President's Message

Welcome to Junior League of DeKalb County! 

 

We build women leaders here.  Our organization develops the potential of women to effect change in DeKalb County.  Junior League members learn by doing the work. We’re producing community impact with voluntarism and creating future impact by training leaders who hone their organizational skills with Junior League. 

 

Junior League of DeKalb members have created meaningful and lasting change within DeKalb County.  Organizations such as International Women’s House, Day League, Callanwolde Guild, Friends of Fernbank, and DeKalb Council for the Arts got their start as League initiatives, and have become strong non-profit organizations independent of League.  Women from League continue to sustain change by using their League experience to serve on the governing boards of multiple charitable, cultural, and civic organizations, including: League of Women Voters of Georgia, Leadership DeKalb, DeKalb Section of NCNW, DeKalb Library Foundation, DeKalb Historical Society, and many more. 

 

Our focus area is Early Language Acquisition and Literacy for DeKalb’s Children. Our signature project is DeKalb Saturday Scholar Initiative, in partnership with Oakview Elementary School, where we make reading and literacy activities fun for students in need of assistance to meet their Milestones Testing goals.  Third through fifth graders receive valuable testing skills while our volunteers play learning games and read target-level books with them. They receive breakfast and a hearty snack, create crafts, and earn opportunities to earn credits to spend at a seasonal rewards table. 

 

Junior League volunteerism goes beyond our focus area as we continue to maintain relationships with our community partners in DeKalb.  We continue to fight food insecurity with food banks and promote nutrition with community garden organizations.  Many families are reliant upon this food assistance during the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to support domestic violence shelters, as domestic violence and child abuse thrive in the isolation created by the pandemic. We continue to register voters, make sure they understand their voting rights, and have a plan to vote safely during the pandemic.  We promote census participation, to make sure DeKalb residents are counted, represented, and receive adequate funding for social services. 

 

This year we are also working on combating racism, and educating our members on how systemic racism and unconscious bias continue to negatively affect our family, friends, and neighbors. 

 

While many aspects of life have gone on hold while we fight COVID-19, Junior League members remain #Unstoppable because our community impact is greater when we are #BetterTogether!  

 

We’re asking for your support for our community and leadership work.  Like most non-profits, we’ve been hit hard as fundraisers were canceled during the spring of this year.  We hope you support our mission and donate here: https://www.jldekalb.org/?nd=Annualfund.

 

Thank you!