Community Partner A Look at Done In A Day

By: Laura Blake

A lot can happen in a day. Done In A Day (DIAD) is perhaps part of the Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) that best illustrates this adage. DIAD is an initiative that Junior Leagues across the country use to complete volunteer work for a variety of organizations within –you guessed it – a day. The JLC uses DIAD to further its work in removing barriers to school readiness for young children in the Charlotte area.

The JLC’s DIAD committee chair, Devin Black, gave some insight into the DIAD project selection process and events happening this year. “We try to connect with organizations that fit with our mission. It’s a mix that they find us, we find them.” The committee reviews the proposed opportunities and approves the ones that best support the JLC’s purpose and ability to serve. DIAD also provides a way for the JLC to maintain relationships with groups they’ve previously supported. For example, the committee is looking to plan events with prior partners Sugar Creek Charter School and Charlotte Speech and Hearing Center this year.

In one project handled this year, DIAD volunteers completed an event to support Families Forward Charlotte, an organization that aims to help Charlotte families overcome intergenerational poverty. The volunteers collected supplies and backpacks for children for children as they were going back to school. Thanks to the JLC’s help, 54 families received 185 backpacks, 61 baskets of essentials and 50 bags of snacks and books.

The multitude of DIAD’s projects benefit both the community and JLC members. Devin highlighted how DIAD opens the door to “different types of organizations we can impact.” The opportunities are widespread, allowing the JLC to help even more people throughout the year. It also provides a way for JLC members to meet other members and interact in a setting that is outside of their placement. If a DIAD event requires more volunteers than the committee can fill, then JLC members outside of the committee can sign up to help.

If you have an organization that you would like to support from Done In A Day, visit the JLC website, www.jlcharlotte.org, for more information.