Community Service
Early 2025 Service
Diaper Collection for Heart Love Place!
April/May 2025
Funding for Allies for Teens in Foster Care Art Contest!
Feb/March 2025
Club Year 2024-2025 Service Activities
Through our service, Zonta members make a difference improving the lives of women and girls in our community – with their time, talents and resources.
All Club members are asked to participate in our Service activities & projects.
We kicked off our new club year at our April, 2024 Annual Meeting with members overwhelmingly voting to support Neu-Life’s annual Back-to-School Service Project this past summer, donating 50 pack-packs with schools supplies for kindergarten & elementary school students.
Neu-Life is a near-north side nonprofit providing year-round educational and recreational programs for youth, from early childhood to young adults. This has been an annual project for the last several years.
In addition to the Neu-Life’s Back to School Supplies project, our Service projects this year included:
Support of Allies for Teens in Foster Care an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose main objective is to provide a secure channel for connecting goods and services to teens in the over 35 foster care group homes in the Milwaukee community.
April & May 2024, we supported the Allies for Teens in Foster Care’s Art Program. Allies provides many of the group homes in the Milwaukee area with art supplies and sponsors an art contest in May, including a post-educational scholarship winner. We raised $460 to support this effort, plus a Zonta member donated $500 from her employer’s “matching gifts” program. One of our members had the honor of participating as one of the judges for the artwork and poetry submitted. 
In September, the Director of Allies for Teens in Foster Care, Allison Byrne, was the guest speaker at our Club meeting. As a mini-service project, we collected and donated feminine hygiene products for the foster teens. These products can be a significant expense for teens, especially those who face financial challenges. At the meeting, Alison also shared some of the art that the teens created for the art contest.
At our October 23rd meeting, Club members voted to support Allies for Teens in Foster Care with Holiday gift donations again this year. Again, members were awesome & generous with these donations to Allies for Teens in Foster Care. Collected at our November meeting:
20 Blankets
21 pairs of Nike socks
16 $25 Target gift cards
1 $20 Target gift card
$250 in donations ($200 via a check from our Foundation; $50 direct donation)
We collected donations to again support Allies for Teens in Foster Care’s Art Program. After Allison Byrne spoke at our September meeting and shared some of the artwork prepared by the kids in last year’s Allies for Teens in Foster Care’s Annual Art and Poetry contest, the Club was enthusiastic about continuing support for the project. As a mini fundraiser, the service committee is collecting monetary contributions for the 2025 contest. The funds will be used to purchase art supplies for the kids and fund the awards given to the winners.
We brought gently used/new business casual clothing, jewelry and purses to our summer social on June 19th to benefit the Milwaukee Women’s Center. Thank you, Dawn Zehren for coordinating this collection! The Milwaukee Women’s Center provides comprehensive services and treatment for women, men, and children whose lives have been affected by domestic violence, addiction, mental health issues, homelessness, and poverty.
At our October 23, 2024 meeting, club members supported the Women’s Center in Waukesha by donating items on their Donation Wish List, including culturally inclusive haircare products, bath towels & bath sheets, diapers and a variety of food products. The Women’s Center in Waukesha’s Executive Director Angela Mancuso was the featured speaker that evening. The Women’s Center provides safety, shelter and support to empower all impacted by domestic abuse, sexual violence, child abuse and trafficking.
Zonta Club of Milwaukee members also contributed to the District 6 Food Insecurity Service Collections at the D6 Fall Conference held Oct 4-6,2024 Carmel IN. Donations of non-perishable foods, sanitary napkins, tampons, toothpaste, shampoo and toilet paper were collected for Carmel United Methodist Food Pantry. Several Zonta Club of Milwaukee members also volunteer at local food pantries. District 6’s Service focus for 2024-2025 continues to be on food insecurity, with local Clubs reporting on support of this effort quarterly to District 6.
Early 2024 Service activities
Cathedral Center:
March 21st Meal – A team of Club volunteers prepared, delivered, and served a meal for approximately 40 people at their main shelter and provided 50 sandwiches, fruit, and snacks for the next day’s lunch. More than half of our club members stepped up to help! 
Allies for Teens in Foster Care:
The Club supported the Allies for Teens in Foster Care’s Art Program with monetary donations for their art program. Allies provides many of the group homes with art supplies and sponsored an art contest in May, including a post-educational scholarship winner. We collected $460 for this effort, in addition to $500 that was provided by an outside grant through one of our members.
