President's Summary
Service Projects
Peconic Bay Zonta continued its involvement with the Butterfly Effect Project, a non-profit community group based in Riverhead, NY. The project helps elementary to high school age girls develop self confidence and achieve academic success.
Our members were actively involved in research for the project 1st Amendment-1st Vote. Melina Carnicelli (founding member of Skaneateles Zonta club) developed a series of films and discussion modules that encourage high school girls to get involved in civic affairs. By bringing to life women who made history, 1st Amendment-1st Vote provides inspiration and skill building to continue in this important endeavor.
1st Amendment-1st Vote, Inc. offers non-partisan civic engagement and leadership development opportunities to teen girls in the effort to create a “pipeline or bench” of young women ready, willing and able to run for office or seek professional government-related positions. The goal is to achieve gender parity in US elected offices at local, state and national levels.
Our members developed and contributed thought-provoking material for the film sequence and accompanying modules. We are currently seeking venues to show the film to high-school students in 2022/2023.
We continued our support for Blessings in a Backpack, an organization that provides food in back packs for children on the week-ends when school meals are not available. We designated our donation to Longwood School district.
Please see Peconic Bay's Service Report.
Advocacy
Given the small size of our club, our entire membership constitutes Peconic Bay’s advocacy committee. Advocacy was an agenda item for every meeting, which occurred every four to six weeks of the Zonta year. During those meetings, the advocacy chair took the lead in identifying issues and in discussion, but every member contributed ideas.
On July 22,2021, New York State became the sixth state in the nation to ban child marriage when then Governor Cuomo signed the legislation into law.
Peconic Bay posted the news on our website and individual members contacted friends and family to make them aware of the change in the law and explain its significance.
At our annual Cooking Class fund raising event, which was attended by 20 women, we spoke about the new law and Zonta International’s mission to end childhood marraige.
As part of Zonta’s 16-day campaign, from November 25 to December 10, 2021, to publicize and deter such violence, Shapiro sent information about intimate partner violence, violence on campus, cyber violence and gender-related killing of women and girls, along with tips on prevention, to 28 of her female friends and acquaintances.
Please see the Advocacy Report and Public Relations Report
Scholarships and Awards
Peconic Bay Zonta awards a scholarship biannually to a female student who successfully completed level 3 of the English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the Riverhead campus of Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) and is studying to achieve an educational goal.
We also sponsor and provide a scholarship to a music student at East End Arts, Riverhead, NY.
Membership
At present, Peconic Bay Zonta has ten members. Our goal is to retain membership numbers between ten and twelve.
Peconic Bay Zonta is located in a relatively rural region, and our geographical area is large, covering the entire East End of Long Island, both north and south forks. Our 5 year membership plan (2019-2024) guides us and is reviewed annually to assure we are in compliance.
Recruitment
*Continue to emphasize the importance of members being actively involved in recruitment.
*Issue news releases about our local service projects with a brief description of Peconic Bay Zonta and a link to our website.
*Coordinate service events with local groups and businesses to attract new members.
*Ensure that potential recruits understand the financial and time commitment required for members.
*Continually update Peconic Bay’s website (http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/).
*Create email list of all supporters. During activities, take attendees’ contact information in order to keep them apprised of upcoming projects and functions.
Retention
*Ask non-active members if there is any activity that they would like to include in the club’s agenda that would precipitate their participation.
*Invite former members to all functions.
Active and New Members
*Membership chairperson will mentor all new members.
*Provide information about the club to new members through our website and materials generated by Zonta International.
*All active members are kept abreast of club’s information through emailed minutes of monthly minutes.
*Conduct a membership discussion at least once yearly to assess areas of effectiveness and areas that need change or strengthening.
*We are supporting a member who has ongoing health challenges.
Fund Raising / Special Events
*Club member Liala Strotman hosted Peconic Bay’s Yard Sale fund raiser at her home in Wading River. We received a generous donation of goods from the local Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated (AKA), Sigma Psi Omega Chapter. It was the best yard sale that Peconic Bay has sponsored. We raised $1,702.00.
*Our annual Cooking Class, held outdoors in President Annika Shapiro’s back yard, featured Mexican foods. 20 women attended. Club members not only helped with serving and cleaning but talked about our club’s activities and Zonta’s mission to abolish Childhood Marriage. $1,300 was raised for our service project fund.
*Club member Mona Rowe appealed to her family and friends for a donation to support our music scholarship fund. Her effort was a big success and raised over $1,400 for the scholarship.
– Annika Shapiro, President
Advocacy Report
Committee
Given the small size of our club, our entire membership constitutes Peconic Bay’s advocacy committee. Advocacy was an agenda item for every meeting, which occurred every four to six weeks of the Zonta year. During those meetings, the advocacy chair took the lead in identifying issues and in discussion, but every member contributed ideas.
