By Jenel Hunt
A room filled with women was unusually hushed when speaker Amanda Dalton addressed the Zonta Stanthorpe Yellow Dinner on Saturday night, 4 March.
More than 60 pairs of eyes were focussed on Amanda in rapt attention as she told her story of Protea Place, an outreach support centre for homeless and vulnerable women in Toowoomba where she is the CEO.
Zonta Stanthorpe president Desleigh Volpato said the message of what could be done had inspired everyone there.
“Amanda highlighted the work that Protea Place does and how she saw the gap and found a way to fill it, but she also spoke about the support that Protea Place receives from male-dominated industries. Some of their best supporters are blokey blokes. It’s a reminder that there are so many good men in the world. The other thing that was brought home to us was that many homeless women are in the over-55 age group,” she said.
“Amanda is very down to earth. The way she talks really shows what’s achievable close to home.”
Protea Place is now working opening a second centre, this time in Warwick.
The Yellow Dinner has been the club’s annual event for International Women’s Day for some years, and attendees always throw themselves into the yellow theme.
Desleigh said the scene inside the Queensland College of Wine Tourism had been very striking.
“I think nearly everyone was wearing yellow,” she said.
“Added to that, the tablecloths were black and the chairs had black covers with bright yellow sashes. It looked spectacular.”
The finishing touches to the tables were dahlias donated by Jill and Wayne McCosker and rustic timber centrepieces featuring native flora, created by Deb Debnam. Because it was a fundraising dinner, the gorgeous centrepieces were sold off at the end of the night.
Once the serious side of the night was over, the womenfolk did let down their hair a little.
“We had two MCs – Sandy Venn-Brown and Liza Thompson – and they really bounced off each other,” said Desleigh.
“And we had lots of ladies singing when they played ‘I Am Woman’. It was good fun.“
One of the items auctioned off was a yellow rosebush. It was indicative of the feeling of the room that although their guest speaker started the bidding on the rose, one table of women seemed determined to win at all costs. They did. And then they presented the rosebush to Amanda for planting at Protea Place.
“It was very symbolic really – a physical reminder of our club’s support. A gesture of women supporting each other,” said Desleigh.
She said that the Yellow Dinner was initiated as a fundraiser for Zonta International projects and its principle aim was to support education programs and providing life-changing opportunities for women and girls to achieve gender equity throughout the world.
“We do try to split our profits between local and international causes,” she said.
“The goal is to build a better world for women and girls, to help those less fortunate than us – women and girls who are more suppressed than we could ever imagine. Our aims include the education of girls, to end child marriages, end domestic violence, campaign for equal pay and opportunities and basically embrace equality.“
That said, a donation would be going to Protea Place as well.
Zonta Stanthorpe financially supports the Granite Belt Neighbourhood Centre and Safe Haven in Warwick a community-funded organisation that assists women and children State wide escaping domestic and family violence
As an international organisation, Zonta has worked for more than a century towards the equal representation of women at all levels of society.
