A NEW LEAGUE YEAR
Spring of 2022 was a great time to be in the Junior League of Charleston! We completed our capital campaign for the Ronald McDonald House and our spring fundraiser, “Whatever: 90s Trivia Night”, was a success! Our members continued to volunteer and contribute to our community. We can't wait to see what the new league year will bring!
S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 MOUNTAIN MESSAGES
18 CALIFORNIA AVE • JLCHARLESTONWV.ORG
05 Member Spotlight, Updates, and Recruitment WHAT'S INSIDE 02 Letter from Our President Spring Fundraiser Update 04 03 Volunteer Opportunities End-of-Year Awards 07 JLC By the Numbers 06 2022-2023 placements
LETTER FROM OUR PRESIDENT
TAYLOR BAILEY ('21-'22)
Another League year has come and gone, and I couldn’t be prouder of all the hard work we ’ ve accomplished this year
I know I’ve said this repeatedly all year long, but the true highlight was the completion of our capital campaign for the Ronald McDonald House of Southern West Virginia Anyone that has been on the board in the last five years can truly attest this journey was full of ups downs and speed bumps (Hello Pandemic!) It took a little longer than I had planned when I because TreasurerElect back in the Fall of 2018 but, I can not express how much joy it brings me to have accomplished this goal before I leave the board I thank you for the time, money, and effort you all put towards this project over the last five plus years and it was a pleasure to have so many of you join us for the celebration at the RMH.
Our board of directors had a very busy year ushering in a new annual and strategic plan A lot of care was put towards charting the path of the next three years of the Junior League of Charleston A major focus of that course is celebrating our upcoming 100th year and the anniversary
committee has a lot of exciting things in the works already!
This year also saw the formation of two new fundraisers: Modern Mountain Measures and Whatever: 90s Trivia Night It’s always nice seeing sustainer support at our fundraising events and I loved talking with those of you that attended Modern Mountain Measures Whatever: 90s Trivia Night brought together a lot of different people and exposed the JLC to a brand-new audience We had a full house of about 125 participants, a lot with no connect to the JLC
Former President Laura Suppa Sammons said she thought Trivia Night was the most attended fundraising event the JLC has had in her almost 10 years as an active member. Both events had glowing feedback from attendees and made over $5,750 for the JLC We’re planning to have both events return and I hope more of you join us next year!
We also had a wonderful year of volunteer work. While inperson events are still not what they were before the pandemic, we were able to assist the Capitol Market, Faith in Action, the YWCA, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra, Charleston Main Street and many others through working in-person charitable events We’ve continued to be creative with our volunteer work and sent letters to seniors and veterans and held several drives throughout the year
None of these wonderful accomplishments could have happened without the support of our sustainers, the dedication of our active members and the leadership of our board of directors, Erin Deegan Conner, Myranda Pike, Emily Spradling Candace Nelson, and Elizabeth Belcher.
I can’t wait to see what we do next under the wonderful leadership of incoming President Erin Deegan Conner.
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OPPORTUNITIES
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monetarydonation ThankstoSummerRayandStephanie Watersfortheirhardworktracking volunteerhoursthispastleagueyear. Together,wecompletedover950 hoursin2021-22!Thankstoallour membersforsteppinguptoserveour community Emailyourhoursto volunteerjlcwv@gmail.com Ongoingvolunteeropportunities: AshleyMilleristakingovertheroleof CommunityHoursAdministratorfor the2022-23leagueyear.Pleasereach outtotheaboveemailaddresswith anyquestionsabouthours! J L O F C H A R L E S T O N , W V | S P R I N G / S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 N E W S L E T T E R #volunteer SPRING/SUMMER 2022 PAGE | 03 What's cooking? Taylor Bailey and Summer Ray prepared a delicious homecooked meal in May for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House. AWARDS These members were recognized at our end-of-year brunch for their outstanding contributions to the league this year! Congratulations to all!
of the Year: Summer Ray
of the Fall: Katy Taylor
of the Spring: Chelsey Jones
Volunteer Hours: Katy Taylor, Jessica Westfall, and Adrienne Katsan
Fundraising: Kara Boehm, Lindsay Silbernagal, Katie Robeson
VOLUNTEER
Blooddonation:1hrperdonation RMHCdinners:1hrfor$20foodor
GirlScouts:1hrfor$20donation MannaMeal:1hrfor$20foodor
Member
Provisional
Provisional
Highest
Highest
SPRING FUNDRAISER UPDATE
Thank you to everyone that planned, promoted, volunteered at, and attended our spring fundraising event, Whatever: 90s Trivia Night at Rock City!
This event was noteworthy because it brought awareness of the Junior League to a whole new audience in the area. Many attendees were not affiliated with the Junior League but are now aware of the good work the League does every day!
