goals. Our membership chair followed up with a phone call and a snail-mailed packet of materials about Zonta.
Peconic Bay’s President-elect Annika Shapiro attended the training session for club presidents via Zoom at the Zonta District 3 Spring Workshop. Also, outgoing President Diane Greenberg mentored Shapiro, informing her of the duties of president and offered ongoing help, if needed.
Centennial Planning/Celebrations
Rowe posted Zonta International’s centennial logo on our website, along with the history of Peconic Bay Zonta and a summary of how Zonta International got started.
Fundraising
We held three major fundraising activities this year to ensure that we can continue our club’s scholarships and service projects.
In June, we held a yard and bake sale at the home of member Annika Shapiro in Wading River, Long Island. Members and others in the community donated gently-used items for the sale, including furniture, housewares, clothes, jewelry, toys and tools. Some members also baked goods for the sale. We had a profit of $550.
In August 2019, we sponsored 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 $10 for students) and a raffle, we netted about $300.
In November 2019, Shapiro, a former catering professional, held a cooking class and food tasting at her home. She demonstrated how to prepare delicious appetizers, which the participants were able to sample. As an extra treat, Diane Giardi, education director at East End Arts, demonstrated how to make sweater vases and floral arrangements using carved pumpkins as containers. With an admission price of $50, plus donations, we made approximately $1,000 after expenses.
Special Events
At a holiday craft fair, several of our club members volunteered to sell goods, such as scarves, tablecloths, holiday ornaments and baskets made by Guatemalan women through Mayan Hands, a nonprofit fair-trade organization that provides economic and educational opportunities to Mayan women. These craft sales earn the women of Guatemala a fair wage and bring their families out of poverty. In addition, the women can keep alive their cultural traditions, such as textile weaving and basket making.
– Diane Greenberg, President
Service Report
Peconic Bay Zonta increased our service projects with a local nonprofit group that we worked with last year – The Butterfly Effect Project (https://www.bepgirls.org). The organization’s goals are similar to Zonta’s goals. As stated in their website: The Butterfly Effect Project is a free program that empowers young girls by “giving them the tools to assist in achieving emotionally stable and self-confident futures, in hopes of bringing forth a generation of women who are strong, independent and knowledgeable.”
In August, thanks to a donation by one of our club members, Mona Rowe, we were able to give tickets to Lunafest – a program of short films for, by and about women – to the Butterfly girls and their program’s volunteers free of charge as long as the girls completed a questionnaire about women’s issues afterwards. One of the questions referred to child marriage, and we noted that none of the five girls who completed the questionnaire thought that child marriage was detrimental. We spoke with the Butterfly Project director about it, and we are ready to offer materials about the dangers of child marriage if they are requested by the Butterfly Project or other community organizations. In April 2020, our webmaster posted information about Zonta’s campaign to end child marriage (http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com).
In September, we were able to provide 210 Butterfly girls with marble notebooks needed for school. In November, we baked dessert for 100 as part of a Thanksgiving feast, which we were invited to. In December, we created a “we're so proud of you” socks and lip gloss bag. We have been in constant contact with the Butterfly Project leader to find out how we could help. While we had planned to do more teaching, COVID19 and a very busy fall ruled that out. It is clear we are allies. We are referred to with great respect and appreciation as the women of Zonta by their creator and director of the program.
We also supported women by giving English as a Second Language (ESL) scholarships of $300 each to two women who completed level three of the ESL program at Suffolk County Community College to help them continue their education.
We continued a music scholarship (approximately $1,000 per year excluding summer lessons) for a local teenage girl who has gained in music and personal skills, and self-esteem. We will continue to pay for the student’s weekly music lessons in the fall, if they are provided through East End Arts in Riverhead.
In December 2019 our club donated $130 to Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that provides food in backpacks for children on the weekends, when school meals are not available. According to the charity, the amount we donated provides enough food for weekends for one child during the entire school year. We designated that our donation go to Longwood School District, which is one of our local districts that have children in need. At our May 2020 meeting, our club voted to donate an additional $250 to Blessings in a Backpack, since many families are desperate for food with rampant unemployment during the pandemic. We also were planning to have a speaker from the organization talk at one of our club meetings about how we can volunteer in person but we were hampered from doing that by the pandemic.
We have given $200 to the Zonta Foundation this year.
– Liala Strotman, Service Chair
Advocacy Report
Child Marriage
Peconic Bay supports The Butterfly Effect Project, a local organization that mentors girls. Empowering girls is an effective way to address issues important to Zonta International: gender equality, human trafficking, violence against women and, especially, child marriage.
