First Annual Report: 2024

On September 1, 2023, Zonta International issued a charter for Club No. 2041 to the Zonta Club of South County Rhode Island, signed by International President Ute Scholz.  On December 12, 2023, the members of the newly formed Zonta Club of South County RI held their official chartering ceremony at LeBlanc Place, South Shore Village in South Kingstown, RI.  This was an historic moment for the Club, the District, and ZI, as this was the first ever Zonta Club to be established in the state of RI.  In attendance for the ceremony were District Governor Donna Sroka, and District Secretary Mary Knight from the Sponsoring Club, the Zonta Club of Quaboag Valley.  Also in attendance via Zoom were ZI Vice President Fernanda Gallo-Freschi, ZI Membership Chair Theresa Harris, and District Lt. Governor Donna Raycraft.  Mary Knight inducted the new members of the Club and Donna Sroka installed the officers and  members of the Board.  Nadine Salley past District Governor and President of the new Club addressed everyone there. A reception followed with spouses and family members in attendance.  Articles about the ceremony and creation of the club were published in local newspapers.

In January a first service project was done for the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County in South Kingstown. The members of the Club responded to a request for paper goods; paper towels, toilet paper, and tissues for its shelter, and donated and delivered them.  The donation consisted of 111 rolls of toilet tissue, 18 boxes of tissues, 65 rolls of paper towels, and three packages of napkins. The club is starting a relationship with this organization after having had the Director of Development and Communications as our first guest speaker at our first meeting held in September.

The following special guest speakers have presented at meetings of the Zonta Club of South County since its inception:

• Kathy Carland, the Director of Development and Communications at the Domestic Violence Resource Center of South County (September 2023) 

• Angela McCalla, the Program & Advocacy Director of the Women’s Fund of Rhode Island (October 2023)
• Elizabeth McGann, Program Manager, Girls on the Run (April 2024)

Each of these guest speakers gave us tremendous insight into their organizations and particular area of advocacy for women and girls in our local area, including ways in which our Club can assist their organizations within Zonta’s mission, as well as ways in which they could assist our Club.

January was Zonta’s Amelia Earhart month and we shared a summary of her life and history recognizing her contributions to women and her early Zontian beginnings. The Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship created in 1938 is Zonta’s longest standing program.

In these first few months of operation, the Club has held one small fundraising event. The club participated in a joint effort with Green Line Apothecary in South Kingstown, which is locally owned and operated. Green Line contributed 20% of its Soda Fountain sales for one day (May 4, 2024) as part of its “Community Night” program, which also gave us name recognition in our local community, as well as several new prospective members.  As of today, the amount of money raised is not yet known.  We also received media coverage from the local newspapers and on-line news outlet for this event.

Our Club participated in the YWPA Awards program this year by selecting an outstanding RI high school student candidate and forwarding her application on to the District level.  We are currently soliciting and receiving applications for the JMK Women in Business Scholarship and will be selecting a potential candidate next month to forward on to the District.

At the time we obtained the Club Charter we had 15 new members and one transferring member to create our Club.  One of the new members immediately withdrew within two months because she reopened her STEM business that had been closed during the Pandemic, and didn’t have time to continue to participate in Zonta.  At the conclusion of the Zonta Fiscal year, 15 members renewed their membership for the upcoming year and we have several prospective members in the beginning of the membership process, two of which attended our May meeting this week, another one plans to attend our June meeting when she returns from her travels.

Respectfully submitted,

Nadine A. Salley, President
May 16, 2024