Advocacy & Service

Local Action. Lasting Impact.

Zonta Club of Cheyenne brings women together to turn a shared commitment to women and girls into action.

Throughout the year, our members advocate, volunteer, build community partnerships, invest in education, raise awareness, and provide hands-on support where it is needed. Our work is rooted in Cheyenne and Laramie County, but it is also connected to Zonta International’s worldwide efforts to build a better world for women and girls.

Some projects reach thousands of people. Others make a difference for one person at a time. Each is an opportunity to create meaningful change in our community.

Our Local Impact

In a single year, Zonta Club of Cheyenne members and community partners:

• Distributed 20,000 human trafficking and domestic violence awareness coasters and hundreds of posters throughout the community
• Reached more than 70 bars, rest stops, truck stops, local businesses, and locations throughout Cheyenne Frontier Days
• Brought together more than 35 Zontians, family members, and community supporters for the annual Silent Witness March
• Awarded more than $6,000 in local scholarships and awards to women and young women
• Joined community partners to collect 6,287 pounds of food, more than three tons, for local food pantries
• Provided clothing, hygiene products, blankets, gift cards, and other necessities to survivors of sexual assault through our partnership with Cheyenne Regional Medical Center
• Assembled more than 30 specialized pillows for breast cancer patients in Cheyenne and Casper
• Used art, public displays, events, and partnerships to bring greater visibility to domestic violence and the experiences of survivors

These numbers tell only part of the story. Behind them are members giving their time, community organizations working together, survivors receiving support, students pursuing their goals, and conversations that can help change attitudes and lives.

Advocacy in Action

Posters & Coasters: Raising Awareness of Human Trafficking & Domestic Violence

Cheyenne Frontier Days brings hundreds of thousands of people to our community, making it an important opportunity to put potentially lifesaving information where people can see it.

During the 2025 celebration, Zonta Club of Cheyenne undertook one of its largest advocacy efforts of the year. Members and community volunteers distributed 20,000 coasters and hundreds of posters containing information about human trafficking and domestic violence.

Materials were distributed to more than 70 locations, including bars, rest stops, truck stops, local businesses, first aid stations, CFD Park restrooms, and portable restrooms.

Eleven volunteer teams of Zontians and other community members participated, with each team contributing approximately two hours. Six members also placed more than 250 posters throughout permanent and temporary restroom facilities at CFD Park and locations around Cheyenne.

With approximately 250,000 people attending CFD rodeos and concerts, in addition to visitors to local restaurants, bars, businesses, and other events, the potential reach is significant. Materials remain in many community locations throughout the year, extending the impact beyond Frontier Days.

The goal is simple but important: increase awareness while making discreet information and resources available to someone who may need help.

Honoring Lives Through the Silent Witness March

During the annual 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Zonta Club of Cheyenne organizes the Silent Witness March to honor people whose lives have been lost to domestic violence and ensure their stories are not forgotten.

More than 35 Zontians, family members, and community supporters participated in the most recent march, gathering at the Wyoming Supreme Court building before walking through downtown Cheyenne with life-size wooden silhouettes representing victims from Cheyenne, Burns, Torrington, and surrounding communities.

Following the march, the silhouettes were displayed at the Laramie County Library for approximately three weeks. Zonta members publicly read the victims’ stories, and family members shared personal memories of loved ones lost to domestic violence.

The event also received local radio and television coverage and was supported by proclamations signed by Cheyenne Mayor Patrick Collins and Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon, helping extend its message beyond those who participated in person.

Using Art to Start Conversations

Art can create an opening for conversations that are often difficult to have.

Through its annual domestic violence art contest, Zonta Club of Cheyenne invites local artists to explore themes related to domestic violence, survivor empowerment, and the role each of us can play in creating safer communities.

The artwork is displayed publicly at the Cheyenne Civic Center, bringing these messages beyond a Zonta event and into a space where the broader community can encounter them. Visitors have come specifically to see the exhibit, and the accompanying reception brings artists and community members together to reflect on the stories and messages represented through the work.

Through creativity, the contest helps raise awareness while sharing powerful messages of resilience, hope, healing, and empowerment.

