Service/Advocacy/UN NGO

The following report was presented at the May 2008 Zonta Club of Madison meeting.

Status of Women Committee

Zonta Zing - Our second annual fund raiser and largest Club project. It was held March 1 at the Westside Club. Peter and Lou Berryman entertained us and went "tropical" to coincide with the event's theme. Barbara Vaughn, Channel 27, was the MC. Queen Anne's catering made the food. A 24-item raffle was added this year to the 25 items in the silent auction. We secured $6,335 from community sponsors and, after expenses, cleared $10,100. From this event, $6,733 will be used for our Club's support of DAIS and $3,367 will be contributed to the ZISVAW fund for ZI's domestic violence projects.

Purple Silhouettes - We created a second set of 10 life-sized purple silhouettes to continue to create community awareness of domestic violence. Silhouettes were displayed the entire month of October at Midvale Lutheran second year) and Covenant Presbyterian Churches. This year we added a black silhouette to depict a person who perished because of domestic violence. We will construct a third set of silhouettes in June so we are prepared with three sets in fall. This is an all-Club project.

Human Trafficking - This year members were able to advocate for the passage of the new Wisconsin law on human trafficking. We have begun work on identifying Zonta's role in building community awareness of HT. Our first step was to meet with four community resource persons - Kelly Anderson (Rape Crisis Center), Shannon Barry (DAIS), Jan Miyasaki (Project RESPECT) and Saejung Lee (WI Coalition Against Domestic Violence). Eight committee members met with these womento explore issues of HT in our community and what Zonta's roles might be in creating awareness. As a result of this meeting, the Status of Women Committee has crfeated a sub-committee on HT to be led by JoAnn Gruber-Hagen. JoAnn is also our Club's representative to the Zonta District 6, Area 2, HT effort.

Purple Ribbon Walk - Engineered by Tammy Hagen, approximately 60 people walked silently around the Capitol on October 12, 2007, each carrying a p;lacard with the name of a person who had perished this past year from domestic violence. This annual project for our club involves handling the registration process for the annual Literacy Network Run/Walk (formerly Canterbury Run/Walk) sponsored by local booksellers. The proceeds from this event benefit the Literacy Network's programs. The Run/Walk is the Network's major annual fund raiser.