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Community Corner

The Junior League: Women Building Better Communities

The Junior League of Central Westchester is recruiting new members for their spring class.

The women of the Junior League of Central Westchester are recruiting new members for their spring class.

With the motto "Women Building Better Communities," the nonprofit women's organization is focused on finding women, 18 years of age or older, residing in the White Plains, Scarsdale, Eastchester and Greenburgh communities who are committed to volunteerism.

The JLCW hosts informational coffee sessions every September and January for prospective members. The purpose of the informational coffees is to provide information about the JLCW history, current projects, and the new member training program. It is not required to attend an informational coffee session in order to join the league. However, it is highly encouraged for prospective members to attend the new member training program.

The first new member training meeting begins on March 1. The training programs last for about two to three months. During these training programs, interested women will have the opportunity to learn about the league's mission, its community service programs, and how to improve the effectiveness as a volunteer.

 At the training meetings, the prospective new members are assigned the mandatory task of working together as the spring class and to organize and execute a pre-selected community project. Current JLCW members supervise and guide the project to ensure a successful completion. Prospective members must complete the community project before they can become admitted as members.

Lynn Marvin, VP of Communications for the Junior League of Central Westchester, explains this year's spring class will help with the Children's Advocacy Center at the Westchester Institute for Human Development as their community project. The prospective members will have to collect books, supplies and toys.  They will also organize decorations for various rooms, and plan children activities.

The fall 2009 class of new members organized a storytime project at WestHELP Greenburgh Day Care. They kicked off the project with an event highlighting the new members reading children's books to the 3 and 4 year old temporary day care residents. The selected books supplemented the event's crafts and activities maintaining a cohesive theme. The kick-off event was a preview of the 2009 class' community project. They developed 6 pre-packaged storytime kits with 25 books and its supplemental craft projects. The storytime kits were created for teachers and returning JLCW volunteers who plan to commit their time to the WestHELP Greenburgh Day Care.

The new member community projects are just scratching the surface to the amount of volunteer service projects done by the entire Junior League of Central Westchester. Some of the current projects include the Family Literacy Program with Head Start preschool classrooms, the Grace Church Community Center Soup Kitchen, and the Kids in the Kitchen program fighting childhood obesity.

The members are also involved with actively advocating for legislation on behalf of women and children, providing housing for transitional homeless families at the Stepping Stone, and publishing the children's picture book Steps to Liberty based on the history of Wayside Cottage. The JLCW prides itself on designing volunteer projects that address issues facing the White Plains, Scarsdale, Eastchester and Greenburgh communities.

The Junior League of Central Westchester are hoping for a new great class of potential members who are dedicated to volunteering, and eager to help with the league's current and future projects. Interested women should send an email of interest to jlcw@verizon.net or call the JLCW at (914) 723-6130.

For more information on the league, visit the website.

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