About Zonta - Zonta of Cape Girardeau

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Cape Girardeau Club

The Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau was chartered in May 1976. Since that time we have raised over $270,000 for community and international projects. Our membership has donated over 40,000 service hours to help women in Southeast Missouri.

About 90 members strong, many of the finest executives and professionals in the Cape Girardeau area choose to give their time, talent and treasure to Zonta's mission. Along the way, we make lifelong friends and have a great deal of fun. Anyone interested in joining Zonta should contact us.

A separate entity, the Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau Foundation was established a 501(c)3 organization so that donations provided to further our mission may be tax deductible.

About Zonta International

The Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau is dedicated to advancing the status of women locally and worldwide. We host Fundraising that support women locally, nationally and internationally. We also perform hands-on service projects that have a direct impact on the lives of women in the Cape Girardeau area and in Haiti.

A worldwide organization, Zonta International is geographically divided into Areas and Districts. The Zonta Club of Cape Girardeau is located in Area 2 and within District 7. Area 2 is comprised of the following cities in Missouri: Cape Girardeau, St. Charles, Troy, Jefferson City and St. Louis. District 7 encompasses North and South Dakota (Area 1), Eastern Missouri (Area 2), Minnesota (Area 3), Iowa, Eastern Kansas and Western Missouri (Area 4). Currently, Zonta International has nearly 1,200 clubs worldwide.

Mission

Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy.

Vision

Zonta International envisions a world in which women's rights are recognized as human rights and every woman is able to achieve her full potential.

In such a world, women have access to all resources and are represented in decision making positions on an equal basis with men.

In such a world, no woman lives in fear of violence.

The Objects of Zonta International are to:

improve the legal, political, economic, health, educational and professional status of women through service and advocacy;
work for the advancement of understanding, goodwill and peace through a world fellowship of executives in business and the professions;
promote justice and universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;
be united internationally to foster high ethical standards, implement service programs, and provide mutual support and fellowship for members who serve their communities, their nations and the world.

Herstory

In the early 1900s, playwright and journalist Marian de Forest conceived the idea of a strong network of women in executive positions who would work to take their rightful place in the professions next to men. By March of 1919, five women organized to charter the first Zonta club in Buffalo, New York.

Although many trials and tribulations have taken place over the years, today Zonta International continues to be on the front lines of the fight for women's equal rights through local and global projects that promote economic self-sufficiency, political equality, access to education and health, and the prevention of violence against women. Each year, Zontians dedicate hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours and millions of dollars with 1,200 clubs in 67 countries worldwide.

Zontas First 30 Years