Sharing Survivors’ Stories Through the Clothesline Project

The Clothesline Project gives survivors a powerful way to make their experiences visible.

T-shirts decorated with personal stories, artwork, and messages of hope are displayed together, each representing an individual voice and experience. Some tell difficult stories. Others offer encouragement and strength. Together, they create a deeply personal representation of the impact of domestic violence and the resilience of survivors.

When Zonta Club of Cheyenne displayed the Clothesline Project at a community event, the shirts prompted conversation, reflection, and education among those who encountered them. The response reinforced the importance of continuing to create opportunities for survivors’ voices to be seen and heard.

For Zonta, the project is both an act of awareness and a reminder of why our advocacy to end violence against women matters.

Service in Action

Advocacy is only part of how Zonta Club of Cheyenne serves our community. Members also turn their commitment into direct, hands-on support.

Supporting Survivors When They Need It Most

Through the Hope Bag project, Zonta Club of Cheyenne works with the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Emergency Department and SANE nurses to support survivors of sexual assault.

Survivors may leave the hospital without basic necessities when clothing and other belongings must be retained as evidence. Zonta helps provide clothing, personal hygiene items, blankets, gift cards, and other essentials for women, men, and children in these circumstances.

The project has evolved from assembling predetermined bags to maintaining an organized inventory and responding directly to requests from forensic nurses. This allows supplies to reflect survivors’ real-time needs and be available when they are needed.

Fighting Hunger Through Community Partnership

Zonta members joined Rotary, Rotaract, Kiwanis, and Lions Clubs for a community food drive benefiting the LCCC Food Pantries and Veterans’ Rock.

Together, the organizations collected 6,287 pounds of food, more than three tons, with support from King Soopers, Safeway, and Albertsons.

The project helped stock local food pantries while strengthening relationships among service organizations and creating opportunities for future collaboration.

Small Projects Can Make a Personal Difference

Sometimes service is much more personal.

Zonta Club of Cheyenne members and guests assembled more than 30 heart-shaped pillows through the JWill Pillow Project for breast cancer patients at hospitals in Cheyenne and Casper. The pillows are designed to provide cushioning beneath a seatbelt following breast surgery.

Each included a message from breast cancer survivors within our club reminding the recipient that she is not alone.

Members have also responded to other community needs, including providing lunch for 20 Habitat for Humanity volunteers working to rebuild a donation bay.

Investing in Women & Girls

Creating lasting change also means investing in women’s education, careers, and leadership.

In a recent year, Zonta Club of Cheyenne awarded:

• $1,500 through the Young Women in Leadership Award
• $1,500 through the Women in STEM Award
• $1,846 through the LCCC Zonta Scholarship
• $1,500 through the Women in Business Leadership Award

The club also budgets $1,500 annually for its Women in Aviation Award to help young women advance toward completing their pilot licensing.

Together, these opportunities represent thousands of dollars invested locally in women and young women pursuing education, leadership, careers, and new opportunities.

Cheyenne Is Part of a Global Movement

Our impact starts locally, but it does not stop here.

Zonta Club of Cheyenne is part of Zonta International, connecting our members and our community to a worldwide movement advocating for the rights, safety, education, opportunities, and equality of women and girls.

Our local efforts to address domestic violence and human trafficking connect with Zonta’s broader advocacy to end violence against women. Our participation in the 16 Days of Activism also connects actions taking place in Cheyenne with advocacy happening in communities around the world.

That connection gives Zonta members a unique opportunity to make a tangible difference close to home while adding their voices to something much larger.

Be Part of the Impact

Twenty thousand coasters. More than three tons of food. Thousands of dollars invested in women’s futures. Supplies for survivors. Public awareness. Community partnerships. And countless hours volunteered by members who believe they can make a difference.

That’s what Zonta looks like in Cheyenne.

Whether you want to advocate for women and girls, roll up your sleeves for a service project, build relationships with other local women, contribute your professional skills, or simply find a meaningful way to give back, there is a place for you here.

Join us. Volunteer with us. Support our work. Help us create what’s next.