Parent's Club

[just1ZTA]

Hi, all!

I need some information from all of you out there with a Parent's Club, or from those of you who have had a Parent's Club at your chapter.

I was approached by the Membership Advisor to start one up, but I have never been involved in a chapter with this. Therefore, any info that you can provide would be great.

The chapter that I am starting the Parent's Club for already has parent's weekend and mother/daughter luncheon.

I just do not know what other types of activities would be involved. What does it entail?

Thanks in advance for all the info, and have a great day.

[radioZTA]

There is a national parent's club chair that you can contact for more information but I'm not sure who it is now.

I helped start the ZTA Mother's Club of Greater Dallas several years ago. Most of the activities are social and they're very supportive of each other helping to guide new Zeta moms. Their membership chair recruits the mothers of new members as soon as Recruitment is over. The mother of a collegiate member asks her daughter for a copy of the NM's information and then contacts those in the Dallas area.

At one fall and one spring meeting each year, they invite a local Greek gift company, Crowns & Roses, to set up displays for shopping for big sis, lil sis, birthday, initiation, Christmas, etc. Parents generally end up paying for this stuff anyway so it is very convenient. The prices are good and the merchandise is excellent because one of the owners is a Zeta. There are also 2 mother/daughter events each year. One is a Christmas event and the other is a fashion show/fundraiser. The moms give money each year to every Zeta chapter that is represented in their group.

Also, every November and April they have a finals packet prep event. Each mom brings about 40 of something like hot chocolate packets, pencils, candy bars, mints, breakfast bars, cookies, notepads, index card packets, etc. One mom prints out an encouraging quote or poem and another prints out a note from the group. At the end of the night, each mom is given her stuffed packet to send to her daughter.

It is a fabulous group of ladies and I hope to be a real member someday. Hope this helps.

[just1ZTA]

Thanks for the information.

Also, how did you go about starting it up? Do the mom's now pretty much control the club?...or do you or another ZTA supervise?

Also, is the club exclusively for area ZTA moms?...or are there some out-of-towners also involved?

It sounds like the best thing to do is to wait until we get through recruitment, and then start sending out the info about an interest meeting.

I knew that there was a parent's club chair, but that was about the extent of my knowledge.

Again, thanks for any/all information.

[radioZTA]

I was asked to assist with the start-up and then had to step in when the main organizer dropped out at the last minute. I'm not sure how things got put together from the start. Big help, huh?

I'm considered the advisor for the group and primarily answer questions about Zeta and pass along information to my alumnae chapter. We've occasionally had moms who are also Zetas or are members of other groups but most of the moms have no GLO affiliation which is why the club is so helpful.

I think I misunderstood your original question. There could be two types of parents clubs and it sounds like you and I are talking about the different ones. The club I help with is made up of mothers of Zetas that are from chapters all over the U.S. Another type of club is made up of parents from all over that are dedicated just to one chapter. Is that what you're trying to do?

[just1ZTA]

Yes, I am trying for the latter. However, your club sounds great! I did not realize that there was such a thing.

I am sure it is not going to be that difficult. However, I can be a perfectionist at times, so I just wanted to be as prepared and as organized as possible.

Again, if you have any other helpful info, just let me know.

Thanks again!

Heather\^^^/

[radioZTA]

Gamma Phi chapter at the University of North Texas used to have the type of club that you're talking about but that was before I got involved with them. One mom put it together and kept it going for years, even after her daughter had graduated.

I got my copy of "Themis" in the mail yesterday and only had a chance to skim through but I saw one chapter mention a parent's club. I'll see if I can find out which chapter that was.

[just1ZTA]

I will also check my Themis.

Thank you so much for all of your help. You are wonderful!

Heather