Peconic Bay member Vivian Dadino “Zoomed” into the Zonta advocacy workshop in April 2022 and shared what she learned with other members. In a report, she noted issues such as child marriage, climate change, drinking water and gender equality. She also described Pamela Morgan’s presentation and the discussion of adolescent girls’ health in Peru. Dadino found the workshop interesting and informative. Plus, she learned a startling statistic: Since 1923, ZI has provided more than $46.3 million to empower women and girls, expanding their access to education, health care, economic opportunities and safe living conditions. “I had no idea that much money was involved!” said Dadino.
Legislation: Child Marriage
On July 22, 2021, New York State became the sixth state in the nation to ban child marriage when then-Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the legislation into law.
Peconic Bay posted the news on our website and individual members contacted friends and family to make them aware of the change in the law and explain its significance. Read the details by going to the following URL: http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/08/ny-state-bans-childhood-marriage.html.
Days later, on July 31, 2021, Peconic Bay had a money-raising yard sale, during which we met and talked to members of the local chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), the first intercollegiate historically African-Amercian sorority in the U.S. Months earlier, Diane Greenberg, Peconic Bay member and former president, had been contacted by AKA. The local chapter had learned about Peconic Bay through our website and, reading about our activities to address child marriage, trafficking, gender equality and violence against women, realized that Zonta’s mission aligns with AKA’s: improving the stature of women and girls. Diane suggested they attend our yard sale. And so they did, contributing boxes and boxes of items to sell. AKA also made a generous donation. Read more at http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/08/peconic-bay-zonta-yard-sale-huge-success.
Programs
Five programs are listed below. Because of continuing Covid concerns, our activities for all five were mostly limited to digital means of communication:
1. We posted information on our website.
2. Members reached out electronically to friends and family, incorporating information on our website into their messages and discussion.
In certain circumstances, we were able to address issues directly, albeit 6 feet apart! That was the case with Peconic Bay’s traditional fund raiser, a cooking class hosted by Annika Shapiro, our president. Shapiro talked to the assembled guests about child marriage.
Also, Mona Rowe, our advocacy chair, was in the states of Washington and Connecticut in August 2021, shortly after New York’s ban on child marriage was signed into law. With mask on, 30 minutes in each location, she spoke to everyone who passed her on the street about child marriage and urged individuals to advocate for a change of law in those states. (Child marriage is banned only in the states of Delaware, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.) Of course, she also talked about Zonta International.
Please go to the pages listed below for details on Peconic Bay’s five advocacy programs.
1. Break the Bias
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2022/03/break-bias.html
2. Saying No to Violence
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/12/annika-shapiro-says-no-to-violence.html
3. 16 Days of Activism
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/11/dating-rights-for-teens.html
4. Ending Child Marriage
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/08/ny-state-bans-childhood-marriage.html
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/10/mexican-food-stars-at-peconic-bays.html
5. Equal Rights
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/06/we-are-not-your-servants.html
http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/07/the-artist-is-woman.html
ADDENDUM
On May 22, 2022, four members of Peconic Bay Zonta and one guest attended the Wo/Man Empower Wo/Men Event, sponsored by The Butterfly Effect Project (BEP). Through this annual event, BEP honors the ordinary people in the community who are doing extraordinary things to empower women and children. We were pleased to help them celebrate the honorees and their efforts. Peconic Bay has an established relationship with the Butterfly Girls. We have done workshops for them in past years and are in the early stages of developing others, inspired by UN events that our members attended during the year. (See Peconic Bay’s UN report for 2021-2022.)
– Mona S. Rowe, Advocacy Chair
Membership Report
Recruitment
Our chapter continues to feel that small number of members works to our benefit in that every member is involved in our activities, and that each member has continued to develop skills in her area of expertise. An example of this is our ongoing blog which is maintained by one of our members whose expertise in this area has enabled us to use the blog to keep our community of friends and neighbors up to date with our efforts and achievements. In addition, we maintain an email list of attendees at our activities and our President sends out update letters to them. Our activities are also covered by press releases in the local newspaper that our Public Relations chair sends out.
We have had the pleasure of having the nineteen-year-old granddaughter of one of our members join us for two of our activities. It has been refreshing hearing her viewpoint and enthusiasm.
Retention
We meet monthly and all members receive the meeting minutes for review. We continue to adjust the time of our monthly meetings to accommodate the virtual attendance of a member who lives in Hawaiʻi.
All members are involved in one or more of our activities. The bonds that we form as we do things together help keep our members connected to one another. This year has seen members gather to wrap gifts for the Butterfly Effect Project girls which turned into a pizza party for us, working together on the !st Amendment / 1st Vote project, attending the Butterfly Girls Gala, working on the By-Laws, working on the Tag Sale and Cooking Class fundraisers.
