Membership Development Committee Presents Leadership Training

On August 23 all 2012 JLC Committee Chairs and Assistant Chairs were invited to attend a Chair Training Workshop. The objective of the training was to ensure everyone begins on the same page, to pass along experience from other chairs and to provide tools to help chairs and assistant chairs be successful.

The informal evening began with Lynne Christensen welcoming chairs to their role and discussing the JLC vision and mission: What it means to us and how we think it is reflected in the JLC culture. Velvet Matheson then led the group in an icebreaker, which resulted in some artistic drawings of pigs of all different shapes and sizes and some with some very long tails.

Member Development Chair Carla Gustafson presented an overview of what a successful committee looks like and what an effective chair looks like. Discussions were had around planning, key meetings, budgets, engagement of teams, delegation, reporting, and turnover. If that wasn’t exciting enough, we ended with a survey and a quote from a fellow Junior Leaguer…

“Do one thing everyday that scares you.”  - Eleanor Roosevelt  -

JLC Committee Chairs and Assistant Chairs participate in
2012 Chair Training at the JLC Office

President's Message - JLC "New Year" Begins

Lynne Christensen
JLC President

Happy New Year!  It may not be a new year in the traditional sense, but September always feels like the beginning of a new year to me.  After 18 years of heading back to school and even more years sending my children off after their first day photo on the front porch, September still means new beginnings to me.

After a refreshing summer break, our new League year gets well under way this month.  And just like in our school days, there are friends to reconnect with, new acquaintances to make, avenues to share our skills and opportunities to learn as we unite to positively impact our community.

Although most of our programs and activities get underway this month, many members have worked throughout the summer planning, developing, recruiting and organizing and I thank them for their dedicated work.  A recruitment social event, member social, chair training and the Provisional orientation dinner have already occurred. As the Treasure Trunk and MUM sessions get underway, check out the details for accessing the new online volunteer shift sign up on the JLC website (details on page 1). 

This year we’ll explore together issues facing the Calgary community through General Meetings and volunteer opportunities called Impact Events (formerly DIAD’s) and we’ll continue to further define our issue area around which we will base our community impact efforts. 

Don’t miss the October 15 Annual General Meeting when dynamic speaker Vicki Clark will further our understanding of the power and potential of issue-based community impact.

I hope all JLC members, Provisionals, Actives and Sustainers, will feel the buzz of this new year and jump in to connect with each other to share and develop toward our goal of creating lasting community impact.  I welcome your thoughts and ideas now and throughout the year.

Cooking Up Community Impact

Some of the JLC Members who cooked soup for donation to The Doorway
at the Welcome Back Social on Friday, September 7

JLC Actives, Sustainers, spouses and friends joined together Friday, September 7 for a delightfully delicious evening of soup making and socializing at the Highwood Dining Room at SAIT for our Welcome Back Social.  The group of about 30 was divided randomly into five teams and each team sliced, diced, sautéed and stirred until their soups were ready to be ladled into individual serving containers and donated to The Doorway.  Once the work was complete, participants sat down for a delicious dinner of one of the freshly prepared soups, salad and a glass of wine to toast a rewarding and fun evening spent together.

Sharon Hapton, Soup Sisters/
Broth Brothers founder, with their
newly-released cookbook

Soup Sisters/Broth Brothers is a non-profit social enterprise dedicated to providing comfort to women, children and youth through the making, sharing and donating of soup.  Its program provides participants with assistance from respected area chefs, the opportunity to work together in state-of-the-art professional kitchens and most importantly, the sense of gratification that comes from helping others. 

The JLC was privileged to participate on this special evening as Soup Sisters/Broth Brothers celebrated their third anniversary and the launch of their new cookbook.  Founder Sharon Hapton shared the organization’s history and recognized key individuals including their first guest chef Michael Allemeir who was on hand to instruct the JLC soup makers this night as well.  Marilyn Dyck, Executive Director of The Doorway inspired us with her moving description of their work assisting teens and young adults as they transition from street culture into mainstream society. The soup we made will nourish, warm and help fill the empty spaces in their lives both physically and emotionally.  More importantly, it lets these young people know that we care for them and believe in their potential.

