President’s Message

2003-2004
International President
Mary Cotter

February 4, 2004

Dear Friends,

Release the balloons, pop the cork off of the bubbly, and raise your glasses in a toast to Quota International. Wouldn't our founder, Wanda Frey Joiner, be proud to see the diversity of local and international service projects that our clubs have established within our organization? Happy 85th birthday to all of our clubs! Cheers! May we be around to celebrate many more birthdays!

Please take a moment to read a few of our highlights that have happened during our 85 years as an organization:

• On February 6, 1919, Quota Club International, Incorporated, became the first international classified women's club in the world. Our first annual convention was held in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on April 22 and 23 of that year, and President Wanda Frey Joiner conducted the meeting. At the 1928 international convention, each club was requested to voluntarily donate $50, so a permanent headquarters could be established in Washington, D.C. Up until that time, the headquarters rotated yearly to the home of the international president.
  
  
• In the 1930s, districts were established throughout the Quota world. It was also during this period that the organization expanded to Australia. In the 1940s, Governor's Seminar was established. At the 1946 convention, the Quota Objects were established.
  
  
• During the 1950s, Quota clubs were encouraged to work in cooperation with their local hearing societies. In 1959, a joint installation ceremony of 11 clubs in District 17 occurred. At this event, Past International President Wanda Frey Joiner gave her "Collect Address," which reviewed in depth the Collect we know today.
  
  
• In the early 1960s, the Quota trademark was established by procuring a patent, and the organization was incorporated as Quota International. At that time a new pin was designed with our incorporated logo. At the 1969 convention, Quota International formed a partnership with the CARE organization. During that partnership, we co-sponsored a home canning project in Turkey. In addition, donations were made to build schools in Korea, to train nurses in Afghanistan, to assist with a project to bring clean water to Kenya, and to help build day care and health care centers in India.
  
  
• During the 1970s, convention delegates voted to accept hearing and speech aid as a new unified service project. Also, areas were defined and established.
  
  
• In the 1980s, the project to establish a permanent Quota World headquarters was launched. It was during this period of time that each Quotarian was asked to donate $50 or more towards the purchase of a building. A committee was established, and the location was identified. In 1985 the Quota International office—1420 21st Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C.—was purchased. Today, this remains the location of our offices. At the end of the 1980s, in 1989, we voted to enlarge our membership to allow men to join.
  
  
• The 1990s opened up more united service projects. In addition to our work with deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals, we added a new emphasis of working with disadvantaged women and children. It was also recognized that individual clubs needed to contribute to both local service and international service. During this period we awarded grants for research on deafness to both the House Ear Institute, in Los Angeles, California, and the Cochlear Center in Sydney, Australia.
  
  
• Our 85th year as an international organization will be celebrated far and wide at Convention 2004 in Toronto, Canada, July 16-19. It will be an event to remember, so please come. This is your personal invitation from me.

January has been a very busy month for Quota business. Your QI Board of Directors met in Washington, D.C., for our mid-year board meeting, January 22-25. It was a wonderful meeting, and we accomplished a great deal of business. This month, the Bylaws Committee has been hard at work reviewing the bylaw amendment proposals. All of this information will be sent to the clubs in mid-March. January has also brought us a new slate of candidates running for our international board of directors. The wonderful news is that we have at least TWO Quotarians running for each position. Bravo!

The month of February will be a very special month. I am traveling to Australia, Singapore, India, and the Philippines. I will begin my journey on February 12, and I will return on March 10. I am so very excited to be able to visit many of our Club-to-Club World Service projects. Next month, my President's Message will contain a travel diary.

Have a good month!

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