Since 1923, the Junior League of Reading (JLR) has been a catalyst for lasting community change in Reading and Berks County, via our mission to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
Women join JLR for a variety of reasons, but graduate with something in common: concrete and highly transferable civic leadership experience. If you serve on a nonprofit board in this community, it’s very likely you have engaged with a current or former League member. In our all-volunteer organization, every job is a training opportunity, from New Member Chair to Treasurer, and every year a new opportunity to try a new solution. With the experience gained in the “sandbox” of JLR, our members have gone on to found, lead, and make an impact in the rich nonprofit landscape in Berks.
Since 2011, our focus area has been Youth Empowerment, and much of our work directly supports this. Our volunteers organize Young Women’s Summit, a completely free-to-attend seminar for middle school aged girls held in the winter months, and we are expanding the offering this year into a series of biweekly clubs held at the Oakbrook Homes Community Center. We also: cook and serve a Thanksgiving dinner at the Oakbrook Olivet Boys & Girls Club, award a competitive $5,000 college scholarship, co-host a popular Let’s Talk Period event in partnership with Tower Health, host informative panels specific to women’s health & menstrual equity, and new this year, are hosting a trauma-informed care workshop hosted in the city of Reading by TEDx Talks Editor’s Pick Dr. Maiysha Clairborne (also in partnership with Tower Health).
Today, I have a humble ask: would you consider supporting our work empowering youth in Reading?
We rely on the support of the community to bring our programming at no cost to area youth. Our dues are intentionally set low ($100 annually) to encourage a wide range of community volunteers to join us in our work. Your support could mean:
- $400: Sponsoring 20 turkeys for our Oakbrook Olivet Thanksgiving dinner
- $600: Sponsoring pizza for girls ages 11-15 at our biweekly Young Women’s Summit afterschool clubs at Oakbrook Community Center
- $1,000: Reusable period products supporting approximately 200 girls in shelters and community programs
- $1,000: Sponsorship for 10 nonprofit staff members to attend our trauma-informed care workshop on September 24 led by Dr. Maiysha Clairborne at the Doubletree Hotel in Reading
- $1,000: Sponsoring a JLR member to attend one of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI)’s conferences, which provide valuable training, best practices, and ideas that we can replicate at the local level
- $2,000: Sponsoring round-trip bus transportation for 30 students to the Harrisburg Capitol for our Advocacy field trip
We invite you this year to join in supporting this work in service to the community. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or would like to set up a meeting.