2009 04 apr scrawls

Online Placement April 1-15 Literacy SA in SA and in Austin Women empowering women Three important dates on horizon 4 4-5 6 7 JLSA targets childhood obesity ‘Re-Member’ past Leaguers More bank for the buck in April Community Reception May 12 2 2 3 3

APR 2009

S C R A W L S The Junior League of San Antonio, Inc. President’s Message

Rummage Sale’s success is in the smiles Big Smiles were found all around at the JLSA/Goodwill Rummage Sale. February 28, 2009, was a great day for JLSA and Goodwill. A year of transition and preparation culminated in a wonderful event that continued the Rummage Sale tradition of serving others and added a new twist. The Sale was held at not one location, but at 4 different locations in different areas of the city. The 4 Goodwill stores opened, to lines of customers waiting to shop. Long check-out lines at the stores, some longer than 20 minutes, were the norm. The newly branded “Julia’s Attic” sections were crowded with shoppers. Shoppers found treasures and great bargains. Volunteers worked to continually restock. It was an amazing sight. (See photos on Page 6.)

One of the main goals of the New Rummage Sale was to keep the community service aspect of the Sale. Goodwill provided JLSA with $20,000 in gift cards, which we granted to Family Service Association, Boysville, Seton Home and Dress for Success. Clients and case workers came to the sale and used the gift cards to purchase much needed clothing, home furnishings and other items. We also included Community wraparound services at each location. Sale shoppers were able to take advantage of services offered by several community agencies. Health Screenings, Financial Service information-by Generations Credit Union, Job Help-by Goodwill’s Job Help Centers, Transportation information-by VIA and “BUSter”, and our LITERACY San Antonio project gave every child a free book, just to name a

few of the services offered.

The success is also in the numbers. Goodwill has shared some great success numbers with us. The numbers they have presented are astounding! So astounding that you need to attend the May General Meeting to hear about the success!

Special thanks to Betsy Dose, 08-09 Goodwill Partnership Chair and her committee, and to Rebecca Helterbrand, Penny Benavides, Tony Diamond, Cary Corbin and Bob Dugas- with Goodwill. These individuals worked tirelessly to create the New Rummage Sale and “Julia’s Attic.”

What’s next? We will begin planning for the 2010 Rummage Sale and we will look for ways to make it bigger and better. If you are interested in serving on this great service committee, it is a placement option for 09-10. As you know, the 09 Rummage Sale kicked off “Julia’s Attic,” and it is now a year-round component in the 4 Goodwill stores. You can begin making 2009-2010 Quota donations after June 1st, but please keep donating year round! Your quality items are used to restock “Julia’s Attic.” Also look for improved ways to identify your donations as being donated by The Junior League. We look forward to another great year of working with Goodwill to improve our community. Thanks to all our members for making this new partnership a success.

Warm Regards,

Laura

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APR 2009

Kids crowd around a food prep table to watch Chef Montgomery in action; at right Jennifer Campbell shows them how it’s done

JLSA fighting childhood obesity One in five children in the U.S. is considered obese. These obese children have a high chance of becoming obese adults. The goal of the Junior Leagues’ Kids in the Kitchen initiative is to empower youth to make healthy lifestyle choices and help reverse the growth of childhood obesity and its associated health issues.

The initiative, which began in 2006, engages kids in the preparation of healthy meals and educates them and their parents regarding nutrition and healthy choices. Junior Leagues in more than 255 locations provide lessons and demonstrations related to preparation of healthy meals and snacks in partnership

with local community organizations, chefs and nutritionists.

The Junior League of San Antonio held its second annual Kids in the Kitchen Event on Sunday, March 1st.

Approximately 150 children from all over the city attended one of two Kids in The Kitchen sessions at Pearl Stables.

The children rotated between different Healthy Lifestyle Activities. Children worked with Chef Montgomery of Farm to Table Café to prepare healthy lettuce wrap snacks, learned healthy games with NexGym of Stone Oak to stay active, made “Gak” — a gooey fun substance made of cornstarch, water and other ingredients — played a Food

Reinstatement effort aims to ‘re-member’ JLSA’s rolls of actives

Pyramid Basketball game with The San Antonio Food Bank, and read books about healthy habits sponsored by the The San Antonio Public Library. The event venue was provided by Pearl Stables. Thank you to our partners and sponsors who made the event possible: Pearl Brewery Pearl Stables Silver Ventures The CE Group MJM Management Group NexGym of Stone Oak Paint, Paper, Scissors The San Antonio Public Library Farm to Table Café The San Antonio Food Bank

Do you know a past JLSA member who might be interested in reinstating?

