The Zonta Club of Vantaa II, Finland, recently asked for donations outside a local shopping mall as part of the Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women campaign.

Though the club members faced adversity with passers-by ignoring them, they had many interesting encounters.

A young group of girls who are Somali refugees stopped to tell the group they had recently been discussing domestic violence, and there were many women domestic violence survivors who congratulated them on the valuable work they were doing.

Club President Sirkka Rautioaho said, “The most poignant of these tales was that of a former politician,” who was moved by what the club was doing, donated money and even bought them cups of coffee.

Rautioaho said the experience made her and her club members feel good, and gave them faith in pursuing Zonta’s mission.