2014-2015 | Spark and Impact!

What an incredible year! Under the leadership of President Michelle Dinger, our 2014-2015 theme, “Finding our Spark, Realizing our Potential” inspired us all to embrace our inner light and not be afraid to let ourselves shine and live up to our potential.

This year we produced nine community projects, had two fundraisers, and successfully ran over 30 League placements. Our hours of service grew from 14,000 hours last year to 22,000 hours this year with our 2 new projects. The newly created Rummage Sale raised $11,000 to donate to the Endowment Fund Campaign. Shotguns and Stilettos raised about $310,000 to support our community projects for this coming year. Over 30 women graduated from our Suits with Skills programs at Safe Place and Buckner. Face the Race expanded to all four junior high schools this year What an incredible year! Under the leadership of President Michelle Dinger, our 2014-2015 theme, “Finding our Spark, Realizing our Potential” inspired us all to embrace our inner light and not be afraid to let ourselves shine and live up to our potential. 

This year we produced nine community projects, had two fundraisers, and successfully ran over 30 In-League placements. Our hours of service grew from 14,000 hours last year to 22,000 hours this year with our 2 new projects. The newly created Rummage Sale raised $11,000 to donate to the Endowment Fund Campaign. Shotguns and Stilettos raised about $310,000 to support our community projects for this coming year. Over 30 women graduated from our Suits with Skills programs at Safe Place and Buckner. Face the Race expanded to all four junior high schools this year with a record 105 participants. We expected around 40 children to take place in our Reading Olymwith a record 105 participants. We expected around 40 children to take place in our Reading Olympics program but we were pleasantly surprised to see 80 plus children attend at least one of the sessions at the Boys and Girls Club. Before JLM involvement in the Kids First Program at Centers for Children and Families, the wait time to enter the program and begin visitations was three months. With our help, there is no wait time. The children in this program are now able to see their non-custodial parents as soon as they are approved for the program instead of having to spend months with no contact at all. Journey Summer Camp and HopeWorks, our two programs at Rays of Hope, allowed our partner organization to service more clients through our involvement. Scholarship Clearinghouse continues to see students each month to help in the search for scholarships so these students can continue their education beyond high school. Our Provisional class taught hundreds of children in Midland about nutrition and well being through our Kids in the Kitchen program. Volunteers in Midland allowed our Active members to give back over 600 hours of service to our community by assisting other nonprofits in town. It is undeniable the League was able to improve the community in the 2014-2015 League year.

We have so many people to thank.

The ladies on the Endowment Fund Campaign Committee made a goal to reach $1,000,000 in our Endowment Fund in three years time. They blew that goal out of the water. It is a shining example of what League members can do when they set their minds to be successful!

Another thank you goes to the League as a whole for the support of our first full year employing an Issue Based Community Impact paradigm. Our issue of “Keeping Kids in School-Every Age, Every Stage” which focuses on literacy, self-esteem, and college and career preparedness, has allowed us to make more of an impact in our community.

Finally, we would like to thank our partners: The Boys and Girls Club of Midland, Rays of Hope Grief Centre, Centers for Children and Families, MISD, Buckner Family Place, Safe Place of Midland and all of the organizations we sent our members to volunteer with through our Volunteers in Midland program. Thank you for supporting us and helping us to fulfill our mission of developing the potential of women, promoting voluntarism, and improving communities.

This post is taken largely from Michelle Dinger’s outgoing president speech, as shared at the May Annual Meeting. Thank you Michelle – for all your leadership and service!