We conduct an annual review where the members discuss the effectiveness of our efforts in the past year and any areas that need change or strengthening.
In addition, we have been united in our efforts to support a member who has ongoing health challenges.
– Betsy Kaplan, Membership Co-chair
Public Relations Report
Website
We are a small club, so I am the sole PR representative.We do not publish a newsletter. I write press releases, take photos and write captions for the media and our website: peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com. Mona Rowe is the webmaster; she posts the releases I write as well as some content that she writes. Mona is quite active in keeping the website up to date. I counted 18 posts from June 1, 2021 to May 31, 2022. Mona reviews the website and upgrades it as needed.
We started a Facebook page in July 2021. Mona posts the news releases I write on Facebook as well as on our website, so posts are numerous (about one a month or more). We have not "liked" other clubs/organizations, but we will consider doing that in the future. We have not used Facebook live.
Instagram and/or Twitter
Our club does not have an Instagram or Twitter account, but I would be interested in learning more about them.
– Diane Greenberg, Public Relations Chair
Service Report
1st Amendment-1st Vote
Peconic Bay Zonta was actively involved in research for the project 1st Amendment-1st Vote.
Melina Carnicelli (founding member of Skaneateles Zonta club) developed a series of films and discussion modules that encourage high school girls to get involved in civic affairs. By bringing to life women who made history, 1st Amendment-1st Vote provides inspiration and skill building to continue in this important endeavor.
1st Amendment-1st Vote, Inc. offers non-partisan civic engagement and leadership development opportunities to teen girls in the effort to create a 'pipeline or bench' of young women ready, willing and able to run for office or seek professional government-related positions. The goal is to achieve gender parity in US elected offices at local, state and national levels.
Our members developed and contributed thought-provoking material for the film sequence and accompanying modules.
We are currently seeking venues to show the film to local high school girls in 2022/2023.
Butterfly Effect Project
Peconic Bay Zonta continued its involvement with the Butterfly Effect Project, a non-profit community group based in Riverhead. The project helps elementary to high school age girls develop self-confidence and achieve adademic success. In past years, members had interacted with the BEP girls in programs fostering self-esteem. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to do so this year.
To bring cheer to the girls and their families during the holidays we baked and donated home-baked cookies and brownies for their Thanksgiving Dinners.
At Christmas we donated knit hats adorned with colorful butterfly appliqués to 40 BEP girls.
Four of our members (and one college aged granddaughter!) partook in the Butterfly Effect Project's 7th Annual Wo/Man Empower Wo/Men Events.
Tijuana Fulford, Chief Visionary Officer, implemented the annual celebration because she wanted to show the Butterflies the real heroes in their community and give them an opportunity to learn about them, learn from them, appreciate them and prepare themselves for when the Torch is passed to them.
This year three local heroes and a senior high school student and BEP girl, who has won several awards for her work in the Riverhead community, were honored.
The event is also a fundraiser and a lively auction and raffle were sure to raise money for the Butterfly Girls.
Blessings in a Back-Pack
We continued supporting Blessings in a Back-Pack, 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 donate 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. Please see: https://www.blessingsinabackpack.org/blessings-long-island/.
Mayan Hands
For several years we have raised money for Mayan Hands selling their handicrafts at community events and private parties. Due to the pandemic, we were not able to do so this year. Instead, club member Liala Strotman invited friends and family to donate cash to the organization. Over $300 were sent through Amazon in honor of Liala’s birthday in May.
Scholarships
We provide a scholarship twice per year to a female student who successfully completes Level 3 of the English as a Second Language program at the Riverhead campus of Suffolk County Community College and is studying to achieve an educational goal.
Two young women, Edith Castaneda and Matilde Moncada, won the scholarship this spring. Edith is originally from Ecuador and Matilde is a native of Nicaragua.
For 5 years we have given a scholarship to Margarita Basurto to attend violin lessons at East End Arts, Riverhead. When we first met Margarita she was a very shy and insecure young girl. According to her teacher, Margarita excelled with her lessons and musically. She now can read fluently and play with several advanced techniques on violin. Emotionally she has blossomed to a self-secured and responsible young woman who will be attending college this fall.
The Corona pandemic severely curtailed fund raising for the music scholarship. So, our very creative club member and past president Mona Rowe went “busking.” Mona appealed to her family and friends for a donation. In return Mona sent a virtual rendition of William Tell Overture by Rossini performed by the Sound Symphony. Mona is a symphony member and she could be seen in the video playing her violin. The “busking” was a big success and resulted in over $1,400 for the music scholarship.
