JLW Responds to COVID-19 with Care, Financial Assistance, and Support

Danielle Muenzfeld and Mary Grace McCormick

In spring 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic raging, the leaders of the 2019-2020 Junior League of Washington (JLW) Board of Directors initiated their pandemic response plan, the Community Assistance Task

Force (CATF). The plan consisted of three components: JLW Member Care, the Community Assistance Fund, and the Community Support Project. The

JLW Board of Directors selected each component so that the League’s overall response plan reflected its commitment to its members, community, and mission during the pandemic crisis. According to Amanda Walke, 2020-2021 President-Elect, “JLW worked within its process to be really responsive and to do something different.” By acting nimbly,

Walke explained, JLW has been able to responsively and responsibly address the needs of the community and its members.

JLW MEMBER CARE JLW leadership recognizes that many of its members have been impacted in various ways by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a member-based organization, JLW leadership included Member Care as a focus area of its COVID-19 response. One significant aspect of the Member Care efforts was providing intentional programming to help JLW members during these challenging and often isolating times. Chloe Taylor, Membership Development Council Director, explained that JLW has “pivoted our programming and doubled down on making sure there are several connection points for members virtually.” Taylor emphasized the need for JLW programming to continue to meet members where they are.

JLW has been thinking through membership programming to ensure that it is of interest to members and is substantive, and that some events incorporate wellness aspects. JLW has hosted a panoply of virtual events for its members, from Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion events to “Zip Code parties,” where JLW members who live nearby connect virtually; fitness classes to book club meet-ups; and 28 day challenges focused on baking, burpees, creative expression, and meditation. One surprise hit was a marathon viewing of the popular television show Schitt’s Creek, which had a 50+ member waiting list.

The virtual format has made it much easier to reach more members because attendees do not have to commute to a specific location and because the size of events are not constrained to the capacity of a physical location. For example, for General Membership Meetings (GMM), JLW typically seeks donated spaces that can fit between 200 and 300 people. This League year, GMM attendance has averaged between 300 and 400 members. Overall, the Development & Training (D&T) Committee saw an increase in event attendance of 246% through early February 2021.

Prior to the onset of COVID-19 shutdowns, JLW events often included social time prior to events. D&T, however, has shifted the allotted social time to after the conclusion of the event. Taylor explained that this “gives members fodder to start the conversation [with JLW members] and have that social time.” Through thoughtful planning, JLW has provided many ways for its members to connect with each other, learn new skills, and expand their horizons safely from home.

Additionally, JLW has sought to ensure that League members are able to sustain active membership. One way JLW has done this is through creating a new, flexible dues payment plan and encouraging League members to apply for dues scholarships if needed. JLW continues to look for ways to support its members so they can succeed within and outside of the League.

COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE FUND (CAF) JLW leaders knew that they wanted to give back to the DC community. The loss of income streams overnight placed many DC-area nonprofits in an incredibly vulnerable position. For many of these nonprofits, it was not simply a matter of needing financial aid, but needing it quickly in order to stay fiscally sound.

With that in mind, the outgoing 20192020 Board of Directors created the Community Assistance Fund which would allow the incoming 2020-2021 Board to mobilize funds for nonprofits experiencing need. On June 1, 2020, JLW published a grant application. In less than a month, 62 nonprofits had applied for approximately $1.2 million in requested aid.

Working over a number of weeks, President-Elect Amanda Walke and a small, nimble committee of presidentially appointed members evaluated applications on a rolling basis. Speed of support and need were determining factors in the selection of recipients. As Task Force member Amy Shuart Gingrich remarked, “The Board gave us specific criteria to focus on COVID related needs. We were looking for places where we felt the dollars would do the most good and

could provide assistance to the community quickly, versus long-term programs.” After a thorough review of all applications, seven applicants were recommended to the Board and ultimately selected as grant recipients. Six recipients received $5,000 each in grants, with the seventh receiving $50,000.

The six $5,000 grant winners included Shepherd’s Table, The Greater DC Diaper Bank, Restoration Immigration Legal Aid, Georgetown Ministry Center, Bringing Resources to Aid Women’s Shelters, and Common Good City Farm. • Among other services, Shepherd’s

Table provides hot meals twice a day to those experiencing homelessness or poverty, and those who are home-bound. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, Shepherd’s Table has utilized its newly-formed mobile meal service to deliver food to areas in the DC metro area where food insecurity and COVID-19 rates are the highest.

