Annual
Review
By:
Ellen Wheeler, Community Vice President
The theme for the
2015-2016 league year was “Education is the Key to the Future.” The women of
The Junior League of Midland, Inc. were innovative, motivated and dedicated to
making our League better and to building a better Midland. They educated
themselves and were willing and eager to educate others through their service!
Our nine community projects were fulfilled with great passion and success.
Face The Race: Face
the Race is an incredible program that educates and motivates young girls. This
program gives participants a group to belong to, allows them to discover their
potential, encourages a positive sense of empowerment, and creates healthy
habits that last a lifetime.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 1,227.5
• The
27 member Face the Race committee partnered with all four of Midland
Independent School District’s junior highs.
• Members
mentored 137 7th and 8th
grade girls.
• Participants
were educated on the following topics: healthy eating,
relationships, our bodies, etiquette, career options, personality differences,
cyber safety, self acceptance. The last 30 minutes of each session was spent
training for the 5 K race using the Couch to 5K program.
• Each
participant who completed the program was rewarded with a new pair of running
shoes, athletic shorts, athletic tights, socks, gloves, a Face the Race running
shirt, ear warmers, long sleeved Face the Race shirt, ear buds, sunglasses,
drawstring bag, and water bottle.
• The
race took place on November 7th at 9 a.m. at the Scharbauer Sports Complex.
• The
theme was “Be-YOU-tiful 5K” where glitter, bold colors, and tutus were
encouraged!
• 426
runners participated in the race
• The
overall male and female finishers were awarded with JayBird Bluebuds while the
1st, 2nd and 3rd place male and female finishers in each age category received
medals.
• All
of the Face the Race participants were also awarded a medal for completing the
5K
HopeWorks: This
was the third year to partner with Rays of Hope, a local children’s
grief counseling center, to facilitate two separate, a fall and spring, ten week creative arts, hope inspired, peer support
group for children ages four to18 that have experienced death. The JLM
volunteers for HopeWorks completed training and worked alongside Rays of Hope
Volunteers to successfully create a supportive and compassionate environment
for grieving children and their families.
• Total Volunteer Hours: 460
• 9 active members participated as facilitators
• 41 children went through the HopeWorks program
• 30 completed the program (73%)
• Each
semester’s program ends the night of the tenth HopeWorks session with everyone
receiving a HopeWorks t-shirt and participating in a big Celebration of Hope!
• “The involvement of The Junior League
of Midland in the HopeWorks program has been very impactful on our children and
families and on the program in general. We are very grateful!” Kelsee Jones,
Rays of Hope Director.
Journey Summer Camp: Another
partnership with Rays of Hope and the JLM that began in 2013 had a great summer
planning, operating and helping to facilitate a one-week summer camp for
children ages four to 18 who have experienced death, divorce, separation, or
any other painful transitions. This program utilizes and teaches per-support to
allow children to grieve in their own way.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 637
• 10 active members participated as facilitators
• 49
children participated in the summer camp
• “We
have gained many amazing volunteers and advocates and have been able to serve
more children through Journey Camp than years past due to this partnership.”
KidsFirst: Committee members
supervise visitations between non-custodial parents and children enrolled in
the Centers for Children and Family Kids First program. Members provided supervision to ensure that
the children are safe and happy during their visits.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 336
• Over
150+ visitations completed
• 7
active members participated and acted as supervisors
• 4
provisional members participated in the Spring semester.
• Supervised
visits occurred twice a month from late August 2015 through May 2016.
• Visits
were two hours each and occurred every Thursday and the first, third and fifth
Saturdays of the month.
• The
committee also planned Christmas and Easter parties for the non-custodial
parents and children that took place during the schedule visitation time.
• The
committee also planned and executed the Spring Carnival and Non-Profit Fair at
Sam Houston Elementary School in early March.
• 10
non-profit organizations participated to
offer their services to attendees; over 100 people and 31 families were in
attendance at the Carnival.
• “Our kids find
a familiar face when their volunteer comes and some of the kids even ask for a
volunteer by name. We are so happy to
collaborate with JLM to reach the goals in our program.”— Kelly Dirden, Kids
First Director
Project Research & Development: The
Project Research and Development Committee (PR&D) is responsible for
creating community placements and partnerships that work toward fulfilling our
mission: “Keeping Kids in School; Every age, every stage.” PR&D measures the effectiveness of our
placements by evaluations submitted from our partners and placement chairman.
The Junior League of Midland, Inc. approved twelve community partnerships for
PR&D to collect evaluations on. The following were evaluated by PR&D:
• Journey
Summer Camp and HopeWorks programs are held at Rays of Hope.
• Face
the Race at all four junior high school locations: Abell, Alamo, Goddard, and
San Jacinto.
• Suits
with Skills programs held at Buckner and Safe Place.
• Reading
Olympics partnering with The Boys and Girls Club of Midland.
• KidsFirst
is in partnership with The Centers for Children & Families.
• Scholarship
Clearinghouse Committee.
• Volunteers
in Midland.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 370
Reading Olympics: Partnering
with The Boys and Girls Club of Midland, Members participate in an amazing
program that helps to create a love of reading one book at a time for children
Kindergarten through 6th grade. Participants not only strengthen
their reading comprehension skills but also tackle every day issues through
discussion. The program shows the participants that reading is fun and always
an adventure!
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 891.5
• 13
active members volunteered
• Each
session, two to four provisional members assisted in the kindergarten- third
grade group, fourth- sixth grade group, and snacks.
