The Zonta Club of Fairfax County

The Zonta Club of Fairfax County has been providing service support to Fairfax County for more than fifty years. The Fairfax County club is an active member Zonta International, an international executive women's service organization consisting of 1300 clubs in 67 countries.  The Zonta Club of Fairfax continuously seeks to improve the legal, political, economic, health, educational and professional status of women through contributions to Zonta's international service projects, service to our local community, and promoting fellowship among club members and other members of Zonta International.

The Zonta Club of Fairfax County, sponsored by the Zonta Club of Washington, D.C., was welcomed into Zonta International in December 1956 and formally chartered in February, 1957. At that dinner, eighteen of the twenty‑two charter members were in attendance. One of those was Marion Earle, who continued as a member until just recently due to illness.  Marion was the only member of our club to have served two terms as President ‑‑ in 1961‑1963 and ten years later from 1973‑1975.

The club has contributed every year to the Amelia Earhart fellowships and other international service projects all over the world helping women to help themselves. Locally we have contributed scholarships for women: for several years to the Alexandria Hospital School of Nursing, and since the 1980's to the Edith Clark Nalls Scholarships at George Mason University for graduate level students, and the Barbara J. Lippa Scholarships at Northern Virginia Community College for undergraduates.

Education is not our only concern. Over the years, we've participated in Xmas in April (renamed Rebuilding Together) and supported the American Cancer Society through their annual Golf Tournament. Other local projects have included contributing funds for United Cerebral Palsy of Northern Virginia Development Center; sponsoring an annual Women in the Workplace Seminar, in conjunction with the Department of Business, Annandale Campus, Northern Virginia Community College; providing equipment for a hospital in Reston; supporting Project Opportunity, a county‑based program for pregnant and parenting teenagers, through financial help, serving on their advisory board, and mentoring young teens; providing financial support to Fairfax County literacy programs; and adopting at least one family at Thanksgiving and Christmas to support.

More recently, we helped organize the Northern Virginia Zonta Clubs to support Channel 26's fund‑raising program and continued monetary and "hands‑on" support of the Parklawn Project for non‑English speaking mothers and their children, including “mothers’-nights” out and tutoring efforts. We have also helped extensively with the County's Domestic Violence Shelter, providing toiletries and gift certificates; we serve as a member of the Turn Off the Violence (TOV) Coalition in Fairfax County and have provided teddy bars to the police and shelters for child victims of violence. Currently, we have provided $12,000 in funding to support “Zonta House” in conjunction with Reston Interfaith, a two-year transitional home for a family who escaped domestic violence and is building a new life. In addition we support the family with tutoring, support at the holidays, and “hands-on” support with the home.  We have also donated $5000 to Fairfax Futures to provide a Spanish language version of the Parents Early Learning Guidelines.  These Guidelines will help family child care providers and early childhood educators, interact with Spanish speaking parents of young children, to prepare the children to succeed in school.  The club has also worked with NOVACO, an organization that helps homeless victims of domestic abuse become healthy, secure and self-sufficient through community collaboration to provide housing, childcare, counseling, education and mentoring. 

Of course, our support of these service projects requires fund raising. Over the years, the Club has explored a variety of ways to raise money. In 1959 for example, we sponsored a water ballet. Since that time, we've sold fruitcakes, pies and candy, umbrellas, theatre tickets, scarves, dried flowers, ceramics and cookbooks. We've even raffled a television set and a car.

For several years we have had a one or two‑day retreat in the summer to discuss plans for the coming year and to promote fellowship among our members. The first was held at the Airlie House in 1988, and since then a number of other Zonta clubs have followed our example and held retreats of their own. We have had some events just for fellowship, such as holiday parties, picnics, brunches, theater parties, and afternoon tea.

We sponsored the Zonta Club of Virginia Beach/Chesapeake (renamed to Hampton Roads), chartered in 1985, the Richmond Club, chartered in 1991, and the Loudoun Club, which was chartered in 1997. We have also contributed to other newly-organized clubs in District 3. We have held joint meetings with other Zonta Clubs in the area, especially Alexandria, Arlington, Prince William and Washington, D.C., often in celebration of Amelia Earhart or to conduct installation of officers and/or induction of new members.