Celebrating Babies and Their Parents with The Alex

On November 1, the JLC hosted The Alex Baby Shower. This Impact Event  was designed to give pregnant and parenting youth clients of The Alex Youth Health Centre an opportunity to celebrate the birth of their unborn babies, new babies and toddlers. Streamers and decorations transformed the basement of the Wild Rose United Church and the room was filled with laughter and focused on love for these precious children.

 The afternoon was fun-filled with songs and stories, and the crafty creation of memory books by the parents for their children. The toddlers in attendance had the opportunity to personalize a super hero-sized cape. 

A delicious, hot meal was served and the celebration wound up with baby shower cake and small gifts of books, activities and practical items personalized for the age of the babies and toddlers.  Of greatest importance was the gift of time, energy and dedication supplied by JLC members.

President's Message - Sustaining the JLC

Commemorated on November 15, National Philanthropy Day recognizes the great contributions of philanthropy to the enrichment of our world.  It is a time to reflect on the meaning of giving and all that it has made possible. 

By definition, JLC members are philanthropists giving generously of their time, talent and financial resources.  In addition, our members SUSTAIN the Junior League of Calgary through their exemplary work and leadership with other community organizations, by recommending membership in the JLC to talented women, and by remaining loyal members. Your continuing membership provides great strength and stability to our organization.

I’d like to offer my appreciation to all our sustaining members.  We value the contributions you’ve made to establish and sustain the legacy we continue to build upon and I invite you to maintain or re-establish a connection with the JLC in a manner of your choice.

 

IMPACT: Changes Lives and Changed Conditions

Vicki Clark leads a group exercise for members at
the October Annual General Meeting

Vicki Clark, our guest speaker at the October Annual General Meeting, began her presentation with a group exercise that challenged  members to describe the JLC without using internal acronyms or program names.   As the responses from each group were read aloud, it was immediately apparent that this is the way we should describe the JLC and our programs.  

Using the example of our next Impact Event of collecting feminine hygiene products for The Alex at the November GM, the JLC will be “supporting young at-risk women in Calgary by building their self-esteem, dignity and removing the trade-off of personal hygiene versus other essential needs.” 

By avoiding the use of internal language, Vicki coached the membership to effectively communicate the impact of the JLC within the Calgary community, by describing how we change lives and conditions for at-risk groups.  Vicki then introduced the membership to the four areas of issue-based community work;

Direct Service – hands-on programs

In-Direct Service – collections and donations

Capacity Building – resource and fund development

Advocacy – focus on all levels of the issue within the community

Vicki also addressed transition of Junior League community programs from building “branded programs” that are transitioned to community groups, to development of sustainable partnerships that address a specific issue in order to change lives and conditions within the community.  The focus now must not be on what JLC can do for our partners, but instead what we can do with partners. 

Early the following morning, Vicki facilitated a program development workshop attended by several Junior League of Calgary members. The group worked through AJLI’s Issue-Based Community Impact Model for program development to address the issue of at-risk youth in Calgary.

The outcome of the workshop was a framework to guide further development of a focus on three key areas that fall under the issue of at-risk youth in Calgary; effective parenting, development of life skills and nutritional health and wellness.

Jocelyn Egden

JLC Sustainer Awarded the Order of Canada

On June 29, 2012, JLC Sustainer Lois Mitchell was appointed to one of Canada’s highest civilian honours; the Order of Canada. Established in 1967 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the Order of Canada is the centrepiece of Canada’s honours system and recognizes a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the nation. The Order recognizes people in all sectors of Canadian society. Their contributions are varied, yet they have all enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country.

One of 42 Members appointed, Lois’ citation reads:

Lois Mitchell, C.M.
Calgary, Alta. -  For her contributions as a business and community leader in Calgary and for her volunteerism in support of sports and the arts.

Later this fall, Lois will join other recipients at Rideau Hall, the Governor General’s residence in Ottawa, for the investiture ceremony. Our congratulations to Lois on this well-deserved honour.

Recruitment Hosts Cupcake Social

On Tuesday August 21, JLC Active members and women interested in joining the Junior League of Calgary gathered on a beautiful summer evening at Lynne Christensen’s home to enjoy the second annual Summer Cupcake Social.  It was a wonderful event and the turnout was fantastic.

Kate Hanna, Recruitment Chair, and the rest of the Recruitment Committee had a very busy summer meeting with prospective Provisional members.  The result of their hard work was an exceptional turnout to the social and within days, a full Fall Provisional Class of 12 members! 

Thank you to Kate, Cyndi Cox and Kathryn Berkson, as well as to all of our Actives and Sustainers who recommended the Junior League of Calgary to their friends, families and colleagues.  Another huge thank you to Erin Ferguson and Emily Wood who put together a fabulous display of red velvet and vanilla cupcakes, fruit kabobs and veggies – all in the JL colors of red and white!  Every woman left with a favour of cute and delectable cupcake-shaped cookies to boot.  Many thanks also to Lynne Christensen for opening up her lovely home to all of us. 

Our next Provisional Class begins in January, so keep spreading the word!

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.