A New Year with JLC

With Christmas in the rear view mirror and New Year’s just around the corner, we are excited to be welcoming our new spring class of provisionals!

In the past, new provisionals were required to complete a full year as a provisional before becoming active. However, with tricky work, school, and volunteer schedules, it can certainly be difficult to balance everything!

Last year we decided to pilot this program to give more women an opportunity to join the League who may not have been able to accommodate the Fall schedule. While the full-year provisional experience is an important part of our league’s identity, we wanted to provide an option to fit all schedules. The pilot year went smoothly, so we decided to continue it for a second year!

The spring semester will move through all Provisional trainings in time for 2017-2018 league year placement. The ladies will join the Girls of Summer literacy project for the end of their 2016 league year.

We can’t wait to welcome our new league members!

Falling into Fall with the JLC

Members of the JLC have been actively welcoming fall with socials throughout the month of October!

 On Wednesday, Oct. 12 Provisionals and Active Members channeled their Halloween spirit and carved pumpkins together. Some were cute and charming (an owl or Jack-o-lantern) while others were quite the scare. About 10 women met up at City Walk Apartments to enjoy some cupcakes, wine, and the monster mash playlist. Some members didn’t even carve, they just came to socialize. It was a great, casual environment to make some new connections and relax after a busy work day. 

Thanks to the UVA athletic department, we were gifted an awesome tailgate spot just feet away from the main entrance to the stadium for the UVA-UNC Game on October 22. In classic tailgate form, our spread consisted of chicken wings, taco dip, a veggie tray and some sweets. And, of course, we paired it with some local Bold Rock ciders! No need for a game day ticket, we hooked up a TV from the car to stream the live feed. Spouses, friends and the tiniest cheerleader (Kimmy’s daughter, Julia), came out to enjoy an impeccable fall day!

Boys & Girls Club Cycle Challenge

*Special guest post by Jordan Hargrave 

  In mid-September, League members had the exciting opportunity to volunteer for the Boys & Girls Club Cycling Challenge in beautiful Crozet. The Cycling Challenge raises awareness and funds for the 2,000 local kids the Boys & Girls Club supports. It attracts bikers from across the state and of all levels, riding from eight to one hundred miles. Shannon Tevendale, the coordinator for the Cycling Challenge, was a pleasure to work with and was extremely grateful for the JLC’s willingness to help with the event.

Six league members arrived bright and early for a 6am-10am shift and six additional members worked from 10am-2pm. Volunteers assisted with registration and packet pickup as well as helping set up and run the after party. As many of you know, the JLC has had an ongoing relationship with the Boys & Girls Club, and this was just one additional way for members to get involved with such an awesome organization. I am hoping this will continue to be an annual PIAD for the JLC for years to come.

Blog Mini-Training: The 27 best practices of high-performing volunteer organizations

The AJLI website is filled with useful articles on topics that include non-profit management, volunteer retention, leadership development, and impactful investing. This article, by Max Ditkoff, originally appeared in the Huffington Post on February 6, 2013. It is filled with tips for JLC leaders and volunteers to maximize their performance and member satisfaction. Check it out here! How do you think we as a League are doing with these best practices? Any tips we can incorporate into our operations?

Catching up at Carter Mountain

Special Guest Post from Morgan Hembarsky, Meetings & Events Vice-Chair

Sunset from Carter’s Mountain

The meetings and events committee held a social at the Carter Mountain Orchard sunset series. We had variety of people come out: provisionals, first year actives, older actives, babies, husbands, and dogs. It was great to meet the significant others that support the strong women in the JLC. With peach cider in hand, we were able to catch up on life events

JLC Members enjoy a gorgeous view and good company, along with Knox, furry companion to Membership VP Sarah Wyland.

that occurred this summer including weddings, moves, and vacations. We also enjoyed all the adorable puppy watching and petting that we could manage. It was a relaxing and beautiful way to wind down a work day. Seriously, you can’t beat that view! Thank you to everyone that came out; it was great to see familiar faces and meet new people. We hope to plan another one soon!

 

 

Welcome to Our Provisionals!

The Junior League of Charlottesville would LOVE to welcome our new Provisional class! At the Provisional Welcome social we asked “What are you most excited about in the Junior League?” The responses we got indicated two main sources of excitement: make new friends/meet new people, and volunteer/give back to the community. Over the course of the night, we overheard professional connections being made, hometown connections, recommendations given for housing, entertainment etc, and many phone numbers being exchanged. Several Provisional members also came out to the Carter’s Mountain Social just two days later.

