In the spirit of giving, the Zonta Club of Kauai presented more than $40,000 to various groups and organizations during a special luncheon at the Gaylord’s Dining Room.
The TGI/Zonta Christmas Fund distribution totaled $30,500 and was split among eight different agencies and organizations that need help providing a better holiday season for people. These agencies included the YWCA of Kauai, the state’s Department of Health, Hale Kipa/Love The Journey, the county”s Agency on Elderly Affairs, Child and Family Service, Easter Seals Hawaii, and the Kauai Economic Opportunity.
Additionally, Edie Ignacio Neumiller of the Zonta Club of Kauai said the members are donating a collection of shoes — both adult and child sizes — to the YWCA of Kauai when the club makes its appearance at the Thursday Afternoon Street Fair market at the Kukui Grove Center.
Mistee Bailey-Myrick, director for Malama Kauai Health Services, said the $10,000 award they received from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation will go toward their Women’s Wellness program that offer annual well-woman exams, family planning, birth control, pregnancy testing, breast cancer screening, and more.
The Weinberg award was made possible when the Zonta Club of Kauai did a Weinberg Friends service project earlier in the year at The Kauai Habitat for Humanity’s Restore in Hanapepe.
During the Zonta Club’s appearance at the Thursday street fair, the organization will be speaking about the Zonta Says NO Campaign against violence against women as well as the #16Days of Activism, and No to Child Marriage, the shoe display that will be turned over to the YWCA of Kauai being a catalyst for discussion.
The Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation will also present “The Heroine’s Song” scholarship fundraising all-female concert, Jan. 12 at Kauai War Memorial Convention Hall.
This year’s Garden Island/Zonta Christmas Fund drive continues.
TGI, through Christmas Eve, shares daily stories about people (we don’t use their real names) facing challenges and who would appreciate a little helps through the fund.
In the past two years, the fund has raised more than $50,000, and every dollar has gone toward bringing joy to those who otherwise would likely go without anything on Christmas.
This program is headed up by Dimples Kano, 93, who has led it for nearly two decades and refuses to retire because she loves the happiness it brings to others.
Donations to the Christmas Fund are used by Zonta Club members to purchase local gift certificates that are in turn distributed via social service agencies to families in December.
A benefit performance for the TGI/Zonta Club Christmas Fund is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. “Dances in December” will be at the Lihue Parish Hall, 4340 Nawiliwili Road. Kauai Dance Theatre’s winter student showcase, will entertain all ages. Donations at the door, $5. Info: www.KauaiDanceTheatre.com or contact Director Janie Crane at 332-9737.
Checks, payable to Zonta Club of Kauai Foundation, can be mailed to P.O. Box 3032, Lihue, HI 96766. For further information, call Dimples Kano at 822-4517.