Recognition of JLC Programs and Partners

The Junior League of Calgary's programs and seasonal projects conducted during the 2011-12 program year delivered over 2,700 volunteer hours, impacted over 3,500 youth and supported over 100 families. We were pleased to have many of our community partners join us at the Annual Celebration Dinner on May 28.

JLC Community Partners at the 2011-12 Annual Celebration Dinner

The JLC's program Moms U Matter(MUM) with Highbanks Society - a residential agency that offers a safe home to 16 -24 year-old single mothers and their children while the moms complete high school or a post-secondary program and create a career path - targets the issues of food preparation, meal planning, healthy eating, kitchen safety and food budgeting. We implemented eight MUM sessions between September and May.  

One of the programs under the umbrella of the Children’s Cottage Society is Brenda’s House, a re-housing program with a sheltering component aimed at supporting families toward independence and their own sustainable housing.The Treasure Trunk program targets key issues of nutrition and healthy eating (Kids in the Kitchen), literacy (Kids in the Story), music and movement (Kids in Motion and Music), the arts (Kids in the Arts) and reading to babies (or Babies in the Story).  We implemented twelve sessions of Treasure Trunk between September and May and a training workshop for Children`s Cottage Society and Brenda`s House staff and volunteers

The Fall Provisional Class members implemented our ninth year of Teen Totes providing bags for 350 Calgary teens. The bags were distributed in December through The Alex Youth Health Centre and Calgary Community Resource Centres. 

The Winter Provisional Class members learned about the JLC by implementing the seventh annual Kids in the Kitchen (KITK) event.  With the assistance of Chef Will Kwong and JLC dancers, Dr. Emily Roback and Natalie Wynn-Dempsey KITK inspired children to make healthy food choices and active lifestyle decisions.  The KITK program and tote bags were delivered to 190 grade 3-6 students at Rundle School on May 1.

In March, the JLC participated in Safety Expo demonstrating our kitchen safety booth to over 3,000 grade 4-7 students at this two-day event.

In May, we conducted a Done In A Day (DIAD) for The Alex Youth Health Centre to meet needs of their clients.  Hygiene items, basic clothing items such as socks, undergarments and belts, transit passes and gift cards for food and groceries were donated. 

The Alex Presents Award to the JLC

(L to R): Marie Starich, Susan Deike, Kate Hawksworth,
Marilou Mitchell and Danene Lenstra

Community partners The Alex recently presented the Junior League of Calgary with an award to recognize our "outstanding support" for their organization.

Alice Gardner-Boreta Wraps Up JLC Presidency

2010-2012 JLC President Alice Gardner-Boreta (L)
receives a thank you gift from incoming
 President Lynne Christensen 

The Annual Celebration Dinner on May 28 was the final "official" event of Alice Gardner-Boreta's two-year term as President of the Junior League of Calgary. We thank Alice for her dedication in this role. She has also provided 10 years of committed service to our League and is now a sustaining member, but she won't be idle! The closing of this chapter leads to the opening of another as Alice begins to serve as the newly-elected International Director on The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI)  Board of Directors. Congratulations to Alice on this new challenge.

JLC Bestows Bursary Awards

Two young mothers affiliated with Highbanks Society received Bursary Awards from the Junior League of Calgary at the Annual Celebration Dinner. Rain Wondrasek was awarded a $2000 bursary, and Jasie Mason was awarded a $1000 bursary.

Rain Wondrasek

Rain, a recipient from our inaugural bursary year, continues to attend Mount Royal University. Her educational goal, however, has evolved from becoming a junior high school humanities teacher to becoming a psychologist. She intends to finish her program at Mount Royal University with honours and then plans to continue her studies at Concordia University where she hopes to earn her Ph.D.

Jasie Mason

Jasie’s goal is to start and operate a not-for-profit similar to Highbanks Society to help young mothers establish independence through education and community support. Her first step in reaching her goal will be to upgrade her education by attending Bow Valley College. Jasie then plans to acquire her Bachelors of Business Administration with a minor in non-profit management from Mount Royal University.

To apply, each woman submitted an application outlining her educational, employment, and volunteer history. Two references provided information in support of her application, and the applicant submitted a brief essay on why she should be awarded the JLC Bursary Award. Cecilia de la Rocha, Executive Director of Highbanks Society, Stephanie Schoenberg, Community Coordinator for Highbanks Society, and Bette Mitchell, Founder of Highbanks Society and its Board of Directors President were present for the awards.