Mission: The Valley Women’s Club is dedicated to community action, awareness and leadership in environmental, educational, social, and political concerns that affect the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley and our community.
Mission: The Valley Women’s Club is dedicated to community action, awareness and leadership in environmental, educational, social, and political concerns that affect the health and welfare of the San Lorenzo Valley and our community.
Board NewsSummer 2009 Hammer-Marcum Award Celebration
We honored the decades of commitment and self-sacrifice of Jane Hurlbut and Donna Ziel at a wonderful celebration on Sunday, May 3. Over eighty attendees came and applauded at the presentations of awards, flowers and Legislative Resolutions for Jane and Donna. Words of praise, and gratitude, and love, brought tears and smiles to everyone. The celebration started with flowers and conversation, and then came the most wonderful abundance of desserts! Jeri Oneto, with the able assistance of her husband Bruce, baked dozens of cookies and cakes and creamy marvels for us all to enjoy. It was wonderful! Fresh and delicious!
While everyone was savoring their desserts, Stevi and the Green Beans provided beautiful songs for our entertainment. The quartet featured Mike Baroni (bass & vocals), Mark Becker (guitar & vocals), Sam Sternlight (mandolin) and Stephanie Sakasai (guitar & vocals). Their original arrangements and harmonies were the perfect transition to the presentation of awards. Special words of recognition were given by both Annette Marcum and Mary Hammer, along with beautiful bouquets of flowers, to Jane and Donna. Then Supervisor Mark Stone brought the Board of Supervisors’ commendation, along with his personal praises. Ali Spickler, representing Assembly Member, Bill Monning, and Maureen McCarty, representing State Senator Joe Simitian, brought impressive Resolutions honoring our Awardees. The Award itself, a beautiful, finely hand-crafted redwood box made by David and Kim Okrant, is the traditional gift from the VWC. The box has silver medallions representing Mary and Annette on the lid, and a plaque describing the award inside. Its beauty is a fitting tribute for two people who have given so much to so many. 2009 HAMMER-MARCUM AWARD HONOREES: JANE HURLBUT Jane’s dedication to her community is expressed in many ways but closest to her heart is Valley Churches United Missions where she has volunteered for nineteen years, giving about 14,500 volunteer hours! Her roles encompass many of the primary concerns of VCUM, including the Food Panty, food bag, the backpack program, on-going fundraising, and direct work with clients. Jane is praised as “the glue that binds us all in the Food Pantry,” where she has been volunteer manager since shortly after she started volunteering in 1990. Her first job was bagging food, and then she began handling client intake – interviewing clients when they first appeal for assistance. She was soon made manager of the Food Pantry, taking on the management duties with efficiency and attention to detail. Her dependability, coming to work even in days when she might use a health problem as an excuse to stay home, is legend. Jane is still at work 4 ½ days each week, and along with her Pantry duties, is involved in all the Holiday distribution programs and on-going fundraising. Jane, by her counseling, brought the Food Bank’s “Food for Children” program from 15 households to 150 households, providing additional food for families with children dealing with hard times, especially crucial in the current economic downturn. Jane interviews clients, which is a delicate job. People come in with a wide range of needs, concerns and fears. She knows they must be treated with sympathy and respect but be given the skills and courage to help them help themselves. She helps dispense emergency rent requests, and utility payments, bus passes, gas vouchers, car repairs, and medical and educational expenses such as tuition, books, uniforms and Science Camp fees (otherwise those 6th graders would miss this wonderful program). One of those counseled by Jane is now a volunteer for VCUM; she said, “Jane has gone out of her way, above and beyond her job, in helping my two year old daughter and I.” She is one of many grateful to Jane for her dedication. Jane handles special and intricate situations with kindness and insight, and provides a role model for everyone else in the organization. Jane was recently chosen to be the Second harvest Food Bank’s 2008 Hunger Fighter of the Year for her years of dedication to helping feed the hungry. Jane and her husband, Eddie, raised three children in Boulder Creek, where she was active in their schools throughout their childhood. Jane has been an active member of the Women’s Club at Boulder Creek Community Church for twenty-five years. Jane is a long-time member of the Idlewild Rebekah Lodge #251, in Boulder Creek, supporting their activities. Her admiring friends and fellow volunteers state that, “she inspires those who work with her by her constant generosity of heart,” and they, and we, are grateful to her commitment to those in need. DONNA ZIEL Looking at her life and activities, it is clear that education, especially education for the underserved, has been the keystone of both her career and her volunteer work. She worked as the Associate Director of San Jose State’s Office of Student Outreach and Recruitment and, as an SJSU alum, has chaired the Santa Cruz Area Chapter of the SJSU Alumni Association and currently chairs its Scholarship Committee. She has served the Valley Women’s Club for over