At our May meeting, we welcomed Ocean Lombard to present her with our inaugural $500 Young Women in Leadership Award, recognizing a local student for her outstanding experience. Ocean, a graduating senior form Westerly High School, was Miss Teen Rhode Island in 2025, is a member of the Governor’s Young Leaders Advisory Board, hosts a popular podcast, and created a school clothing boutique with over 4000 donated items of clothing.
Club President Nadine Salley attended the Zonta District 1 workshop in Wells, Maine on May 2. Session topics included team building and membership building.
Our club recently donated over $600 worth of feminine hygiene products to the Rhode Island Department of Children, Youth and Families. DCYF staff will deliver these much-needed products to women and girls in the state-wide foster care system.
Our Club recently donated $1,000 to the Westerly-based WARM Center, which serves South County, Southern Rhode Island and Southeastern Connecticut. WARM stands for Westerly Area Rest Meals. The center is a comprehensive social service agency that provides emergency shelter, a community soup kitchen and transitional and supportive housing programs. Our donation supports the recently expanded services for women.
Several board members had an informative and fun call with members of the Australian Zonta Club based in Wangaratta Australia as part of the organization’s Twinning Initiative. We were paired with this 38-year-old club to share ideas and experiences about fundraisers, service projects, and community relations. All are looking forward to continuing talks.
Each January, Zonta celebrates Amelia Earhart Month in honor of Zontian Amelia Earhart, whose legacy as a trailblazing aviator and advocate for women continues to inspire curiosity, courage and ambition. Our Club celebrated Amelia Earhart with a fun quiz testing our knowledge of her life and contributions.
Our club had a great deal of fun in December, wrapping holiday gifts at our local mall. More importantly, we raised over $500 for our service and advocacy projects.
In lieu of a December business meeting, our club gathered at a local restaurant to enjoy a great dinner and celebrate our friendships and 2025 accomplishments. It was a wonderful evening.
In support of the worldwide efforts of Zonta International and the United Nations, our club members have been wearing orange ‘Zonta Says No to Violence against Women’ ribbons to prompt discussions with friends and neighbors. We also placed baskets of orange ribbons at select local businesses along with an explanatory poster. And finally, we submitted an editorial piece to our local newspapers, The Independent and The Westerly Sun. According to the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 46.7% of Rhode Island women have experienced contact sexual violence, physical violence and/or staking victimization by an intimate partner during their lifetime. We joined Zonta International in raising awareness of this global and local problem.
Once again, our club sold poinsettia plants in the community to raise funds for our service and advocacy programs. These beautiful plants proved popular again and netted us over $1,000.
