P R E S I D E N T ' S M E S S A G E

Members and Friends:

Recently, I found myself with a free afternoon at the Met(ropolitan) Museum of Art a little overwhelmed, but mostly excited There was a chapter of my young(er) life when I lived in Paris and had ready access to a deeply discounted student pass to the Louvre where I would idle away many a Thursday afternoon. This particular day though in New York, as I wandered through ancient Greece, Egypt, and a particularly poignant (to me) exhibit called “Anxiety and Hope in Japanese Art”, I imagined the life of Mary Harriman (our Foundress), who came of age at a time of great change in New York.

A little bit of her-story: Mary was impressed with the College Settlement in the city-- where college graduates and students lived in community with their neighbors, the immigrant population, and learned about their problems and emerging needs Mary developed what we now know as the Junior League amongst her debutante friendsincluding Eleanor Roosevelt - “entertainment” opportunities to raise funds to benefit the settlement house movement. Eleanor’s future husband, yes, one President Franklin Delano Roosevelt credited Eleanor and her work with the Junior League in showing him a side of society he had never seen before, thus awakening his social consciousness and leading to their lifelong partnership and commitment to social change (wow, swoon! #goals).

Cut to present-day Portland, Maine, 2023-- the Junior League of Portland, ME has recently celebrated a century of her-story, I am about to pass the gavel to our 101th president, and we are still in the midst of significant change and living in community with our neighbors-- often times with evolving problems and emerging needs. Mary Harriman, then Mrs Charles Cary Rumsey, in the early stages, were credited as “the moving spirit” and the Junior League, despite its name inhabited “no clubhouse we were just a group of girls anxious to do something helpful in the city in which we lived ”

While today our Mission has evolved to read: “The Junior League of Portland, ME is a non-profit organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.” I iterate we are still a group of people committed to do something impactful in the communities in which we live. Within the next few pages of this 2022-2023 Annual Report, you will see this exemplified in the stories of our Members through voluntarism, training, and leadership in greater Portland and beyond.

This doctype is meant to help our users create various business or project proposals and help them get approved. Proposals themes can be categorised per industry or function: marketing, agency (advertising or pr or design), event, retail, social media, website design, etc.

This doctype is meant to help our users create various business or project proposals and help them get approved. This doctype is meant to help our users create various business or project proposals and help them get approved. Proposals themes can be categorised per industry or function: marketing, agency (advertising or pr or design), event, retail, social media, website design, etc

My gratitude to you and yours for however you chose to gather with the Junior League of Portland, ME this special Centennial year - may it be one that spurs us into action for the next century of continued her-story

In service, Belle Bocal (she/ her) President ‘22-’23