– Annika Shapiro, President
United Nations Report
Liala Strotman is Peconic Bay’s UN chair. She keeps tabs on UN business and emails members to encourage our participation when appropriate. We are absolutely reliant on Liala’s dedicated tracking!
UN Issues
International Women’s Day: The United Nations first recognized International Women’s Day (IWD) in 1977. “Break the Bias” is the IWD 2022 campaign theme. On March 8, 2022, International Women’s Day, Peconic Bay women gathered virtually to declare our support for “Break the Bias.” See the post on our website: http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2022/03/break-bias.html
Mayan Hands: The Mayan Hands weaving group in Chuaperol began in the midst of the Guatemalan Civil War as part of a UN project to help the women survive and support themselves. Weaving has been a reliable source of income for the families in the group throughout the 30 years that they have been working with Mayan Hands. Since Peconic Bay Zonta was unable to hold a Mayan Hands sale this past year because of Covid concerns, Liala Strotman invited friends and family to donate cash to the organization. Over $300 were sent through Amazon in honor of Strotman’s birthday.
UN CSW
Peconic Bay had three reports for CSW66.
– March 17, 2022 – Gender-responsive Policing: Domestic Violence, Climate Crises, Pandemics: A panel of academics and law enforcement personnel reported on incidents of domestic violence around the world during Covid lockdowns.
– March 18, 2022 – Experiences from gender equality training in coeducational schools in Nigeria: To curb increasing prevalence of gender-based violence in Nigerian communities, the Singularly Me Mothers’ Support Initiative polled secondary school students about gender equality. Questions included: are males and females equal, are males better than females, are sex and gender same or different, have you heard of gender equality. On that last one, close to 80 percent had not.
– March 24 – Gender Equality in the Context of Climate Change: Panelist from Fiji reported that women are not participating in making decisions about how to deal with climate change. One village in Fiji had to be moved two kilometers from the shore. The new houses had no kitchens. Where is the power? Who is making decisions? Who stands to benefit? Who will lose?
Peconic Bay discussed: 1. developing a workshop on domestic violence (we have members with court and law enforcement experience) and 2. conducting a survey of young people on gender equality.
Other UN Meetings, Programs, Events
Peconic Bay maintains a close relationship with The Butterfly Effect Project, a nonprofit community-based organization that aims to empower young girls.
With the Butterfly girls in mind, Peconic Bay member Mona Rowe tuned into a few sessions of UNICEF’s inaugural Global Forum for Children and Youth, December 7–9, 2021.
Here is her report on one session, which she delivered to members at a subsequent meeting:
Now is the time: Youth climate activism
A young climate activist introduced the session with this statement: “Our dreams are humble. We do not dream of flying to space or to fly home in a private jet. No. We dream of living.”
The young man then introduced young people from around the world, who spoke about their own projects. In the United States, one girl described how she grew a sustainable garden in her school to help reduce its carbon footprint. Another, in Turkmenistan, advocated for school classes in environmental stewardship. A young man in Uganda urged that emergency planners take into account disabled children, such as those who cannot hear a warning siren or flee a landslide or retreat from a wildfire.
Remember that young activist’s statement: “We dream of living.” In solidarity with the children of Ukraine, Peconic Bay made two separate donations to UNICEF this year, totaling $300.
16 Days of Activism
On November 25, 2021, the first days of 16 Days of Activism, Peconic Bay posted a list of dating rights for teens. To see the list, go to: http://peconicbayzonta.blogspot.com/2021/11/dating-rights-for-teens.html.
Members then mounted a campaign to talk about the topic to family and friends during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Peconic Bay member Kathy Walker also asked Brookhaven Women in Science (BWIS), an advocacy organization at Brookhaven National Laboratory, to post the dating list, with a link to Peconic Bay’s website. Walker is a retiree of Brookhaven Lab and a former member of BWIS. Peconic Bay has done joint activities with BWIS in past years, arranged by Walker.
– Submitted by Mona Rowe for UN Chair Liala Strotman
Amelia Earhart Report
At the Diamond Head roadside lookout in Hawaii stands a monument commemorating Amelia Earhart as the first aviator to fly solo from Honolulu to Oakland, California in 1935.
While visiting the park this year, our own Mona Rowe had the opportunity to share with other visitors Ms. Earhart's impressive story of a woman of determination in a male-dominated profession as well as her pursuance of equal rights for women at a time when she "really flying against the wind." Mona spoke of AE's membership as a Zontonian as well as her own, and the importance of our worldwide service and advocacy organization both then and now. She also stressed how the Amelia Earhart scholarship being offered will allow women to "soar" to even greater heights and destinations.
– Geri Kazenoff, Amelia Earhart Chair
No comments:
Post a Comment