In addition to caring for for those experiencing homelessness, Shepherd’s

Table has also worked to support local restaurants. Through its $5,000 grant,

Shepherd’s Table was able to expand its Neighbors Helping Neighbors program and place catering orders to local restaurants. These orders helped support local restaurants in addition to feeding Shepherd’s Table’s clientele. • The Greater DC Diaper Bank provides diapers and other hygiene products to those in the DMV area who are struggling financially. Prior to the pandemic, DC Diaper Bank served 10,500 families and 11,800 babies each year on average. Almost 80% of these families earn less than $20,000 each year. Thanks to its $5,000 grant,

the DC Diaper Bank was able to stock diapers and pay related expenses for one month.

• Restoration Immigration Legal

Aid (RILA) provides pro bono legal services to those going through the immigration process. The Restoration

Anglican Church in Arlington hosts evening clinics twice a month where immigrant families can meet with lawyers to discuss their cases. During these clinics, volunteers make dinner for the families and provide support.

RILA’s $5,000 grant enabled it to purchase food boxes for 90 families in

July and August 2020.

• The Georgetown Ministry Center

(GMC) provides a variety of services to people experiencing homelessness.

The pandemic caused GMC to shut down the services normally provided

in its Drop-in Day Center, but after the $5,000 grant was received, the nonprofit was able to re-open the Day

Center to its pre-COVID-19 capacity. $2,000 were used to purchase face masks and gift cards, while $3,000 were used to renovate the facility and purchase PPE to facilitate the reopening of the Day Center.

• Bringing Resources to Aid Wom-

en’s Shelters (BRAWS) works with shelters, food pantries, schools, and other entities to provide menstrual products and undergarments to women and girls experiencing home-

lessness, poverty, domestic violence, and other crises. After the $5,000 grant, BRAWS was able to purchase two pallets of tampons and pads to be distributed to approximately 2,000 women and girls. • Common Good City Farm works to combat food insecurity in Ward 1’s

LeDroit Park. Through the $5,000 grant, Common Good City Farm was able to increase and pay for the additional staff working hours lost as a result of decreased volunteer efforts.

Additionally, staff was able to purchase additional produce. • Finally, Nourish Now, a Montgomery

County food bank, used its $50,000 grant to expand its Multi-Cultural

Mobile Food Assistance Program to 7,000 more people through the delivery of hunger relief kits.

While great strides are being made, the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging and local nonprofits need our help. If you would like to contribute to the CAF and assist a local nonprofit, you can make a donation through the League’s website.

COMMUNITY SUPPORT PROJECT (CSP) The Community Support Project provided opportunities for JLW members to support the community through projects that addressed urgent needs related to COVID-19. CSP, through Task Force Leads, Lindsay Wilson and Kelly DeLoach, developed and managed a Board-approved mask donation project, curated a list of individual volunteer projects, and developed group virtual volunteer projects to benefit community organizations.

CSP chose masks as a focus area because, as Wilson explained, “Masks seemed to be the most pressing and greatest need. At the beginning, masks were difficult to come by.” DeLoach added that “We were really thinking about the populations that were most affected by the pandemic and that didn’t have access to personal protective equipment.” JLW engaged its volunteers by tapping the time, talents, and resources of its members to sew or purchase masks for vulnerable members of the community, such as those experiencing homelessness, the elderly, and others.

From April through November 2020, JLW volunteers and friends of JLW answered the call to make or purchase masks for donation to local community organizations. Over 60 JLW members dropped off masks for donation. For JLW member Natasha John, “Making homemade masks was an opportunity to bring character into the mask wearing experience. This project merged filling a community need with my

talents and hobbies and it was such a joy to participate!”

JLW new member Hailey Lernihan found that “it was therapeutic to cut and sew fabric, knowing it would be helpful to a child or teen when they got back to school.” She used the opportunity not only to give back, but to grow. Lernihan explains that she “had never used a sewing machine before but I set goals for myself during 2020 to find new hobbies — so I bought a sewing machine the day I saw the JLW email and recruited a friend who had been sewing masks to fundraise for an orphanage to teach me how to sew!”

