Quota Cares Month—District Projects
District 4, Massachusetts

Quota International clubs of Gardner, Holyoke, and Springfield in District 4 organized under District Governor Nancy Burns and raised $3,400 with a single afternoon event. These funds will benefit Quota work throughout the district as well as the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) program of Western Massachusetts.

On Saturday, March 31, the three clubs hosted "An Afternoon for Women," which offered food, drink, massages, and hand and nail care along with exercise promotions and tables educating women about skin, breast, and cervical cancer. The highlights of the event were a fashion show supported by the local Coldwater Creek clothing store and the martini-making demonstrations offered by the head chef of the Delaney House in Holyoke, Massachusetts.

All services, many of which were donated by local training schools, were included in the $30 ticket price. The remainder of the profit was generated by advertising sales in the printed program for the event. Club members solicited ads from businesses throughout the district, raising more than $2,000 and making connections that have already led to new service partnerships in these communities.

In addition to the program, each of the 116 attendees received a welcome bag that included promotional and membership material about Quota International. Discussion of Quota's mission and work was included in the district governor's opening remarks and continued throughout the day. As a result, 16 women expressed interest in joining various clubs in District 4, and all were invited to upcoming club meetings as guests.

While the women in attendance experienced an afternoon of care-taking, they also helped Quota take care of rape victims throughout Western Massachusetts. The SANE program nurses work with women in hospital emergency rooms as they report the crimes of which they were the victims. District 4 Quotarians decided their donation to the program would purchase undergarments for rape victims in hospital emergency rooms, giving those women back some of the dignity taken away from them. They won't necessarily know that Quota cares or that "An Afternoon for Women" benefited them, but they will know that a return to safety and normalcy is possible.

To read or print the club's winning application, click here*.

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