JLC Provisional Members Kick Off Their Training at a Class Retreat!

The 2010 Fall Provisional Class Retreat was held at Brenda Christensen’s home on Wednesday, September 15. The evening started off with an amazing meal prepared by our social committee of Jane Abboud, Brenda Christensen, and Cyndi Cox.


The provisional class was introduced to the Junior League of Calgary (JLC) through presentations from Alice Gardner-Boreta, President; Carol Smith; Philippa Gear, VP Membership; Lynne Christensen, VP Finance; Marilou Mitchell, Co-Vice President, Community and Marla Grant, Provisional Class Chair. After these presentations, the new class was introduced to their project: preparing the Teen Totes which they will tackle in the coming months.

A big thank you to Brenda Christensen for allowing us to use her beautiful home for the event and a special thank you to our presenters.

Welcome to the 2010 Fall provisional class ….

Jennifer Cox, Kate Hanna, Lauren Hynes, Elaine Tsekouras and Robyn Webb.

JLC 2010-2011 Community Program Launches!

Our 2010-2011 JLC Program Year has been successfully launched! The Community Team presented an overview at the September GM to showcase the program opportunities that will be available for JLC member participation during this upcoming year. These include:

•  MUM Program at Highbanks Society
•  Treasure Trunk Program at Brenda’s House
•  Assisting the Fall Provisional Class with the annual Teen Totes Project
•  Safety Expo - March 9-10, 2011
•  Assisting the Winter Provisional Class with the annual Kids In The Kitchen (KITK) initiative
•  KITK - May 3, 2011

We are excited to participate in these amazing projects that will make a difference in the Calgary community this year!  For more information on how you can participate, contact the JLC office at jlc@juniorleaguecalgary.com.

Broth Brothers Welcome Back DIAD and Social

In true Junior League of Calgary fashion, our Welcome Back Social/DIAD at Soup Sisters and Broth Brothers was an inspiring and rewarding event. Approximately 30 JLC women, their friends, spouses and family members joined together on Friday, September 17, 2010 at the Highwood Dining Room at SAIT to make soup to be donated the following Monday morning to The Doorway. Five groups made five different soups (Potato & Bacon with Cheddar, Sweet & Sour Beef-Cabbage, Lentil with Sweet Italian Sausage, Corn & Sweet Potato and Roasted Tomato Basil) and then sat down for a delicious dinner of a freshly prepared soup, salad, and bread!

The Doorway is a Calgary agency that assists teens and young adults from the ages of 17-24 who have made the choice to transition from street culture into mainstream society. The delicious soup we made will nourish, warm and help fill the empty spaces in their lives, both physically and emotionally, and lets these young people know that we care for them and believe in their potential.

Soup Sisters and Broth Brothers, both launched in 2009, is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to providing comfort to women, children and youth through the making, sharing and donating of soup. Its year-round program provides participants with training from respected Chefs, the opportunity to work in state-of-the-art professional kitchens, an enjoyable dinner paired with a complimentary selection of wine, and most importantly, the sense of gratification that comes from helping others. Approximately 150-200 servings of soup are prepared and donated during each session.

It was an evening of learning, laughs and giving back to the community. Thank you to all who participated! For family sized portions of the recipes mentioned above, go to http://www.soupsisters.org/web/recipes.php.

JLC Member to Participate in AJLI Task Force!

Fifty Junior League members from 44 Leagues of all sizes across the Association were chosen to join four Task Forces that have been created to advise the AJLI on important work the Association will be undertaking over the course of the next one to two years.

The Junior League of Calgary is honoured that Past President Susan Cruess will be participating in the task Force focused on Collaborative League Engagement.

Congratulations, Susan!

Brenda's House Treasure Trunk Program Begins!

Brenda's Treasure Trunk Program project began with its first event last Wednesay evening, and the impact was already being felt by participants.  Read JLC volunteer Susan Cruess' impressions:

"I attended the first session for the Treasure Trunk program on September 29th. It was great fun to interact with the kids as I helped with the craft activity. As we were leaving, one of the staff members told us that a 9 year old boy wanted to share something with us. I can’t quote him exactly but he told us that "I had a good day - I got to school and back on time. We had the Terry Fox run and I made some friends. Thanks for the activities tonight – they were a lot of fun".  As he left the room with a big smile on his face, the staff member said that nothing could make her happier than that simple statement. As we reflected on the small things that can brighten a child’s life, many of us had tears in our eyes." - Susan Cruess

For more information on the Brenda's House Treasure Trunk Program, click here. 

Junior League of Calgary signs a Memorandum of Agreement with Children's Cottage Society!



On September 29, 2010, the Junior League of Calgary signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Children's Cottage Society to begin our partnership on the Treasure Trunk Program at Brenda's House. Children’s Cottage Society/Brenda’s House is the sheltering component of a "Housing First / Re-Housing" program that serves families experiencing temporary homelessness.  The aim of the program is to have a repertoire of developmentally appropriate learning and engagement activities that will be delivered twice a month to those parents and children in residence at the time.



Back row: Rosemarie D'Avella, part of Brenda's House Program Planning Group; Carrie Kerr Team- Lead - Child Support Program,  Brenda's House;  Marilou Mitchell, Angela Hutchinson and Kathy Deyell, part of Brenda's House Program Planning Group
Front row: Patty Kilgallon, Executive Director of Children's Cottage Society; Alice Gardner-Boreta, President, Junior League of Calgary