JLW sustainer Bridget Shea Westfall joined the mask donation effort because she saw the need in the community, and “liked how our community members could support our JLW community partners and participate in community assistance,” and “thought this would also be a way to tell my neighbors more about Junior League.” Westfall purchased masks from local small businesses to donate and recruited members of her neighborhood Buy Nothing Project Groups to make masks for the JLW project. To Westfall, “It was very cool as members asked for donated materials to make the masks and some people even taught others how to sew or make a simple pattern.” She was amazed that suddenly masks would appear at her doorstep or in her “Buy Nothing Bin.” Through the project she connected (with little social interaction) with kind and generous neighbors, met a JLW new member in her Buy Nothing Project, and connected with sustainers and actives that she would have not otherwise met.

In addition to the efforts of individual JLW members and JLW friends, some committees and councils collected funds and purchased masks together. For example, the JLW Community Affairs Council collected over $1,500 in funds, and was able to purchase 500 masks to donate, which was the largest single donation of any person or group. The A Wider Circle Committee also contributed $100 to this effort.

The CSP initially set a goal of donating 500 masks to our community. In total, JLW donated 1,763 masks (1,553 adultsized masks, 210 child-sized masks) to 21 organizations. Of the 21 organizations, nine are official JLW community partners. As DeLoach explained, “the project was a great opportunity to connect with other organizations that work with JLW through Done in a Day or that we haven’t worked with before.”

The CSP Project Leads sought to work with as many demographics and groups in the community as they could. The masks made an immediate, tangible impact on community members. Tania Gembala Sechriest, Volunteer Program Manager/ Food Pantry Plus Manager for Iona Senior Services, which received masks from JLW, shared that, “The cloth masks were distributed to our older adult clients, which allowed this vulnerable population to get to doctors’ appointments, to interact with their aides, and to feel somewhat less anxious during these difficult times.”

DeLoach explained that community partners, such as Horton’s Kids were grateful to receive the masks because it filled a specific need: “Parents needed to bring their kids to the grocery store because they didn’t have anyone to watch them and, to do so, needed kids size masks.” JLW volunteers also sewed 150 custom masks for the Washington School for Girls in its school colors. As Westfall shared, “During the pandemic, it is easy to feel isolated and depressed, but seeing neighbors donate their time and talents to help JLW really lifted my spirits.”

For Wilson and DeLoach, “Working with the 21 organizations that we donated masks to, it was clear that the masks made an immediate and positive impact in the lives of their clients. We were inspired by the response from JLW members which led to us more than tripling our initial goal of 500 masks.”

Additionally, in response to JLW member interest to do more to support the community, the CSP compiled a list of individual volunteer and in-kind donation opportunities that members could do on their own. CSP shared information from various community organizations in a master list, which was shared with the JLW membership over the summer of 2020. Opportunities included donating blood, working shifts at the Capital Area Food Bank, and purchasing urgently needed items from an organization’s Amazon wish list.

CSP also offered four virtual group events that gave JLW members the opportunity to volunteer in the community while at home. One event was a Free Minds Virtual Write Night where JLW volunteers, through the Miro platform, wrote and drew words of hope and encouragement directly onto the poems penned by incarcerated and formerly incarcerated youths and adults. Each poet received his or her poem in the mail adorned with JLW members’ colorful, positive responses. Another volunteer event supported the Everybody Wins! DC Virtual Shared Reading Library. JLW members created videos of themselves reading children’s books aloud, which were then posted to the virtual library of Everybody Wins DC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving lives through shared reading.

Finally, CSP hosted two evenings where JLW members wrote letters to the children who participate in Horton’s Kids programs, the staff at Iona Senior Services, and the clients at Community Family Life Services. Gembala Sechriest of Iona recalls the “special notecards from members of the project [that] were mailed to each one of our staff members, providing words of encouragement and thanks. One colleague had this to say: I just got a lovely handwritten note from a Junior League volunteer calling me an Iona hero and thanking me for all the work I’ve done during the pandemic! I’m surprised at how moved I am by this anonymous note. It’s just lovely and heartwarming to receive. It actually means a lot.”

According to JLW President Jessica Taylor White, “The CAF’s work has been a bright spot in a challenging year. At a time when our membership was unable to serve in familiar ways, the JLW showed how much our members and friends are committed to making a positive impact in our beloved community.