Zonta Club of Northern Valley New Jersey
President’s Report
2009-2010
The Zonta Club of Northern Valley New Jersey had a busy and exciting year. In October we hosted our 1st Beef Steak Dinner. We had a wonderful evening with great food and lots of dancing and merriment. The highlight of the evening was a raffle for a 32” flat panel TV and a $200 gift card to PC Richards. A tricky tray including large and super prizes was also a part of this event. We had an enthusiastic group of guests, especially the winners. Our club netted more than $5,000 from this event and donated 325 food items to the Center for Food Action.
We continued to support the “Once a Month” project which our club initiated three years ago. This became a District 3 Project. Our club collected and delivered 161 bags of maxi pads to the District 3 Conference held in Alexandria, VA. Nicole Peacock, representing the U.S. Department of State’s African Bureau was at the Conference to receive the donations from all of the clubs in District 3. Nicole was also the keynote speaker at the Conference Luncheon. In total, since the inception of this project, our club delivered more than 750 bags of sanitary products. The State Department shipped these donations to Zambia where they have been delivered to girls in rural areas who have reached puberty. These donations help the girls stay in school and complete their education. Our club has received recognition from this project from the U.S. Department of State in their communications and newsletters as well as in Zonta International’s in magazine.
At the 2009 District 3 Conference our club received several awards. We received 1st place for LAA, second place for UN, and a Special Recognition for our RAVE Walk.
In December Karen Nicodemus hosted a Silpada Jewelry party at her home. We made $300 from this event. This was a quick and easy way to build up our operating fund.
In March, we held our third annual Wine Tasting event. We actually had to use our snow date this year. Even so, this again was quite successful, as well as fun. We netted over $2260 from this event.
The Ringwood Club Chartered this year. This is a new club we were honored to sponsor. A lovely luncheon was held in March to celebrate this event.
Our Art Auction was held in April. We made a profit of $647.
We also participated in the Lord and Taylor Day for Charity. This proved to be a profitable and easy event to participate in.
We held our annual RAVE Walk in May this year. Finally, it did not rain for this event. This year we partnered with Bergenfield’s High School Community Service Groups. The event was held at the Bergenfield HS Track. We raised more than $5000 to be divided evenly between the Bergen County Rape Crisis Center and Shelter Our Sisters.
We continued to collect food for the Center for Food Action and baby items for the Nurturing Place. We also wrapped gifts to raise money for Shelter Our Sisters.
In May we held our annual service award meeting. We awarded two adult scholarships in the amount of $2000 each to single mothers returning to school as well as donations to several local charities. Our total donations this year, both local and international, is over $17,000.
We inducted one new member this year and hope to induct several more next year. Membership is crucial to the success of our club and must be our number one priority.
In June we spent the evening at the Meadowlands Race Track. Seventy people attended this fun evening. Some people were lucky and went home with more money than they came with while others just had a lot of fun.
As you can tell, the Zonta of Northern Valley New Jersey, as always, had a very busy and productive year.
Respectfully submitted:
Karen Nicodemus
President, Zonta Club of Northern Valley New Jersey
District 3 Fall Conference
October 1-3, 2010, Atlantic City, New Jersey
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