JLSA will kick off the “Re-Member Campaign” in May. During an eight-week period JLSA will offer past members the opportunity to reinstate and waive the reinstatement fees.

Please let your friends know about this great opportunity. Past members who have now reached the age of 40 may reinstate as a sustainer. We need you to spread the word and share the exciting things the JLSA is doing.

Watch e-blasts and the May Scrawls for details!

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APR 2009 Valero provides challenge grant

April donations to Annual Fund can count twice!

Thanks to a generous grant from Valero Energy Foundation, the first $5,000 in gifts given to the Junior League Annual Fund Campaign in April will be matched dollar for dollar. We must receive $5,000 in Annual Fund contributions this month to receive this grant, and we need your help!

Your Annual Fund Campaign gift enables the Junior League to operate. It pays for our staff, utilities, equipment purchases and leases, professional services, insurance, supplies, training, and everything else that ensure we can continue to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women, and improve San Antonio through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.

Because of wise decisions made over the years by Junior League leaders, our organization is fortunate to have nondues sources of income, including income from rent, catering events in the Bright Shawl, our fundraisers, and increasingly, grants and corporate gifts, of which the Valero Energy Foundation Annual Fund Campaign Challenge Grant is an example. The hardest funds to raise are operating expenses, and that is why our Annual Fund Campaign is important.

Won’t you please help us make our $5,000 contribution goal in April to receive the Valero Energy Foundation Challenge Grant?

Give for the first time. The Junior League of San Antonio has 465 new and active members and 753 sustaining members. Won’t you please show your support in April by giving what you can?

Are you able to make an extra gift in April, even if you’ve already given?

Remember, your gift will be doubled!

“Round up” your dues to make a donation to Annual Campaign.

Give the gift of “Better Community” to Junior League friends or introduce new ones to the JLSA. Does someone you love have a birthday in March? An anniversary or retirement event? How about a donation in their name? We will print an “in honor” card for you.

Keep in mind if your company matches your gift as well in April, you can triple your giving impact!

This year, more than ever, every gift counts. We thank our 11 February individual and corporate donors, whose contributions and pledges raised the fund from $10,523.00 to $11,951.85 this month: Lisa Ayres Mallory Belt

Alison Boone Martin G. Burns Eleanor Claiborne Jennifer Dewar Georgiana Garcia Anna-Laura Howell Carolyn Kelley Scotty MacDaniel Lesley Vernor To date, of our 1,218 active and sustaining members, 117, or 9.6%, have contributed to the Annual Fund Campaign. Some of us have given more than once. Our goal this year is $50,000 and 50% membership participation. The Junior League of San Antonio, Inc. is ours, and we hope you will give what you can.

You are cordially invited to

The Junior League of San Antonio, Inc. Community Reception and

May General Membership Meeting Tuesday, May 12th at The Bright Shawl JLSA Community Reception

6:00 p.m. honoring: 2009 JLSA Grant Recipients JLSA Community Agency Partners JLSA Sponsors

JLSA May General Membership Meeting 7:00 p.m.

Join us as we distribute JLSA grants, celebrate our partnerships and present member awards. We will toast the year’s success!

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APR 2009

Literacy SA

Scholastic joins SAPL to urge family reading SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS—A joint reading campaign kicked off at the Downtown San Antonio Public Library on Saturday, January 24th, with a “Reading Fiesta” hosting guests from across the city.

City Councilmen Justin Rodriguez and John Clamp joined forces with the San Antonio Public Library and Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company.

The new bilingual literacy campaign is called “Leer da Poder” (“Reading Empowers”) and is aimed at supporting teachers, librarians, and families as they foster a love of reading in the children of San Antonio.

The “Reading Fiesta” is just one component of the “Leer da Poder” campaign. One major aspect of the campaign is a Scholastic reading unit called “Lee y seras” (“Read and You Will Be”) Scholastic Reading Caravan. The interactive mobile library is equipped with free activities and games to help parents promote reading and prepare young children for school.

The caravan will be making frequent stops throughout the city all year long.

Scholastic Senior Vice President of Corporate Marketing, Nelson Hitchcock, was on hand for the fiesta. He said includ-

Placement Corner Sign up online April 1-15 Don’t forget to sign up for Online Placement from April 1 to April 15.

You can find the link on your JLSA member homepage under the “Personal Reminders” section.

All Active and Provisional/New Members are required to sign up for a placement for the upcoming year.

If you have been selected for an Appointed Job, you will still need to participate in Online Placement to confirm your position. Be mindful that you can be selected for any of the placements you choose, so be ready to bring your energy and enthusiasm!

Every placement helps us to achieve our mission of improving the community and it all begins with you!

