Members Praise ‘Intense’ Service of Smaller Clubs : Conejo Valley: Those in Soroptimists and Zonta credit strength to the uniqueness of their causes, and the vigor and creativity with which they approach their work.

They may lack the numbers of the Rotary Club and the presence of the Optimists, but Conejo Valley’s two women’s service clubs are by no means invisible.

In the first six months of this year, club members have run a literacy fair, a high school essay contest, a Special Kids Day and a road rally.

They have bought newspapers for school students. They have donated makeup to a battered women’s shelter. They have raised money for women scientists, college students, libraries, earthquake relief, senior centers, medical equipment and swimming pools.

And, as members of the two clubs will tell you, that’s not the half of it.

“Our plate is so full it’s overflowing,” said Martha Desch, a member of the Zonta International chapter. “There are days when I ask myself, ‘What have I gotten into?’ ”

For all the meetings they attend, the fund-raisers they throw and the projects they undertake, the 28 members of Zonta and the slightly larger Soroptimist Club chapter see themselves as service clubs outside the spotlight.

In the shadow of such powerhouses as the Rotary Club and the Optimists, these small clubs fight an ongoing battle for membership and attention.

And they credit their continuing strength to the uniqueness of their causes, and the vigor and creativity with which they approach their work.

“We go about this in a much more intense way, I think, than the other clubs,” said Betsy Bourne, president-elect of the Soroptimists. “Every single member is in it up to her ears. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t survive.”

The clubs, both founded in the early part of this century as all-women versions of the Rotary Club, share a number of traditions with their larger service counterpart.

Their meetings are strikingly similar to Rotary--jovial affairs with speakers and fines levied on members who have missed meetings or events.

And there is a hint of networking.

Each club looks for members who are professionals from diverse backgrounds. Zonta counts among its ranks a printer, banker, car-parts importer and office manager. The Soroptimists have an optometrist, nurse, bookkeeper and stockbroker.

But while members of both clubs acknowledge the networking possibilities, many members said they avoid the practice.

“There’s pressure to network, but that’s not our main focus at all,” Soroptimist President Sandra Vawter said. “Our club is focused more on helping other women.”

Vawter said members of Soroptimist believe that the gains that women made in the latter part of this century have been eroding.

“We see women being pushed out of work by computers and women struggling over the conflicts between work and parenthood,” Vawter said. “And we want to get in there and help.”

Both Soroptimist and Zonta members contribute heavily to causes for women--last year, Zonta’s national organization gave 35 scholarships worth $6,000 each for women studying fields of science.

The local Soroptimist club raised $10,000 for battered women. And it runs a program in which members visit a Ventura County shelter for women who have been abused.

They take the women shopping, give them makeup and clothes, and treat them to dinner.

“We know that we aren’t solving all of these women’s problems,” Vawter said. “But you’d be amazed at what a difference it can make to look good. You give these women a different image of themselves and you’ve given them hope. And that does make a difference.”

The charity work, Zonta President Mary Lou Miller said, is more important to the members than making contacts in the business world. But putting business interests on the back burner has cost both groups, she said.

It is why, when two members of Zonta were accepted into Rotary last year, their employers refused to support their Zonta membership.

“We were devastated,” Desch said. “I’m sure they didn’t have any choice. I’m sure their companies told them that’s where the power is, that’s where the clout is. It was Rotary or nothing.”

For Southern California Edison, a company that frequently sponsors employee memberships in service clubs, the decision is clear.

“If we’re involved in a service club, it’s usually going to be Rotary,” said John Katch, a regional spokesman for Edison.

“Rotary has a track record in most communities,” he said. “We’re in there for business reasons--it’s not just for social activities. It’s not a written policy, but in most places, Rotary is the club we’ll support because they’ve got what we’re looking for.”

And Rotary does not apologize for that, Thousand Oaks Rotary President Hugo Roche said.

“I think every group does their own thing, and both (of the women’s groups) are really important,” Roche said. “But Rotary does seem to be more prominent and, when companies come out to underwrite a membership, I’m sure that’s something they’re looking for.”

For Zonta and Soroptimist, clubs with memberships dwarfed by Rotary, the difficulty in attracting large companies to underwrite the expense of membership has hurt.

“We’ve lost two members and I’m sure they won’t be the last,” Desch said. “And for us, every member is critical.”

Each new member makes the task of holding events or raising money more manageable, Miller said.

“With the economy, and all the other clubs around trying to raise money, that’s hard enough,” Miller said. “But it certainly makes it harder for us because of our smaller membership. We just keep plugging away at it.”

Finding people to help organize events is also a chore.

Each year, Zonta plans Special Kids Day--a trip for 450 disabled children to the Conejo Valley Days amusement park.

This past year, just one day before the event, the 28 Zonta members had recruited 250 volunteers--not nearly enough to support an event that pairs each child with an adult. Desperate, the women continued making calls well into the night.

“I’m not exactly sure what happened, but somehow we pulled it off,” Desch said. “Every year, people have so many commitments to so many different clubs, it makes it really tough. We just hope for the best.”

Bourne said club members are able to endure the stress of such events as Special Kids Day because of the camaraderie between the women.

“I know it might sound sexist, but when I came to this club, I was really looking for a women’s group,” Bourne said. “There is something different in the way we work together. It’s just very gratifying to be involved in something where everyone is on equal footing.”

That, Vawter said, is why the groups are optimistic about their futures.

“We don’t have to worry so much about how large or small we are or what’s going on with the other clubs,” Vawter said, “because we’re making the most of what we’ve got.”