Membership

onta Club of Yakima Valley is a member of Zonta International, a global service organization of executives in business and the professions, who work together to advance the status of women worldwide. The Yakima chapter was founded February 1, 1954. Members volunteer their time, talents and skills to raise funds for local and international service programs, as well as scholarship and award programs aimed at furthering women’s education, leadership and youth development.

Reasons We Belong

Our members choose to belong to Zonta for a variety of reasons, including:

• Provide help and support to other women
• Develop new friendships
• Meet other service-minded women and make connections
• Provide hands-on service to the community
• Belong to an international organization
• Enable business networking

Read the winners' essays from the "I Love Zonta" essay competition held in 2007 in District 8.

How to Join

Membership is open to women who will support Zonta’s mission and ideals. If you are interested in joining Zonta, please speak to any of our members, or email us to request an invitation to one of our meetings. Official membership is granted after prospective members fulfill Zonta International, District and local requirements and full payment is received.

New member joining fee is $200, which includes one quarter's dues. Dues are $85 per quarter and include lunch at the two monthly meetings. Dues of $85 are billed quarterly.

Responsibilities and Expectations of Members

All members of Zonta are expected to attend business and program meetings throughout the year and participate in committees and activities.

Committee Descriptions

Zonta has divided its committees into several different categories. They are listed below. Each Zonta member should participate in at least one or two committees. Each of these committees are open to any member who would like to attend. If you have questions about a committee, feel free to contact the chair.

Service

We help support a variety of activities and programs which are aimed at improving the status of women locally and worldwide. This committee's task is to review funding requests and present the requests that meet the criteria to the club membership for consideration and approval. The service dollars we distribute are earned through our fundraising efforts. For a full listing of giving over the years, please visit the Service Projects page. The Service committee meets on the 2nd Tuesday of each month.

Status of Women

Focus on issues affecting the economical, political, legal, and professional status of women. We also participate in the selection of a candidate for the Zonta Scholarship and are responsible for identifying a luncheon speaker for the June program meeting (we call this our Scholarship Luncheon and invite outside guests to attend). Dynamic committee members bring a plethora of experiences and resources to this group. This group also tries to recognize a fellow Zontian for outstanding work in the community and Zonta.

Scholarship

This committee finds candidates for our annual scholarship that is given to a young woman in our community at the Scholarship Luncheon in June. They review applications, check backgrounds and coordinate the scholarship.

Hands On Service

This committee is organized to provide service on the local community level as the need arises. Such projects in the past have included: Salvation Army Bell Ringing, Operation Harvest, and gardening work in the Rose Garden at the Arboretum.

Organization, Membership & Classification

The following committees (except Long Range Planning) meet together each month on the Tuesday before the Board Meeting.

Membership - Meets with Orientation and Attendance committees. Submits new member applications to the Board for approval for membership with the club. This committee sends letters to new members upon acceptance by the Board. Upon receipt of the new member’s dues, this committee is then in charge of scheduling the New Member Initiation at the next Business meeting. At the Initiation, new members receive their yearbook, name badge and Zonta pin. This committee also submits member requests for leave of absence and termination of membership to the Board. Letters are sent out to respective members upon approval of said request by the Board.

Attendance - A person from this committee greets members at each meeting and tracks attendance on the attendance roster. This committee also takes care of the 50/50 raffle ticket sales at each meeting. Notice of any substantial absences will be provided to the entire committee at the monthly meeting. Phone calls will be made to those absent members to inquire as to their status. Also the committee serves as the calling committee if needed by the club to remind members of special events. The committee tracks attendance for club members and gives special awards to members who have perfect attendance at the end of each quarter.

Orientation - This committee is one of the first groups that new members are introduced to. They arrange to meet with new members and review committees, projects, meeting schedules, and anything else a new member may want to know about Zonta. It is a lot of fun and everyone shares in telling their commitment to Zonta and how they became a member.

Long Range Planning - This committee’s purpose is to coordinate a meeting shortly after the new officers have taken their positions. The chair of this committee works closely with the President in setting the theme for the meeting. Focus should be on setting club goals for the upcoming year and beyond.

New Members - The immediate past president chairs this committee which meets regularly to orient new members to the work of Zonta and familiarize them with club activities and efforts.

Public Relations & Communications

The following committees meet all together on the 4th Wednesday of each month.

Fellowship - What a FUN committee! Members have the opportunity to plan several monthly programs each year as well as the Club's PARTIES! This committee coordinates the installation of new officers, a summer picnic, a Christmas Party at the Country Club, and a Member Appreciation Night. If all this isn’t exciting enough . . . if you join this committee you will be able to promote fellowship among the club’s members by acknowledging personal achievements, send cards/flowers to members needing support, etc.

Program - This committee arranges and completes all planning for ten program meetings each year. Creative, interesting and educational programs are arranged for our Zonta meetings. The club’s program meetings are scheduled for the First Wednesday of each month. Any speaker suggestions, contacts or information on ideas are always welcome. This committee is responsible for notifying the hotel where we regularly meet when we have special “off-site” meetings or programs.

Public Relations - This committee writes articles and/or takes pictures for the newspaper about the activities and events that our club is involved in. This committee tries to make Zonta known to the community through the news media. Timing of the articles is important for the fundraising events and the volunteer work of the club.

Yearbook - This committee is responsible for new member additions and updates to the existing yearbook. It is responsible for getting new member information and pictures and then providing a yearbook to the new member at the New Member Initiation.

Newsletter - This committee is responsible for gathering information and member news for our monthly newsletter “NewsZworthy.” New ideas for articles, features, graphics, etc. are always welcome. The goal is to make the newsletter friendly, informational and timely for our members.

Archives - This committee collects photographs and articles from newspapers for our club scrapbook. Each club member is encouraged to provide articles and club photographs to this committee for use in the scrapbook.

United Nations/International

This committee meets the fourth Wednesday of every other month. Location rotates and will be announced in the newsletter. This committee learns about and keeps up-to-date on the international aspects of Zonta and keeps the club members informed and corresponds with other international clubs. Every two years our club must make decisions on a donation on the Zonta International level upon the recommendations of this committee.

Finance

This committee meets approximately three times a year. This committee meets two to three times at the beginning of each fiscal year. The function of the committee is to review the prior year’s income and expenses, compare this information to the projections of the coming year and propose a budget for the new fiscal year. They are in charge of finances and getting income tax returns turned in each year. Meetings are determined on need and schedule of the committee members.

Nominating

The chair of this committee is the President-Elect. Four more members are selected at the business meeting in March. It is the responsibility of this committee to contact members and get nominees for the slate of officers and board members that will be voted on at the April business meeting.

Special Events

Murder Mystery Dinner

his is our single annual fundraising event. The events consists of dinner, a murder mystery play (performed by local actors and written by a local gentleman), a silent auction, live auction and various raffle items. By table, the participants try to figure out “who done it, how did they do it and why did they do it” in the murder mystery play. The first table to correctly answer all the questions wins a special prize. There are several sub-committees involved in preparation for this fundraising event. Every member MUST participate in the fundraising event.

Murder Mystery Auction

This committee is in charge of organizing the donations collected for our fundraising event. They collect, organize, make bid sheets, and set up displays for the various donations. They work side by side with the Murder Mystery Event committee.

Past Presidents

The immediate past president is the chair of this committee. The purpose of the committee is to provide assistance when so requested by officers, directors or committee chairs. It consists of all past presidents of Yakima Valley Zonta. They always have a good lunch and a fun time when they get together.