twenty years in a variety of ways, from helping with the Redwood Mountains Faire, to her many years on the VWC Board. She chairs the VWC Education Committee, which has undertaken numerous significant projects, including working for a Valley Cabrillo College branch campus and was instrumental in getting the Scotts Valley Center established (close to the SLV). Under her leadership, the Education Committee is focusing on every level of education locally, having surveyed the schools for their needs. She is an active member of the VWC Scholarship Committee, helping with the development of criteria and the selection process for scholarship awardees. In addition, she helps with virtually every VWC function, from Candidates’ Forums to staffing information tables and working on the Yard Sale. Since it started in 2000, Donna has been a member of the Planning Team of the UCSC Expanding Your Horizons Conference that works to stimulate 8th through 12th grade young women’s interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and careers. She has undertaken the publicity component, working to increase awareness of the program in all media, and offers “incredible support in terms of fund raising and outreach,” according to Nancy Cox-Konopelski, Director of the Academic Excellence Program at UCSC and Coordinator of the Conference. Donna was instrumental in securing the support of Seagate Technology for the Conference and for the Santa Cruz GROW Program, which gives EYH a year-round outreach component in the area schools. Through Donna’s efforts area libraries have linked their community information sites to the EYH website. Donna was an early member of the Santa Cruz County Women’s Commission, representing the 5th District, which includes the San Lorenzo Valley. She has a lifelong interest in Chinese history, and so attended the United Nations 4th World Conference on Women in Beijing. She then worked with the California Women’s Agenda, formed to implement the Beijing Platform for Action, and to work for the ratification in the United States of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW); and, she was an organizer of the local part of the National Downlink follow-up event one year after the World Conference. Donna has been a docent at the Monterey Bay Aquarium since it opened in 1984, spending every other Thursday learning and teaching others about the Aquarium, its exhibits, and its work. She helped arrange the Aquarium’s support of the Expanding Your Horizons annual conference for girls. She also serves on the Board of Friends of Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, a marine science education and research facility of The California State University. She is Supervisor Mark Stone’s alternate to the Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission, so attends those meetings regularly. She served on the Transportation Funding Task Force led by Fred Keeley, which met for over a year trying to work out a compromise in transportation priorities for the county. She immediately became involved in the Felton Library Friends, a chapter of Friends of the Santa Cruz Public Libraries, when the Felton library was threatened with closure, and has maintained that interest and support. Donna is a Board Member of the Santa Cruz Community Foundation, chairs its Scholarship Committee, and has actively promoted its work in the SLV. Donna’s commitment to the democratic process is evident. She served on the County Grand Jury; has many years’ experience working at the Polls during elections; and has been active in many political campaigns. She is the mother of two grown children and has three wonderful grand-girls! The San Lorenzo Valley, and the Santa Cruz community, is very lucky to have Donna as a resident and a volunteer!) VWC Yard Sale New-found treasures and future family heirlooms await you at this year’s VWC yard sale on Saturday, June 13th from 8 AM to 2 PM in the parking lot in front of WA Insurance (12788 Highway 9 in Boulder Creek). Beginning June 1st, we will be accepting donations of jewelry, household items, sporting equipment, toys, and small furniture (no clothing or books, please). Contact Hilary Stanley to make arrangements to donate items for this year’s sale: 338-2247. This is the major fundraiser for the annual Scholarships given to SLV Seniors heading for Cabrillo College, so plan to donate and come to buy! VWC Board Retreat at Camp Joy On March 15th, the Valley Women’s Club Board of Directors retreated to the lodge at Camp Joy to take a step back and contemplate the big picture, a focus that is sometimes lost amid the hubbub of active lives and committee work. Under the careful guidance of facilitator Judi Sherman, the board got to know each other a little better and grappled with the question of how to attract new, active members. One issue that was identified as worthy of discussion is the “graying” of the current board and general membership. Many of the people who founded the VWC more than 30 years ago were young parents concerned about preserving the unique qualities of the Valley for generations to come. Those same people may still be passionate and energetic but they are not quite so young anymore and the intervening years have not brought enough of an influx of young adult members to the VWC. Among the topics explored during the retreat: Members of the various committees are completing work plans to give their projects more focus over the next year. Your ideas and input are important to this, so please call President Nancy Gerdt at 335-3130, with your ideas and concerns!
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