Working for You

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Since 1952, Junior League of Bakersfield (JLB) has been committed to promoting voluntarism and to training members for community leadership. All JLB members share a strong commitment to community service through voluntarism. We seek women of all races, cultures and backgrounds who are interested in the benefits of working together with us to positively impact our community.

Calendar

December 8
General Meeting &
Wild Flower Articles Due

December 14
GAP Wheeler Hall

December 12
JLB Day at Holiday Cottage

January 5
December Board Meeting

Members:
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Women Building Better Communities

Projects 2009: JLB's Giving Heart

By Natalie Green

Junior League of Bakersfield is about fundraising and giving from the heart. Now we can also say we’re about cribs, helmets, performing arts programs and Girl Scouts. The Junior League of Bakersfield has recently contributed more than $19,000 in enabling grants to The Bakersfield Pregnancy Center, Kern County Network for Children – Domestic Violence Advisory Council, M.A.R.E. Riding Center, Garden Pathways, Girl Scouts of America, The Bakersfield Community House and local high school foster students.

The in-house projects for this year are the Girls Achievement Program (GAP) and the Bakersfield Community House. GAP will provide training for girls living in group foster homes that will fill the “gaps” once they are emancipated from the foster system. The goals for the Bakersfield Community House are to increase fundraising, increase membership and to involve the seniors with teaching today’s youth by sharing their personal experiences. Combined, they received almost $8,000 to accomplish those goals.

In today’s state budget crisis the possibility of art education is limited and even more so for at-risk youth. With the grant to Garden Pathways, at-risk youth will have equal access to quality arts education, training and mentoring. The community performances expose at-risk youth and their families to new positive activities and encourage family involvement.

Glenda Love, president of the Domestic Violence Advisory Council, said this has been a record-breaking year with regard to domestic violence homicides in Kern County. She noted there have been 10 separate domestic violence incidents, resulting in 14 homicides thus far in 2009.

“Bakersfield Pregnancy Center has a waiting list of 47 clients in immediate need of a crib for their newborn or expectant baby, but we have only been able to give away six cribs this calendar year,” said Ann Alexander, the center’s community outreach coordinator. “With this grant we will be able to purchase eight quality cribs and mattresses for needy women and families with limited recourses.”


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