Thank you for visiting the Zonta Club of the Coos Bay Area website!
My name is Genelle Hanken, and I am the 2008-2009 President of the Zonta Club of the Coos Bay Area. Zonta is a worldwide service organization comprised of persons in business and the professions working together to advance the status of women and girls through service, education and advocacy. Our club was chartered October 15, 1953. The Zonta Club of the Coos Bay Area meets twice per month, on the first and third Fridays at noon at the Red Lion Hotel, 1313 N Bayshore Drive, Coos Bay.
We raise funds through our famous Zonta Celebrity Dinner now in its eleventh year, our annual garage sale and with our homemade Zonta fudge sold at community festivals. The funds raised support the projects of Zonta International, as well as local scholarships for women and community service projects that benefit women and children in Coos County. In 2008 we awarded $4,600 in scholarships to local Coos County women and in 2007 over $15,500 was awarded to local organizations in Coos County. Local programs who have received Coos Bay Area Foundation funds include the Women’s Safety and Resource Center, The Little Red School House school supply program, Start Making a Reader Today, RSVP, Girls Scouts, 4-H Leaders Assoc, Southwestern Community Partnership, Reach Out and Read, Bay Area First Step, and the Child Advocacy Center.
In addition to raising funds, we also provide service of our time to the South Coast Music Festival with their annual picnic, ringing the bell for the Salvation Army and hosting at Shore Acres Holiday Lights display each December.
Our website is undergoing an upgrade, but you can still learn about what we do and how we help our community and support Zonta International projects. If you would like to learn more about Zonta and our local Club please contact me at (541) 396-3329.
The following essay was written by Sharon Lovie a member of our Club. Sharon's piece depicts what we do as Zontians. Sharon’s words and her vision for women supporting one another and helping to make a difference is what Zonta International and Zonta Coos Bay Area are all about.
Genelle Hanken, President, Zonta Club of the Coos Bay Area
The Zonta Sisterhood
by Sharon Lovie
I had a dream last night. I was walking down a country road. The sun was warm on my back and birds were filling the air with music. Then I heard someone sobbing, a heart wrenching sound. I followed the sound to the other side of the foliage that lined the road, and found a woman in a deep hole that was filled with rancid mud. She was slowly sinking as she struggled to keep her head above the ground. I ran over to her, fell to my knees, and reached out my hand to her. As I did, I looked in amazement as a hundred hands, white, brown and black, joined my own. They were the hands of Zonta Sisters from around the globe. They slowly lifted the woman to the ground and supported her until she stopped shaking. One Zontian rinsed the mud from the woman’s body, while another gave her drink for nourishment. A third Zontian gave her words to nourish her spirit. After she stood there awhile, she pulled her shoulders back and lifted her head high. The woman thanked us all and started to walk away, when we heard another cry for help. Then her hands joined ours lifting the other woman in need.
That’s what Zonta means to me; strong women joining hands, seeing a need and empowering themselves to meet the challenge. Zonta is a sisterhood working together to better the lives of women around the globe, joining together in fellowship to form a strong bond that cannot be broken by bigotry, politics and ignorance.
I am proud to be a Zontian, and I will hold my head high, no matter what challenges may lay in my path, for I have a sisterhood that walks beside me, giving me the support to be a better and a stronger person.
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