On June 3, 2019, Peconic Bay honored Tijuana Fulford, founder and executive director of The Butterfly Effect Project (BEP). Betsy Kaplan, our point of the contact with BEP, kept in touch with Fulford throughout the year to learn about their activities and offer our help.
For Peconic Bay’s second annual Lunafest, a film festival by, for and about women, we waived the $10 admission fee for students in exchange for their completing a feedback form. Five girls from The Butterfly Effect Project attended the festival on August 23, 2019. Below is what Brielle, age 10, wrote on her form. Note her response to the sentence, “Delay marriage until you are at least 18 years old.” The other four girls marked their forms the same way.
Our planning for Lunafest 2020 was derailed when the novel coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in early 2020. Lunafest organizer Kathy Walker had discussions with Kaplan and others on how to talk about child marriage with the Butterfly Girls in the future.
In the meantime, we continued to speak out about the issue. See the post on Peconic Bay’s website about Zonta’s campaign to end child marriage.
Legislative Advocacy
Because Peconic Bay’s advocacy chair, Mona Rowe, lives in Hawaii, she contacts federal senators and representatives from both New York and Hawaii to urge their support of legislation that advances ZI’s commitments to women. This year, Rowe took action on the following issues:
- Equal Rights Amendment, H.J. Res. 38 and S.J. Res. 6, emails to U.S. Senators and Representatives in August 2019 and January 2020
- Domestic violence against women, S. 3037 and H.R. 5267, post to Peconic Bay’s website in May 2020, followed by emails to U.S. Senators and Representatives in June 2020
Training
Rowe participated in the following Zonta Talks and reported on them to her fellow members:
- Hand in Hand: Empowerment of Women in Humanitarian Settings, August 2019
- Zonta Advocacy at the UN and Council of Europe, September 2019
Training helps all of us be more effective advocates and opinion leaders on women’s issues in our community.
Virtual Communications
More than ever, Peconic Bay’s website is a vital tool for communicating with our members, with prospective members, with our supporters, and with interested members of the public.
Check out the following topical posts on our website.
– Mona S. Rowe, Advocacy Chair
United Nations Report
Observing UN Day or highlighting UN themes or issues? UN chair informs club informed about international issues?
Peconic Bay’s President, UN Chair, and other members kept the club apprised of UN events and programs through emails and during meetings, both face to face and when we moved to doing them on Zoom.
We are proud of Zonta’s affiliation with the UN, and we include information about it on our website.
Attend UN event in New York?
In January 2020, our Area 1 Director had invited Peconic Bay to a tour of the UN in March, with optional workshops at the UN and a dinner with the Zonta International President. Several members considered attending the event but unfortunately everything had to be cancelled because of the novel coronavirus. Maybe next year!
Enlightened the community about Zonta International’s involvement with the UN?
Yes, we make it a point to talk about Zonta’s partnership with the United Nations at our events, such as the Lunafest film festival we sponsored in August 2019. Also, our advocacy chair reminds us to mark the International Day of the Girl Child, October 11; International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, November 25; Human Rights Day, December 10.
We are proud of Zonta’s affiliation with the UN, and we include information about it on our website. See below the lead paragraph on a recent post about domestic violence (which used and credited an image of women from the UN Women Twitter feed):
The shadow pandemic. That’s how the United Nations describes violence against women and girls. Secretary General António Guterres wrote on Twitter, “Many women under lockdown for COVID19 face violence where they should be safest: in their own homes. I urge all governments to put women’s safety first as they respond to the pandemic.”
Take part in the 16 Days of Activism? Disseminate information to the public about this program?
Yes. During our November fundraiser, at the beginning of the 16 Days of Activism, our club president gave a presentation about Zonta and its programs to the approximately 20 women in attendance.
Share any other information about your club and its involvement with international events/programs.
We continue to maintain our relationships with various groups, such as Mayan Hands, a fair-trade nonprofit organization that helps women in Guatemala to sell their handmade crafts at a fair wage to help them bring their families out of poverty. In February, UN Chair Liala Strotman visited their headquarters in Albany and learned about the challenges they face. She also participated in the Seneca Falls Women’s March. During that event, and at craft and holiday fairs where we sell Guatemalan hand goods, we talk about the work done by Zonta and the United Nations to end child marriage and violence against women.
We are able to incorporate so much in all of our activities and projects!
– Liala Strotman, United Nations Chair
Membership Report
- We have 9 paid members at this time.
- Our membership numbers remain unchanged. Every member is actively engaged in our planning and in all activities.
- 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. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, our monthly meetings have been held virtually through Zoom. For our complete Membership Plan, 2019-2024, see peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com (left side of page, scroll down).
