Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh Member Highlight #6

Becoming a member of Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh has truly been an addition to my life.  After graduating college, I had a desire to do more with my spare time than just work.  I knew I wanted to be more involved within the community; but I didn’t know specific community projects I wanted to participate in.  So I came to the conclusion that it would probably be best to become a member of an organization in the local area that was involved in a wide array of community service activities.

After searching, I found out about JWC of Raleigh.  I thought it would be a great fit for me based on the demographics of the ladies and that their service projects are focused on varying areas within the local community.  After meeting some of the JWC ladies, I knew this organization was right for me.  I instantly felt welcomed and was provided with multiple opportunities to contribute to service projects.

I have truly enjoyed my time as a JWC member so far.  JWC is not only a vehicle with which to meet new people, but also actively give back to your community; which in my opinion provides us with purpose.  I look forward to participating in activities that are new to me and building bonds with other ladies that have similar interests to myself.

-Mitchelle Carmon

Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh Member Highlight #5

I joined the Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh mostly because of my best friend, Kristin, who is a member of the Charleston, SC JWC.  I often visit Kristin in Charleston and have gotten to know several of her friends. The girls are all wonderful, and I’m constantly seeing fun pictures of them at volunteer and social events on Facebook.

I moved back to Raleigh last fall for my job and boyfriend, after living 8 months in Winston-Salem after graduation.  At first, it was an awkward transition back.  Having grown up heavily involved in my church and philanthropic events, and then continuing this in college with my sorority, I suddenly found myself feeling unfulfilled.  I also felt stuck in between stages in life – I was moving past the NC State college life (my alma matter- Go Pack!), but not ready for the settle-down-and-have-a-family stage yet.

During the spring, I went to the Charleston’s JWC Spring Soiree cocktail benefiting the March of Dimes; I knew at that moment it was an organization I wanted to join.  Kristin, much like me, was looking to get involved with the community and find fun girls to be around when she moved to Charleston.  She found both of these things through the Charleston Junior Woman’s Club and encouraged me to join the Raleigh club.

So, here I am today, a new member of JWC of Raleigh!  I’m very excited for this new chapter in my life and look forward to giving back to the community while making memorable friendships.

-Alyssa Starnes

Junior Woman’s of Raleigh Member Highlight #4

Read and Feed and the Education CSP

Read and Feed Event

On September 5th, seven members of the Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh Education Community Service Program (CSP) started their first project of the year with Read and Feed. Read and Feed is a great organization that provides reading and tutoring services along with meals to low-income elementary students in Wake County. Since many of the students may not have access to transportation, Read and Feed visits different schools all over Wake County via their bookmobile, which acts as a mobile classroom.

Before the Education CSP got started with their project, Kati Mullan, Read and Feed’s volunteer coordinator, gave them a brief overview of the kinds of activities Read and Feed did with the children, such as tutoring. They would chart the children’s progress as they moved further along in their studies, and used colorful, fun aids during the process. After that overview, it was time for the Education CSP to get to work! The first thing they did was organize Read and Feed’s books by grade level at their headquarters. As they were going through the books, many of them found several books they recalled reading when they were elementary school children themselves! After the books were packed and the extra boxes were broken down, they got to tour the bookmobile, which everyone was very excited about. The toys and trinkets that adorned the bookmobile’s walls and the many books in the back room made for a cozy, inviting environment.

Members also got to chat more with Kati as well as with the founder and director, Jan Frantz. This is the first time the Junior Woman’s Club has worked with this organization and it certainly won’t be the last! Members of the Junior Woman’s Club will be donating books to them throughout the club year and the club plans to do more projects with them in the future. -Teresa Kleitches, Education CSP Co-Chair

From the President’s Corner – Meals on Wheels is a Focus for JWC of Raleigh

As the 2013-2014 President of the Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh, I had to decide on a President’s Project that would help focus the work of our Club and make a difference in our community. It was not an easy task given there are so many worthy organizations within our area. I discussed this with a couple of members with regards to which direction I should go and the mutual sentiment was “Pick the one you’re passionate about because with your passion will come enthusiasm and that enthusiasm, as our leader, will reinforce our commitment to the project.”

Each morning we all wake up, prepare for our day ahead and within that day, most of us, without a lot of thought, eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with an occasional snack or two. We do this with little concern of “if” we’ll eat and more of “when” we’ll eat. A critical necessity to a healthy life is nutrition. The intake of vital nutrients is essential to maintain good health.

