54 bags filled with toiletries and a lot more items have been donated to Bryony House.

On Friday of Fall Conference weekend, a team of 10 women filled new or like-new pocketbooks collected by Nova Scotia clubs and added to by in-person conference attendees, with essential items donated by clubs and members throughout District 1, for women escaping intimate partner violence and housed temporarily at Bryony House Shelter.
Shampoo. 25 Conditioner, Nail clippers, Short socks, Tampons, Deodorant, Hairbrush, Lip balm, Pen, and Notepad, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, and more!!

Special thanks to Quaboag Valley, Northampton, Berkshire, Medford, Bangor, South County RI, and Concord clubs and a couple of generous individuals.

As Governor Donna Sroka noted, “That is wonderful! 54 women helped and all who gave are feeling better too.”

Shown here delivering the treasures to the Director of Bryony House are Beatrice, Carol and Kathryn.

Well done all!

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The 2023 District 1 Fall Conference Online Auction was a success!
The auction raised $2,150:  $1,215 will benefit District 1 and $935 will be sent to the ZI Foundation for Women.

The District 1 Board chose to use the 32auctions.com “free” platform and found the site to be very accommodating to our needs. There were a couple of add-on fees for no annoying paid advertisements throughout the auction, and participants would be notified when someone came in an overbid them. Also, this online format allowed members who could not attend the conference in person to participate in this fundraising effort to benefit either District 1 or the Zonta International Foundation for Women.
The online auction ran from Sun., Oct. 22 through Sat., Oct. 28. The auction included 20 items for bid which were generously donated by district clubs, individual club members, and our District 1 ZI International representative. These online items included a communication consulting gift certificate, a family tree research gift certificate, pieces of jewelry, prints, handmade cards, Amazon gift cards, quilt and more.
Donators were asked to complete an Online Auction Donation Form describing their donation, the estimated value, minimum bid if they required it, and where the proceeds from the sale of each item should be applied towards – either District 1 or ZI Foundation for Women.
There were 32 bidders/participants in the auction who were feverishly raising their bids until the last minute of the auction. These participants didn’t know who one another was they were bidding against since bid numbers were used rather than names. At the end of the auction, 32auctions compiled an invoice and sent it via email to the winning bidder for payment. In most instances, the winning bidder chose to pay by check or cash so no additional fees were incurred by either the District or Foundation.
The gross dollars from the auction bids were $2,150 of which $1,215 will benefit District 1 and $935 will be sent to the ZI Foundation along with a completed Donor Form designating which program the funds should be applied by each winning bidder.
Participants had lots of fun and the consensus was that a week of bidding was a sufficient amount of time to partake in this fundraiser. A drawback in this online auction was that there was not a live auctioneer to bring momentum to the bidding competition.

Respectfully submitted,
Janice N. Severance
District 1 Treasurer

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Sandi Smith – Amherst Area
Marge Caesar – Berkshire County
Keye Hollister – Berkshire County
Millie Blum – Berkshire County
Judy Burbank – Berkshire County
Carolyn Andrews – Concord NH
Jean A. Rule – Concord NH
Lisa A. Rule – Concord NH
Theresa “Terry” Pinette – Malden
Virginia Ruane – Malden
Lynn Goodhue – Northampton Area

Cynthia R. Thompson, Past District Governor

Click on picture to open PDF

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