- 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 can 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.
- 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.
- The Individual Member Assessments were completed by our members and discussed in an open forum during a regular meeting. The overall responses pointed out that members feel connected to each other, that all perspectives are listened to with respect, that we all collaborate well with each other and that our projects serve our goals and are a support to our community. The general feeling was that members would like more education on women’s issues and leadership training. The decision was made to use Zonta videos and view them together if possible, with follow-up discussions. Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, these plans are put on hold until we can meet again in person as a group.
- 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.
Area District and International Involvement
- One member tuned into two Zonta Talks this year, Hand in Hand: Empowerment of Women in Humanitarian Settings, and Zonta Advocacy and the UN and Council of Europe.
- One member attended the Zonta District 3 Spring Workshop held in May 2019, and two members attended the 2020 workshop. Last year the workshop was held in NYC and this year it was held via Zoom. The participants felt that their participation was valuable in developing them as members of Zonta.
- Information from all the above were shared with our members during our monthly meetings.
- One member was a first-timer for the Zonta District 3 Spring Workshop 2020.
- All upcoming workshops and seminars are discussed at every meeting, and the details are emailed to each member.
- We provide registration fees, and if our budget allows, hotel and transportation fees.
– 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.
President and Public Relations Chair Diane Greenberg writes news releases, takes photos and writes captions for the media and our website, and handles other publicity, such as calling the media about our fundraisers and other events. She’s assisted by Webmaster Mona Rowe, who keeps our website up to date by posting information generated primarily by Greenberg but also by Rowe and other members. Although Rowe lives in Hawaii, she is an active club member and vigilant about keeping our website current. The website address is: www.peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com.
We send press releases to local media before any of our public events, and we also send a photo and write-up after the event. For example, for our English as a Second Language scholarship program, we take a photograph of our members giving the award to the recipient and send it with a caption to the local newspaper that covers the recipient’s hometown. We also post the photo and caption on our website.
We have continued our work with The Butterfly Effect Project this year, a local organization that aims to develop self-confidence and academic skills in girls from elementary school to high school. We donated 210 marble notebooks to the girls when started school and 56 pairs of socks to them for the holidays. We also baked goods for their Thanksgiving holiday party. We take photos of these events and typically send them to the local media as well as feature them on our website.
At the October 2019 District 3 Centennial Conference, our club won third place for the chapter’s “Share Our Story” poster, which highlighted our activities with The Butterfly Effect Project. Greenberg’s daughter, Alicia Parrott, who is a graphic designer, volunteered to design the poster. We plan to make additional use of her design skills in the future. (To see the poster, CLICK HERE.) We also won second place for our club’s United Nations achievement report, which outlines some of our international activities. (To read the UN report, CLICK HERE and scroll down.)
We publicize our fundraisers through news releases, social media, posters, paid ads and word-of-mouth. For example, when we had a yard sale featuring donated goods from our club members, we sent calendar announcements to the local media, posted the information about it on Facebook, put up posters, paid for advertising in a local newspaper, and told friends and people in the community about it. We also put up a Zonta banner and told the yard-sale customers about Zonta. Afterwards, we posted a photo and caption about our successful yard sale on our website.
In August 2019, we sponsored a Lunafest film festival, which featured films for, by and about women. We sent a press release about it to local media, advertised on our website, posted posters about it around the community and told friends and community members about it. We hosted the fundraiser at the church of one of our members, the Congregational Church of Patchogue, and the church also cooperated in spreading the word about the fundraiser. We had literature about Zonta available for anyone who was interested, and Greenberg gave a brief presentation about Zonta International and Peconic Bay Zonta.
Our cooking exchange fundraiser fills up fast, so we publicize it by word-of-mouth. But we gain additional publicity for Zonta by posting a photo and caption reporting on the event afterwards. The club president also gave a talk about Zonta at the event.
On March 31, we highlighted Equal Pay Day on our club’s website by posting a photo of Greenberg wearing red to show that women are “in the red” compared to men, since they earn 81 cents compared to every dollar a man earns in the same position. We highlighted quotes from Club President Diane Greenberg, Advocacy Chair Mona Rowe, and Anita Cohen, a feminist and friend of Zonta.
Upcoming Zonta workshops and seminars are discussed at our monthly meetings and details are emailed to the members, who are encouraged to attend. Two of our members attended the 2019 District 3 Workshop via Zoom. Since in-person communication is more challenging during the pandemic, we expect that we will be publicizing our club and Zonta International more extensively using Zoom, our website, and other social media. We also will use print and visual media, as we have done in the past.
– Diane Greenberg, Public Relations Chair
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