• 113
students participated
• Picture
books were read with the kindergartners- third grade group, and a chapter book
with fourth- sixth grade group.
• Kindergarten
through third grade groups were divided into five teams, each representing one
of the colors of the Olympic rings. The teams were comprised of students in
kindergarten-first grades and second-third grades to better tailor journal
entries and craft activities to their skills and abilities.
• The
young groups learned how special their names are with Chrysanthemum,
learned to be brave and fight like Ninjas, to use every crayon in their
box in The Day the Crayons Quit, and that for Halloween, you could go
trick or treating for books instead of candy.
• Fourth
through sixth grade group averaged about 18 children at each session, 29
attended the Halloween session. They did
not engage in the stereotypical disagreements, rather they “fought” over who
was going to read aloud to the group first!
Many would share how they would leave Thursday night group and find
themselves continuing to read the book throughout the weekend.
• The
older groups read chapter books such as Charlotte’s Web, Charlie and
the Chocolate Factory, Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and How
to Eat Fried Worms.
Scholarship Clearinghouse: Members
assisted college-bound students in finding and
applying for college scholarships. JLM maintains a comprehensive and easy to
use database of scholarships to assist students living in West Texas. Committee
members simplify the overwhelming application process by allowing each student
to search for scholarships based on their specific needs, achievements and
future plans.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 574
• 7
active members worked as mentors.
• 3
Provisionals also helped in the Spring.
• Applicants access workshops focusing on writing skills,
college preparedness, and FAFSA/Scholarship/Grant procedures.
• Scholarship
Clearinghouse mentors attended Rebel Muster, Dawg Days, LHS open house, College
Forum Night at Midland College.
• A
total of $1,900 in scholarships were awarded to 4 students; one student
received $700, two received $500 and one received $200.
Suits With Skills, Buckner: Partnering
with Buckner Children and Family Services, committee members lead this amazing
12 week program that provides women with the skills necessary to enter the work
force. With the help of the Junior
League, the graduates have the ability to create a better life for their
families. Members were passionate about helping
survivors of domestic abuse break free from repression to lead self-sufficient
and healthy lives.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 303
• 12
active members helped facilitate the program.
• 8
ladies from Buckner participated, all successfully completed the program.
• Topics
discussed included: Resume Building,
Interviewing Skills, Balancing it All, Fitness & Nutrition, Self Defense,
What Not to Wear, Makeup Tutorial, and Financial Peace.
• Guest
speaker the community came in and taught each topic.
• All
food was provided to the Buckner ladies, children and committee members, and
was donated by local restaurants and JLM Members.
• Childcare
was provided by other members including Provisionals and Volunteers in Midland
participants.
• Each
graduate was rewarded with a $300 Shopping Night at Kohl’s on February 22nd.
• Graduation
took place in Mabee Hall at Junior League Headquarters February 29th.
• The
graduates were recognized and given gift bags full of items that pertained to
the session topics throughout the program and applauded for their hard work and
success.
Suits With Skills, Safe Place: In
the fall of 2015, Suits with Skills, a partnership between the Junior League of
Midland, Inc. and Safe Place of the Permian Basin, successfully took place over
a 10 week span. Throughout this time,
our clients renewed their goals and faith by finding their confidence in
understanding the value of dedicating time and hard work in the effort to
accomplish their goals.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 459
• 10
active members mentored.
• 18
participants began the program and 16 completed and graduated
• Sessions
were on Monday nights for eight weeks at Safe Place
• Dinner
was provided and the women heard from a variety of speakers who are experts in
their respective fields.
• In reference to the League’s theme of
education, we continued several sessions this year that were newly implemented
last year, including online profile building and social media etiquette, as
well as updating some of the successful staple sessions to help the women learn
more of what will help them in the present workforce.
• Each
client received a gift certificate and Kohl’s generously gave a discount for
all items, including sale items.
• On
November 16th, the program concluded with a graduation ceremony held
at JLM headquarters.
• Every
participant was given an Anita Goudeau Guardian Angel necklace and gift
certificate for a manicure and pedicure.
• Graduates
were able to take their purse centerpieces home – each purse represented a
different season, highlighting this years’ theme “Preparing for the Changing
Seasons of our Lives”.
Volunteers In Midland: This
was the second year for Volunteers in Midland.
The purpose of this committee was to provide Junior League volunteers to
nonprofits in Midland needing assistance.
Each Junior League member was required to perform four hours of
volunteer work through Volunteers in Midland before April 1, 2016.
• Total
Volunteer Hours: 733.5
• 5
active members on committee
• Committee
members had one “committee” project called Teacher’s Pet. We located 9 teachers that were new to
Midland and the committee took them on a shopping spree at Mardel’s for school
supplies as well as offering member support – through Volunteers in Midland
sign ups – to give them hands on help getting their classrooms ready for the
first week of school. During the middle
of the year, our committee sent these same teachers a bundt cake as a “pick me
up” to remind them how thankful we are for all that they do.
• We
collaborated with many other nonprofits and community organizations in Midland
over the course of the year including: The Recording Library, Jubilee Center,
Teen Court, Meals on Wheels, Buckner Family Place, Scharbauer Elementary,
Midland Fire Department, HEB, Midland Children's Rehabilitation Center,
Petroleum Museum, Museum of the Southwest, High Sky Children's Ranch, and
Midland Chamber of Commerce.
• Many
members have stayed in contact with their favorite nonprofits and have
continued volunteering with them even after finished their required four hours.
• Every
active member, except one, completed their four required hours.