Have more questions about placement? Go online to www.jlsa.org and check out the Placement Tab. If you still can’t find the information you need, please contact Judy Crockett, Placement Chair Assistant at placement@jlsa.org. Plus, if your question is featured in Placement corner, you’ll receive a fabulous prize!

Business, political and literacy leaders gather at the San Antonio Public Library for the “Reading Fiesta” event to promote family reading

ing an element of fun is key to teaching early learning.

“We understand that in order to promote literacy, not only do you have to help parents and teacher and librarians with tools and resources, but you also have to make those resources fun for kids.”

More information on the Scholastic Reading Caravan can be found online at www.leeyseras.net. One final part of the campaign that was celebrated on Saturday includes the “Be One in A Million” campaign, which aims to register a total of one million residents for library cards in 2009. Currently, the number of registered library cardholders is 763,000. City Councilmen Rodriguez and Clamp are leading the initiative and have already started a friendly competition to see who can get more people registered in his respective district.

San Antonio Public Library Director Ramiro Salazar says the usage has already increased. “We’ve seen an increase in usage in the past five months and historically that’s connected with a downward economy, but we hope people experiencing the library will continue to take advantage of the resources available to them.”

Joining Salazar and the council members were numerous community leaders including Valero Chairman and CEO Bill Klesse; Frost Bank Senior Chairman Tom Frost; Bromley Communications CEO Ernest Bromle; Richard Pena of CPS Energy; and Literacy San Antonio Chair Pamela Toman.

Nelson Hitchcock, of Scholastic, commented on the choice of San Antonio as the pilot for this initiative, “We felt we needed to come to a community where there’s already a commitment to literacy and San Antonio has that with numerous service providers.”

To learn more about service providers and literacy in San Antonio visit www.literacysanantonio.com.

APR 2009

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Literacy Day spurs legislative advocacy AUSTIN, TEXAS—Advocates, public servants, students, and teachers gathered on the south steps of the capitol building in Austin on February 12th to raise awareness for Literacy Day at the Capitol. Hundreds of people descended on the steps of the dome to hear guest speakers, including Senator Florence Shapiro, Chair of the Senate Education Committee; Representative Rob Eissler, Chair of the House Public Education Committee; and Susan Narvaiz, Mayor of San Marcos.

“Even though it’s 2009 there are still people living on dirt floors. Our goal here is just to make sure that everyone who wants to learn gets to learn.”

San Marcos Mayor Susan Narvaiz Mayor Narvaiz wasn’t the only one prepared to speak. As she took the podium she encouraged those who gathered at the rally to go inside the capitol and address the members of the Texas Legislation.

“Literacy Day at the Capitol — you know they’re prepared to hear about the issue,” she said. Mayor Narvaiz shared some unfortunate statistics about her small town, noting that poverty goes hand-in-hand with the lack of educational attainment.

“The statistics for San Marcos show that 70% of the students are eligible for the meal assistance program, if that’s any indication of their risk for not learning.” Narvaiz went on to note that higher education might not be for everyone but the ability to attain basic education is still out of reach for many people. “Even though it’s 2009 there are still people living on dirt floors. Our goal here is just to make sure that everyone who wants to learn gets to learn.”

Also spreading the message of literacy to legislative members were representatives from Literacy Texas and Literacy San Antonio, who were received by the offices of legislative members. Working together, the two groups are examining legislation for the current session and infusing the vision of “100% Literacy through 100% Community Engagement” into the line items.

The goals of the groups are to raise awareness through a statewide marketing campaign, increase workforce skills development, service integration, and increase resources and

Literacy advocates gather outside the capitol building

accountability. Some of the legislative action that applies to their stated goal includes: creating a Literacy Council, building a service system that truly addresses the needs of the population (less than 5% of state’s needs are currently being met), and transforming the field of literacy so it’s infused into the life of every citizen.

So far, nearly three dozen House and Senate bills have been identified that are suitable for adding language about Literacy infusion. Literacy Texas and Literacy San Antonio will be maintaining an up-to-date list of legislation throughout the session in an effort to infuse literacy at every available opportunity. For more information on this and other efforts go to: www.literacysanantonio.com.

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APR 2009

Girls Inc./Growing Together: Women empowering women

By Amy Eddy and Ashley Moore Girls Inc Co-Chairs Girls Inc. and the Growing Together program have completed the first half of another very productive year. This year, we are working exclusively with the Young Women’s Leadership Academy.

The principal was actually a past participant in the Growing Together program and has been encouraging all sixth and seventh grade girls to participate!

San Antonio has one of the highest teen and preteen birth rates in the nation. Studies show that as girls progress through adolescence, their confidence and self-esteem plummet.

