The Zonta Club of Owen Sound was pleased to have the Zonta Travelling Centennial Flag visit our city. Mayor Ian Boddy and Area Director Brenda Graham brought greetings to the Club's March meeting where the Centennial flag, a special initiative of Zonta District 4 in recognition of the 100th anniversary of the founding of Zonta, was signed and sent on its way around the District.

In Buffalo, New York on November 8, 1919, five businesswomen joined together to form the first Zonta club. They felt that with the passing of the Equal Suffrage amendment to the United States Constitution and the record for service by women during World War I, they should participate in a world in which women were rapidly growing in status and responsibility.

A hundred years later, during the 2018 - 2020 biennium, Zonta International and its members will contribute more than US$4,000,000 to projects and programs that empower women and girls and US$1,112,000 to inspire the next generation of women through fellowships, scholarships, and awards. The Centennial flag was unveiled to help kick off the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence and the International Day of the Elimination of Violence Against Women last November.

In our own community the Zonta Club is very active. Proceeds from the 180 Zonta yellow roses sold at the International Women’s Day Breakfast will be presented to the Women’s Centre of Grey Bruce, the Hospital Foundation received $2,000 and $1,000 was presented to Safe ’n Sound in December. Scholarships, awards and small donations to support women are made throught the year.

In keeping with its mandate to say No to gender violence, the Club is currently collecting bras for an organization called Free the Girls. The organization empowers survivors of sex trafficking to earn a safe income selling bras in the second-hand market.