We look forward to planning and hosting another trivia event for next spring's fundraiser. If you attended this year and want to offer feedback for next year's event, follow this link to fill out a survey!
About 125 people attended to participate in a wide variety of activities: team trivia to test all nostalgic 90s knowledge, 90s music, a costume contest, a themed photo booth, and an auction.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
MYRANDA PIKE
Hometown: Charleston, WV
Occupation: Health Care Consultant
Hobbies: hiking, cooking, and hanging out with family Favorite movie: The Departed Can't live without: my planner! Reason for joining JLC: I wanted to be more active in my community. Favorite JLC moment: Volunteering at the COVID vaccine clinics was a great experience I also really enjoyed our Modern Mountain Measures event!
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
RYANNE BALL
Book club will resume in the fall and Ryanne will continue to coordinate! Join the Facebook group JLC Book Club to stay up to date!
Thanks also go out to Ryanne for planning the lovely end-of-year brunch at Berry Hills!
Elleyse Gemondo will take over the Membership Chair role this coming year!
PROVISIONAL RECRUITMENT UPDATE
ELLEYSE GEMONDO LESLEY SHAMBLIN provisional project, they collected and donated over $250 worth of art supplies to donate to the WV Veterans' Home.
We want to extend a warm welcome to the newest members of the Junior League of Charleston; the Spring 2022 Provisional Class! For their
This coming year's Provisional Development Co-Chairs are Myranda Pike and Kara Boehm! Provisional recruitment will be starting up before we know it. If you know of anyone who may be interested in joining the JLC, please provide her contact information to Myranda and Kara at jlcwv1923@gmail.com.
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PLACEMENTS FOR THE 2022-23 YEAR
President: Erin Deegan Conner
Treasurer: Emily Spradling
Treasurer-Elect: Tracy Bess
Secretary: Katie Robeson
Executive Vice President: Adrienne Katsan
Board Member At Large: Klancey Burford
Fundraising Chair: Taylor Bailey
Membership Chair: Elleyse Gemondo
Placement Advisors:
Ryanne Ball, Lindsay Silbernagel, Taylor Bailey
Provisional Development Co-Chairs: Myranda Pike, Kara Boehm
Sustainer Development Chair: Jessica Westfall
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging Chair: Samantha Nygaard
Membership Committee Members: Jordan Martin, Kim Vigneau
Communications Committee Chair: Candace Nelson
Historian & Website Editor: Beth Belcher
Newsletter Editor: Kate Shirley
Member Communications Specialist: Lesley Shamblin Social Media Coordinator: Chelsey Jones
Communications Committee Members:
Meghan Capps, Megan Kueck, Veronica Padon
Community Committee Chair: Summer Ray
Scholarship Reviewer: Laura Suppa Sammons
Community Hours Administrator: Ashley Miller
Signature Project Committee:
Laura Babiak, Kayla Bays, Blair Wessels
Ronald McDonald Board Member: Jennifer Herrald Oakley
Daymark Board Member: Katy Taylor
NICU Liaison: Klancey Burford
Gabriel Project Co-Liaisons: Sayde Spears and Lauren Mabe
Community Committee Members: Ashleigh Campbell, Morgan Villers, Stephanie Waters
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JLC BY THE NUMBERS: 2021-22
Collected over $600 in supplies for the KCHA through United Way’s Day of Caring Donated 50 coats, 63 hats, 89 gloves, 37 scarfs and 123 Hot Hands for the Salvation Army and United Way warming stations Wrote over 300 valentines for seniors Sent 160 cards to veterans at the West Virginia Veterans Home Provided 12 dinners for the families at the Ronald McDonald House of Southern WV Delivered 1,485 snack packs to students at Mary C Snow West Side Elementary School, Grandview Elementary School and West Side Middle School Fall provisionals collected over 300 books for Little Free Libraries Spring provisionals donated over $250 worth of art supplies to the Veterans Home Supplied 12 large boxes of diapers for the Gabriel Project Collected over 1,300 hygiene products from our members, the Charleston Rotary and local employees of Baker Tilly for students at West Side Middle and Daymark Gifted over 140 onesies, WubbaNubs, and books for the CAMC Women’s and Children’s NICU stockings and Band-Aids, notepads and toothbrushes for the Faith in Action stockings
Raised $2,875 through Fall Festival, $2,400 through Modern Mountain Measures, $3,350 through Whatever: 90s Trivia Night, and $3,400 through other donations
Read nine books through book club 39 Active Members 100+ Sustainers
Volunteered at more than 10 large community events, including Capitol Market Mixer, OktoberWest 2021, Faith in Action Senior Christmas, Bob Burdette Holiday Dinner, Salvation Army Angels, YWCA Race to End Racism, Girls Night Out, WVSO Symphony Sunday, Foam at the Doam, Mac and Cheese Cook-off, and the Charley West BBQ Fest
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