February 2016 Newsletter

Membership Update

Happy 2016!  A benefit of your membership in Zonta is that you have TWO NEW YEARS in 2016:   January 1st and June 1st.  So…..those resolutions that may have fallen by the wayside on January 2nd can be tried again on June 1st.  If you didn’t make any resolutions, let the Membership Committee make one for you:  Send the name of ONE (or more) prospective member to Jan H. or Carol J. along with their e-mail address.  Jan and Carol will take it from there.  See – that’s not hard – certainly not as hard as losing 10 pounds!

Service Update

Empowerment: Columbine at Lowry Apartments Bingo event was held Saturday, Feb. 6.  Barb, Jan, Marie, and Mary volunteered.  Seven residents enjoyed playing bingo and the refreshments provided.  The next event will be held on Tuesday, March 22, at 6 p.m.  Visor caps will be decorated for spring.  Contact Mary if you want to join us

Women’s Homelessness Initiative:  Ginni, Carol L, Ellen, Jan, Terri, and Mary volunteered to provide dinner for the women on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 6 p.m., at Capitol Heights Presbyterian Church, 1100 Fillmore.  The next opportunity to volunteer with the WHI will be in June 2016.  Contact Ginni if you want to participate in the future.

Teacher Grants: 18 applications were received.  The committee chose 3 to each receive $500:

• Trish Bailado for a Reading Buddy Program that will benefit 90 students. Her students at Lake International School will walk to Brown Elementary and be paired with a preK-2 reader.  Buddies read with and to each other.
• Annemarie Minor to purchase leveled texts for her first grade classroom at Monroe Elementary of 23 students.
• Lauren Fine for the Little People BIG Changes program she started at McGlone Elementary which empowers youth to make changes both locally and abroad. For example, students sent shoes to children in Mexico, helped work on access to education globally through sending children to school in Ghana.  This project partners with a middle school teacher in Montbello.

Unfortunately, 15 teachers were not chosen even though many submitted very good proposals. The board has agreed that members may voluntarily donate personally to fund additional grants to one or more additional teachers.  Checks made payable to Zonta Club of Denver II should be sent to Sharon, and she will advise the committee of the total amount received.  The committee will then consider how to award the additional funds.

Fund Distribution:   RFPs were sent to 10 organizations at the end of January: CVP, CWEE, Flo Crit, Excelsior, Empowerment, The Learning Source, Freedom Service Dogs, SafeHouse, Women’s Homelessness Initiative, Healthy Beginnings Clinic at Warren Village.  Receipt of RFPs is due Feb. 29, 2016.  The service committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 2, at 6 p.m., at The Lowry Apartments.  A report will be given to the board at its March meeting, and the members will vote at the March general meeting.  All members are invited to attend. Please contact Mary if you wish to attend.

Excelsior: The gala is scheduled for April 30 at the Sheraton Downtown Denver Hotel.  More details to follow.

Advocacy Update

With the new legislative year, there are bills being worked on that directly affect our service partners.  One is being supported by Florence Crittenton Services which would enable individuals to apply for CCAP assistance without having to pursue the non-custodial parent for support.  This proves to be a barrier for many young mothers and victims of sexual abuse.  CCAP is fundamental assistance.  More information will follow.

The Women’s Legislative Breakfast is Feburary 23 from 7:00 a.m.-9:30 a.m. at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center at 1370 Grant St.  To sign up go to http://cwlb.org.

March 5^th is Zonta Club of Denver’s Day of Film showing “The Hunting Ground” spotlighting the prescient issue of sexual abuse on college campuses.  More information and tickets are available at www.zonta-denver.org.

If you’re looking for a way to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8, World Denver is having a great event at the Denver Art Museum.  More info at http://www.worlddenver.org/event-2147898

Finance Update

No report submitted as of today.   Please check back for future updates regarding the golf tournament and wine tasting!

Program Update

After a very long break, our next general membership meeting will be on Thursday, February 25, 2016.  Same time and place – 6 pm at the University Club.  Emma will be sending a reminder and asking for RSVPs (only if you will not be coming).

Our speaker this month will be Sarah Berg, the Director of The Phoenix Center located on Auraria Campus.  The Phoenix Center’s mission is The Phoenix Center at Auraria’s mission is to implement campus response services, provide education, and facilitate dialogue related to interpersonal violence (IPV) in the Auraria community.