CONNECT A LETTER FROM THE
PRESIDENT
This year marks our
88th year for The Junior League of Austin.
T
he summer is traditionally a slower time for the League, but that wasn’t the case this year, as we got to welcome our members back to our home – the Community Impact Center, after being virtual for most of last year. Members started gathering in person for meetings, building connections with one-another and breathing life back into the building! Our longest running fundraiser – A Christmas Affair hosted a Virtual Market Showcase – Christmas in July with more than 50 participating merchants in order to support businesses. Our Kids in Cool Shoes program kicked off their first ever shoe drive collecting more than150 pairs of brand new shoes. We hosted a handful of rental events utilizing our indoor and outdoor spaces. And finally our members began training to start their volunteer placements with our 30 nonprofit partners. Just as we had started turning the corner, we, like everyone else in our community, had to once again pivot due to the surge in COVID-19 cases and Delta variant right before the start of the school year. The good news is that we had the tools in place to prepare for this unexpected turn. Last year was the year of pivot, pivot, pivot. And while this year we may need to adjust here and there, we know that we have the resources to quickly adjust when needed. We will continue to be creative and flexible in order to meet the needs of our members and community. We are having virtual or socially distanced meetings, we greeted our 160 new members with a drive-through parade and our Food In Tummies (FIT) program is operating via a curbside model in order to ensure 1,000 kids get food on the weekends in a socially distant and safe way. Our Coats for Kids team is diligently planning for its 35th year and is building on the re-imagined distribution model from last year and utilizing multiple distribution sites this year to ensure we can assist as many children as needed. Finally, our Sí! Spanish Immersion Program is underway with our members learning conversational Spanish, which they will then put into practice out in the community.
Tania Leskovar-Owens President 2021-2022 The Junior League of Austin
We are excited to bring back A Christmas Affair to Palmer Event Center this year. Our team is working hard to ensure we can bring this holiday tradition to you and help raise the critical funds to ensure we can continue supporting our community. Stay tuned to hear more about Austin Entertains and the work our team is doing to support women in the culinary business who have been significantly impacted during the pandemic. We will continue to focus on our members this year. The League does not exist without the women behind it. Research shows that women have been negatively impacted by the pandemic as they took on new roles as teachers and caretakers, while balancing work and voluntarism. Junior League members continue to exemplify how resilient and strong women are when they join arms to help each other and the communities t hey serve. We will operate from our newly created strategic plan that focuses on five pillars: Membership; Diversity, Equity & Inclusion; Sustainability; Organizational Growth; and Community. I am excited to see the growth and change we will create together. I believe all of this change is building a better eague for tomorrow. I am grateful to all of our members, our board and community advisors for their dedication and commitment to the League. Together we will be the change! I look forward to seeing you all at our upcoming events.
