Zonta

Photo above: assembling birthing kits at the Batavia Senior Center.

Submitted photos and press release:

The Zonta Club of Batavia-Genesee County recently partnered with RSVP of Genesee County, The Z-Club of Batavia High School, and members of the public to assemble 1,000 birthing kits at the Batavia Senior Center.

The Club is committed to donating a total of 1,919 kits this year in honor of Zonta International’s 100^thanniversary.

Since 2010, the club has provided approximately 6,000 birthing kits to women in Haiti, Nicaragua, Libya, Uganda and other areas in the world.

A birthing kit includes a sheet of plastic, two gloves, a bar of soap, gauze, umbilical cord tape, and a razor, all placed in a quart size zip-lock bag. 

The local club received its charter in 1958. Each year the club provides advocacy and service including:

• scholarships to girls in Genesee County who will be going off to college;
• donations to local agencies, funding the Birthing Kits Project for women in developing countries who have limited access to medical care;
• toiletries for women in the YWCA's Domestic Violence Program;
• care packages for women in the military;
• as well as donations to Zonta International's worldwide service projects.

The Confederation of Zonta Clubs (later renamed Zonta International) was founded in Buffalo in 1919. Today, as Zonta International celebrates 100 years, it thrives as a global organization of more than 29,000 professional members in nearly 1,200 Zonta clubs in 63 countries.

It works to empower women worldwide through service and advocacy.  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. Since 1969, Zonta International has had General Consultative Status with the United Nations/Economic and Social Council.

For further information about the local club, email Batavia@zontadistrict4.org

Pictured below are women standing in line at a clinic to receive birthing kits the club sent to Haiti.

The Zonta clubs of Batavia and Genesee County sponsored Holiday Festival today featuring artisans and vendors at Batavia Downs.

The Zonta Club of Batavia is making birthing kits to send to Third World countries in an effort to reduce the risk of infection in pregnant women and their babies. 

On Saturday, 20 Zonta Club members and Batavia High School Z Club members spent four hours putting together 1,085 birthing kits. The kits are composed of a square meter of plastic sheet, two umbilical cord clamps, five pieces of gauze, a pair of vinyl gloves, a small bar of soap and a razor blade. All of the contents are packed into a quart-size sandwich bag and sent to a holding facility in Pittsburgh.

(Photo of Lee Cummings)

"We were talking and, here, everyone wants to get the birthing suite at the hospital and that's our biggest concern," said Lee Cummings, chairperson of the Birthing Kit Committee and Zonta Board member. "There, women literally get a plastic bag with six items in it to give birth and reduce the rate of infection in these countries."

The kits are shipped to clinics in impoverished countries to help women who don't have access to medical facilities. The kits have been sent to rural areas in Kenya, South America and there are now recent requests from Nepal. Women walk for miles to reach clinics where the kits are given out. Due to limited resources, hospitals and clinics have also started to use the kits in their facilities.

Zonta is an international organization for the advancement and empowerment of women. The Birthing Kit Project was developed by Zonta's international governor six years ago.

The Batavia club started the district project five years ago. Over the years, the local club has assembled and sent three large shipments totaling 3,700 birthing kits. Every spring, the club collects items for the kits and assembles them. They also make a smaller amount of kits every autumn as well.

"Our goal started out years ago as 500 kits, and then it was 750, and now it's 1,000," Cummings said. "We try to do a 1,000 a year."

The project is a community-wide effort. The club gets most of the supplies for the kit from United Memorial Medical Center. The hospital donated umbilical cord clamps, gauze, vinyl gloves and razor blades. Local hotels also donated bars of soap. In past years, local doctor offices have sent checks to help with the cost of shipping.

Shipping costs to send the kits to those who need them most is a significant expense for the club, approximately $400 to $500, according to Cummings. The club is also pays for the plastic sheeting, which costs hundreds of dollars as well.

By 2016, the group plans to make 1,000 more kits to fulfill their two-year goal of 2,000 kits. The club is in the process of planning a date to use the rest of the supplies they have collected and make more kits. They plan to put together another 400 kits for Fall 2016.