The Girls Inc./Growing Together program seeks to change this through their

abstinence-based curriculum, which teaches girls about the many physical and emotional changes of puberty. The program is taught to both girls and their mothers together in a series of five evening classes. This facilitates communication between mothers and daughters and establishes a base of trust for later years. The girls are taught to seek help from responsible adults when facing the many challenges of adolescence.

Many topics are addressed in the program. The physical changes of puberty are explained in a factual format with video and discussion-based presentations. The girls are also taught about how to make safe decisions when confronted with whether or not to engage in

Rummaging Around Scenes from the New Rummage Sale held in conjunction with Goodwill Industries’ stores on February 28th (Clockwise from above): • Crowd of shoppers looking for — and finding — bargains in the Julia’s Attic section of the Rummage Sale.

• Goodwill and other agencies use the occasion to inform the public about their available services and programs.

• Not to be outdone, volunteers from the Junior League’s Literacy San Antonio Signature Program take advantage of the opportunity to spread the word

risky behavior. The risks of teenage sex are also addressed with an abstinencebased curriculum and reinforcement with parental guidance.

A three-year evaluation found that older teens who completed the program were half as likely to have sex and onethird as likely to get pregnant in the year following the program as those who participated less or not at all; younger teens who completed the program were half as likely to have sexual intercourse as those who participated less or not at all. They are also more likely to complete high school and obtain additional education.

Girls Inc. Growing Together looks forward to making an impact this spring in the San Antonio community.

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APR 2009

Remember these three deadlines!

APRIL 1st • Member Credit Shifts Due • $45 Fundraiser Commitment Due • $100 Quota Donation Pay-Out Due

APRIL 15TH • Placement Registration Due • 2009-2010 Dues Due

MAY 15 • Meeting Credits Due • Placement Credit Due We value you as a member. Please look at your Member Obligations on your Member Home Page. Per JLSA policy, late fees will be assessed beginning the day following the due date for any of the above obligations. There may also be a fine for not completing an obligation.

All dues, fees and fines must be must be paid in full by May 31st to remain a member in good standing.

Corresponding Secretary’s Report February 2009

Transferred In Cynthia Villanueva (A) from El Paso Transferred Out Elizabeth Jendrzey (A) to Dallas Kassandra Baines (AP) to Ft. Collins, Colorado Emily LeVasseur (P) to New York, NY Resignation Pamela Smith (AP) Gioia Ferrill (P) Reinstatement Kassandra Baines (AP) Status Change Courtney Johnson (A) to (ANR)

Scrawls, JLSA officers and staff Scrawls Co-editors: Casey Johnson & Kate Stevenson Board of Directors Laura Talley-President Anna-Melissa Cavazos-President-Elect Stephanie Nemec-Treasurer Cathy Scanlon-Treasurer-Elect Sarah Fielden-Secretary Gina Porter-Community Council Chair Laura Peel-Membership Development Council Chair Stacy Foerster-Fund Development Council Chair Elizabeth Anderson-Marketing Council Chair Research and Development Chair-Sarah Hardin Strategic Planning Chair-Cynthia Kerby Bylaws Chair-Lisa Keller Board Member-At-Large-Anne Ahlschwede Board Sustaining Advisor-Denise Reams White Assistant to the President-Molly Renaud Community Advisory Board Selim Bingol, Fleishman-Hillard Communications Jelynne Burley, City Public Service Chad Clark, C.D. Clark and Co. Kye Kilpatrick Fox, Urban Advisory Services Zina Guerra, IBC Bank Frank Guerra, Guerra DeBerry Coody Joe Izbrand, Fleishman-Hillard Inc. Kaye Lenox, San Antonio Public Library Foundation Vicky Lockwood, Padgett, Stratemann & Co., LLP Robert McAdams, Carneiro, Chumney & Co., L.C. Beverly Purcell-Guerra, San Antonio Woman Magazine Frank Ruttenberg, Bracewell & Guiliani, LLP Tim Banwolf, Winstead, PC Joanne Winik, KLRN Kevin Wolff, Bexar County Commissioners Court

Contact Us T h e J u n i o r L e a g u e o f S a n An to n i o , I n c .

723 Brooklyn Avenue San Antonio, Texas 78215 Phone: 210.225.1861 Fax: 210.225.6832 Email: info@jlsa.org Hours: Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.

Off ice Staff Denise Reams-White Interim Managing Director 210-225-1861, ext. 302

Kristi Ingram Membership Services Coordinator 210-225-1861, ext. 300 kristi@jlsa.org Carol Sheridan Financial Administrator 210-225-1861, ext. 301 carol@jlsa.org

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