NEWS AND VIEWS
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER – SUMMER 2013
www.zontaofcolumbia.com
Zonta Club of Columbia
Club # 513
Chartered September 10, 1963
Farewell President
M.J. Hassell
Thank you MJ – Now on to more time
with your granddaughter and more
time for service.
NEWLY INSTALLED OFFICERS
Incoming President
Marion Watson
President – Marion D. Watson
Vice President – Ellie Dagle
Treasurer – Dottie Munsch
Secretary – M.J. Hassell
BOARD MEMBER
COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSONS
Fundraising – Dottie Munsch
Membership – Ellie Dagle
Public Relations – Martha Williams
Service – Judy Barnes
DISTRICT #11
REPRESENTATIVES
District #11 Governor
Tami Page (Dothan, AL)
Area 02 Director
Melodie Hunnicut (Columbia, SC)
Zonta Club of Columbia continues to
play a major role in advancing the
status of women.
When President MJ wrote her
President’s Page last month, the
public relations committee promised
her it would be the last one. So in
keeping with that promise, we are
not asking President MJ to do write
anything.
Instead, we are using this space to
say a very special Thank You to MJ
Hassell for serving as President of the
Zonta Club of Columbia. She has led
us through many changes and
challenging times. Under her
leadership we have revamped Zonta
to better function in the 21st century.
For a woman who says she hates to
be president of anything, she has
risen to the occasion and ensured the
I am honored and excited to be the
new president of the Zonta Club of
Columbia. This coming Zonta year
promises to be challenging, but also
fun and rewarding. Zonta is more
relevant than ever and continues to
make a difference in the lives of
women and girls worldwide, and we
are Zonta. This year we celebrate our
50th birthday with high energy and
enthusiasm for the Club and the
Women of our community.
Human Trafficking*
Nearly 150 years ago, the United
States abolished slavery. Most
Americans would find it hard to
believe that slavery still exists, and
may occur in their own communities.
Today’s version of slavery, human
trafficking, deprives people of their
freedom and violates our nation’s
promise that every person in the
United States is guaranteed basic
human rights.
The following issues are among the
most critical in efforts of combating
this human rights abuse:
•
Societal
attitudes
that
perpetuate human trafficking should
be examined and consciousnessraising measures should affirm that
everyone in the United States is
entitled to basic human rights, no
matter where they came from or
what their circumstances.
•
To help human trafficking
victims escape, victims must trust
that they will not be deported; and
that their immediate health, safety
and housing needs will be met.
•
NGOs need sufficient funds to
provide services to human trafficking
victims,
including
caseworker,
shelter, legal support, health care,
interpreter and other services, as well
as for community outreach and
measures to help victims become
self-sufficient.
•
The perception that most
human trafficking is sex trafficking
must be dispelled, and other forms of
forced labor recognized
•
Law enforcement, health and
social services providers, labor
agencies and other first responders
need training on how to recognize
the signs of human trafficking and
assist victims, and the public should
become aware of what human
trafficking is and how to report it.
•
Anti-trafficking law needs
stiffer penalties for traffickers and
stronger tools to prosecute those
who prey on minors.
•
Prosecution of traffickers is
strengthened when law enforcement
works with NGOs to build trust with
victims – encouraging victims to
come forward, report the abuse and
cooperate with the investigation.
•
There should be more
emergency shelters and transitional
housing specifically designed to meet
the unique needs of human
trafficking victims.
•
Victims of human trafficking
should be informed of their rights
under state and federal laws, in
culturally appropriate messages.
•
Better mechanisms should be
developed for collecting data on the
nature and extent of human
trafficking.
•
A critical strategy to end
human trafficking is to address the
poverty, gender discrimination and
poor labor conditions in “source”
countries that lead vulnerable people
to undertake a risky migration into
developed countries.
•
There should be a moral
responsibility to exert leadership,
through government and business
purchasing practices, to implement
and monitor codes of conduct
assuring fair and humane labor
practices throughout their supply
chain.
* Taken from the Final
Report of the California
Alliance to Combat
Trafficking and Slavery
Task Force.
District 11 Conference
in Naples, FL
District 11 is truly an international
district
composed
of
the
Southeastern United States, the
Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and the British
Virgin Islands. The states included are
Alabama,
Florida,
Georgia,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South
Carolina, and Tennessee. The District
is further divided into 6 Areas under
which the individual Clubs operate.
Area 1 includes the States of
Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Area 2 includes the States of Georgia,
North Carolina and South Carolina.
Area 3 includes the Bahamas, British
Virgin Islands and South East Florida.
Area 4 includes Central and Northern
Florida. Area 5 includes Puerto Rico.
Area 6 includes South West Florida.
The first club in District 11 was the
Zonta Club of Memphis, TN chartered
on October 1, 1927!
