 Hello Zontians,
We’re at the end of this fiscal year and with that another awesome May Social meeting show-casing our achievements throughout the year. We thanked our community partners and sponsors, homeowners, and decorators. We heard from our scholarship recipients, listed our community grants, and issued tenure service awards. In my five years of service to the club, this night always ends up being one of my favorite meetings, because it sums up everything we do to further the mission of Zonta. The Zonta Club of Midland has been invited to attend the Zonta International Foundation Recognition and Reception in Yokohama, Japan for our generous support of the Foundation during the 2016-2018 Biennium. This is an invitation-only event and a club has to give $20,000 or more during the biennium. I am proud to report we donated $22,000! Our District 15 Governor, Anna Sylvester, also sent me an email stating “Kudos to Zonta Club of Midland. News of your advocacy work on Equal Pay Day has travelled to the Eastern US – and is noticed by other Zontians! Thank you for the work Zonta Club of Midland is doing to advocate for woman’s rights.” She forwarded a message from Bobbee Cardillo, Zonta International Advocacy Committee, “Please send my congratulations to Zonta Club of Midland for working on this issue and doing so in conjunction with other like-minded organizations! I’m sure the billboard got lots of notice and got their name out to the public, but this letter (to the editor May 20, 2018 Midland Daily News by Judy Donahue) is a further public recognition of their efforts. Bravo!” I hope these recognitions make you as proud of the Zonta Club of Midland as I am. Partnering with other organizations has helped us spread the mission of Zonta so much further. I’d like to thank each of you for all your time, hard work, and dedication. You exemplify the famous quote by John Heywood, “Many hands make light work.” It’s been an honor serving as your president. Karla Karla L. Oldenburg, President  Happy Spring Everyone!
You’ll notice in this newsletter we have many different ways you all can be involved with Zonta in the next couple of months. I’m going to focus on the April Auction. Many of you know the auction raises a lot of money for the club, but the impact it has on our members and community is worth all of our efforts! The money raised supports all educational efforts of our members for Zonta related trainings. For current members, registration fees are covered either 50% or 100% depending on funds available for the following:
Delegates attending the events also get reimbursed for travel, lodging, and meals. In the 2018-2019 budget it was voted that money needed to support Advocacy efforts will also come from this fundraiser. We want to educate the public and make sure our Advocacy efforts are sustainable! Ways to help: bring you donations to the next two meetings, bring your checkbook on April 17th, or donate some time to the Ways and Means committee. Our club does amazing things, and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can raise at this year’s auction! Yours in Service, Karla L. Oldenburg, President  Happy 2018!
I hope you’ve all had a great holiday season and have stayed true to your New Year resolutions! I’m sure we’ve all made similar ones; take better care of ourselves, help others more, spend more time with family, and of course lose weight. I’m sure some of our upcoming speakers can help you towards achieving your resolutions:
Yours in Service, Karla L. Oldenburg, President |