Here are some quotes from provisionals on why they joined the Junior League:

“I am so excited to meet wonderful women who can help me get involved in the Charlottesville community!” — Becky Pilipowsky

“Networking, making new friends, and volunteering!” — Clareen Eberly

“Meeting new people and getting involved in the community” — Kayla

“To volunteer and give time back to the community” — Melissa Harris

We are so excited to welcome these ladies to our League, and cannot wait to meet them all! Please welcome them the next time you see a new face around!

New member recruitment now open!

The JLC application is live until July 31. Questions regarding the recruitment process and Provisional membership activities can be directed to provisional@jlcville.org or using the online form through the link below.

Click here for the membership application.

May Celebration recognizes year of accomplishments

At the Community Celebration, Grants Chair Courtney Frederickson presents the Spring Grants awards to worthy organizations.

The Fall and Spring Provisional classes celebrate their newly instated status as Actives.

President Alex Cannon presents the State of the League address.

This year, the JLC Board decided to use an innovative approach to the League’s end of the year activities. The Community Celebration, which recognizes our Fall and Spring Grant recipients and Community Partners, was paired in a single evening with the May Dinner- which celebrates a year of League achievements and ceremonially instates members to Active and Sustainer status. This effort was intended to enhance attendance at both events and required collaboration from the Community Council, Membership Council, and Marketing Council.

Check out our Spring Grant recipients below:

• IRC — $2000 to help pay for the Resettlement store restoration project
• Barrett Early Learning Center — $1250 to fund the Barrett’s Big Beautiful Garden.  Our grant money will be used to purchase materials for the garden and a book documenting the project and entrance to the Albemarle County Fair.
• Fluvanna Middle School — $700 to fund the Poemas LIVE! program which will bring a professional, Latin dance group to the school
• TJACE — $750 to purchase graduation gowns and caps for GED graduates
• Muscles with Russell — $250 to purchase books given out at wellness and nutrition presentations
• Meals on Wheels — $1000 to help purchase meals for their Feed a Friend program
• Fluvanna County Schools — $1000 for their Families Learning Together program.  This grant will used to cover transportation and meal costs for the program which provides education and support for undereducated parents.

The JLC blog returns

The JLC just wrapped up another successful year of service with lots to celebrate.  Stay tuned for highlights from our May Dinner and Community Celebration honoring our Community Partners and spring grant recipients. Don’t worry, we will remain active during the summer months with plenty of PIADs and our second annual Girls of Summer literacy based event on June 11.

Fall recruitment for the JLC is underway, keep an eye on the public JLC Facebook page and website for information on the application process and recruitment events.

Want to know more about what JLC membership is all about? Check out this video and get to know our members and projects a little better: I am the JLC

Ashley Bruce discusses Mistletoe Market placement

Ashley and her dog, Oakley.

Keeping up with our Placement theme, we interviewed Active Member Ashley Bruce on her experiences on the Mistletoe Market committee. See what she has to say about this high-energy, festive placement.

What is your favorite part of being on the Mistletoe Market committee?

My favorite part of Mistletoe Market is the day of the event and meeting all the vendors that we had been talking to all year long, and seeing all their hand crafted merchandise. Giving the kids cookies and milk for Santa’s story time is a lot of fun too!

You work long hours at the hospital as a respiratory therapist. How do you fit in the requirements of this committee placement with your busy schedule?

Planning meetings start in the summer and go through until the event in November, so you need to be flexible. If I couldn’t attend a meeting, I made sure to communicate with the group to get updates, and stay involved. [Committee Chair] Tamsyn was great with posting meeting documents online that we could read to stay informed of our responsibilities. It helped to have a fun and supportive group!

What qualities make someone a good fit for this committee?

This committee needs women that are fun, outgoing, work well under stress, and also work well with others.  Day of the event, the vendors come in rushed and frazzled trying to get set up before the deadline – we need to stay organized and be able to ease their concerns. Be ready for the unpredictable!

Why did you choose this placement two years in a row? Would you recommend it to others?

I have had the best time at this event! It’s completely worth the amount of work required. It’s so much fun getting to know the vendors, especially those that are local. I enjoy working with kids too, so the Cookies With Santa part is great. With this event being around the holidays, it puts you in the spirit! Everyone’s creative energy starts flowing, and we come up with some great ideas!  I recommend it to anyone who likes that sort of thing.

The JLC Mistletoe Market Committee at the November 22 event.