The District 11 Conference will be
held September 26-29, 2013 in
Naples, Fl. This conference is
educational, informative and a lot of
fun. Members attending learn about
Zonta’s worldwide projects, what
other clubs in District 11 are doing
and spend time with an amazing,
diverse group of women. Most
members do not have the
opportunity
to
attend
an
International Meeting but attending a
District Conference is usually
feasible. Please consider going to
Naples and see for yourself!
master’s
degrees
management.
in
business
Young Women in Public
Service Scholarship Winner
Columbia Star
Interviews Zonta
Zonta presented Antwanette Scriven
with a $1000 scholarship
Dottie Munsch contacted Jan Collins
who is now writing a woman’s section
for the Columbia Star. She came to
interview Coretta Bedsole and
Martha Williams, Zonta’s outgoing
and incoming Director of Public
Relations. The article appeared in the
June 21st issue of the Columbia Star;
we thank Jan for such an insightful
article about Zonta!
Scholarship Winners
The Zonta Club of Columbia would
like to congratulate the following
women on their hard work and
tenacity. We appreciate Doris Cheek
on all of her hard work in finding
these young leaders in our
community.
The Young Woman in Public Affairs
scholarship honors young women of
age 16 to 19, who demonstrate a
commitment to leadership in public
policy, government and volunteer
organizations. The Jane M. Klausman
Scholarship is awarded annually to
women pursuing undergraduate or
Jane M. Klausman Women in
Business Scholarship Winner
couple of days when you volunteer
(ex. I can volunteer Thursday of this
week or Tuesday of next week. They
will in turn let you know which day is
best for them). We can volunteer
individually, in pairs or as a club (6 or
more members). Members were
given recommendations from the
Service Committee and will provide
information to Judy Barnes once the
member has volunteered and
completed the activity. Each member
is encouraged to work at least once a
month especially the months we do
not have Membership Meetings. A
monthly calendar will be provided to
members with noted activities and
can be used to report a member’s
time.
Board Training
…was held May 14th and facilitated by
Ina Edens with great success.
Moving In & Moving
Out Party
Kelsie Stanley sent a “Thank You!”
from lovely Istanbul, Turkey
Service Opportunities
in 2013
We are changing the way we do
service for 2013 – the success of our
service projects depends on all of us.
We have several opportunities to
assist The Women’s Shelter and
Killingsworth thereby having a bigger
impact on the women of the two
facilities. Though we will set times
convenient for us, it is the goal to be
of assistance and must fit into their
time frames. Be sure to have a
Columbia Zontians enjoyed an end of
the year moving party at Ellie's
home. The club thanked several
members who had been officers and
board members (Coretta and
Myriam) for their service, but had
decided to "move out" of the Zonta
world for now.
lived there until age 11 when her
father
was
transferred
to
Orangeburg, South Carolina.
The club welcomed three new
members, Martha Ann, Marilyn, and
Kathy, who are "moving in” to join
Zonta in its mission "Advancing the
Status of Women”. Those members
"moving on" into the New Year with a
great new planning strategy for
service, membership recruitment and
energized PR enjoyed this time of
fellowship. The Club's new Theme is
BE OPEN TO NEW POSSIBILITIES!
A nice surprise was that Madison
Matheus, 2012’s Young Women in
Public Service Scholarship winner
joined us for this celebration.
Members Spotlight
Welcome to Kathy Williams, our
newest member as of June 1st. Kathy
was born in South Bend, Indiana and
She came to Columbia to attend USC,
and has lived here ever since. She has
a BA in Theatre and Speech and a
Master’s in Public Administration. She
is a graduate of the University of
Notre Dame Institute for Organization
Management & SC Executive Institute
for Organization Management. Kathy
is a Certified Association Executive by
the American Society of Association
Executives.
Before retiring last June, Kathy
worked with city and county
government in South Carolina for 38
years. During this time she served as
Director of Research & Policy
Analysis, was the assistant to the
County Administrator for Richland
County and Executive Assistant to the
Executive Director of the Municipal
Association of South Carolina.
Kathy has served as board director
and officer for the following: South
Carolina Society of Association
Executives (named Executive of the
Year in 2006), South Carolina
Retirement Systems Advisory Board,
and the South Carolina Chapter of the
American
Society
of
Public
Administration (state President in
1993). Upon retirement she was
honored as a Life Member by the SC
City-Council
Management
Association, the South Carolina
Society of Association Executives &
the American Society of Association
Executives.
Kathy is active in the Windsor United
Methodist
Church
located
in
northwest Columbia, where she
currently serves as the chairman of
the Finance Committee.
Kathy’s husband David, an attorney,
recently retired from the SC
Legislative Council. They have two
children; Matthew, a mechanical
engineer in Charleston and Molly,
who has just completed her Master’s
Degree in Language and Literacy at
USC. They have a 14 year old cat,
Socks Alice and live in Wilde Wood.
Travel for Kathy and David is in their
future plans.
With thanks to Ina for sponsoring
Kathy!
Come join us in serving
our community on a
state, national, and
international level.
Monthly membership
meetings are held at the
Palmetto Club from Noon
to 1 PM.
For more information,
contact Ellie Dagle
(803) 917-4596