1 in 7 Seniors is threatened by hunger; 8.8 percent of Seniors living alone are food insecure; North Carolina is in the top 10 states for Seniors with food insecurities.  These are astounding statistics regarding our aging population. There are circumstances that will always be present that prohibit or inhibit an individual’s ability to provide food for one’s self. The factors may be lack of resources, lack of mobility, lack of access to food, a poor health condition, isolation-both social & emotional or any number of reasons. The elderly have always been near and dear to my heart and knowing that our club could have a meaningful impact on the problem of Senior Hunger, I have chosen Meals on Wheels as my President’s Project. Meals on Wheels of Wake County was formed in 1974 and has been providing nutritious meals to the homebound elderly and persons with disabilities in Wake County in an effort to improve health, reduce isolation and prevent unnecessary institutionalization. They serve 1,300 meals per day in Wake County with the imminent danger of losing funding for 12,000 meals per year due to the budget cuts. When a volunteer delivers a meal to a homebound recipient, they are not just providing a meal, but they are also providing a visit and check-up. For so many of the recipients this is the only contact they have with others. The service brings comfort and hope to the lives of the many isolated elderly.  Check out this video that speaks about Meals on Wheels – JWC Raleigh

I’m excited about the year ahead and seeing how our members give of their “gifts” for Meals on Wheels and the many other organizations our Club serves, and I am thrilled to share the journey with all of you.  See you at our first General Meeting Sept 10, 7pm and the Woman’s Club of Raleigh.   -Ashley Rain

2013-2014 JWC Summer Soiree

The 2013-2014 year for the Junior Woman’s Club of Raleigh’s year officially starts in September and to kick off with a great start this year, the Board of Directors held our annual Summer Soiree on August 24th.  The Board of Directors and clubwomen in general, enjoy getting back together after having the summer free from clubwork.  This Soiree gives our members and friends a casual atmosphere to catch up and socialize before getting back into our volunteer work for the coming year.

This year was a success!  We had almost 40 of our 63 members attend and enjoyed fantastic food and drinks.  Everyone had fun and exciting stories about what had taken place over the summer or since we had last met, which for some was at our end of the year Installation Banquet last May!  So many of those summer stories involved groups of our members spending time together.  It’s great to know that the ladies of this club are not just members to volunteer but have made great friends along the way. It was also great getting to meet so many spouses and/or significant others that night.  They are just as important as our club women who volunteer and we appreciate any help they can give to support their family while our members might be away from her family for an hour or two volunteering.  These spouse/significant others have also helped our club out on numerous occasions, whether at our past 5K race or helping move furniture at our Furniture Consignment Sale, the Summer Soiree is a token of our appreciation to them as well.  While each member enjoys being involved as a group in all the hands-on projects impacting our community, it’s also great to have an occasion to socialize and get to know more about each other.  Thanks again for your hard work and we look forward to a fantastic 2013-2014 club year!       -Ashley Rain

Have You Bought a New Pair of Shoes This Year?

Have you bought a new pair of shoes this year?  This month?  How about this week?  Raleigh Juniors are no strangers to shoe shopping, so why not do it for a great cause, right?

In keeping with the GFWC Recruitment Campaign slogan, “Membership – The ‘Sole’ of the Federation,” JWC of Raleigh celebrated each new member who joined during the 2012-2013 club year by donating a pair of shoes to Interact, a local non-profit organization that provides safety, support, and awareness to victims and survivors of domestic violence and rape/sexual assault.  At the beginning of the club year, all interested members of the club signed up to participate and have their names submitted for a drawing.  As each new member was voted into the club, she drew a name of one of those existing members, and that clubwoman donated a pair of new women’s or children’s shoes.

Then, the shoes came marching in!  Everything from tiny knitted baby booties to high-heeled leather boots and light-up kids’ tennis shoes to bright red sassy pumps.  At the end of the year, JWC of Raleigh welcomed 25 new clubwomen, but the members could not stop giving and donated 34 new pairs of shoes to InterAct!  They will sell the shoes at their Pass It On, Too thrift store to help cover costs of counseling services for families impacted by domestic violence and rape/sexual assault.  To find out more about InterAct, click here to learn more about their critically important services and ways you can help.

This membership initiative was an exciting way to celebrate new members, engage existing members, and most importantly, impact the community by contributing to a worthy and relevant cause.  Seeing all of the shoes also served as a visible reminder of all of the enthusiastic new members who had joined!  Can’t wait to see what this year’s membership initiative will be!  Interested in becoming a member of JWC of Raleigh?  Click here for more information.