Making Spirits Bright Through the Bright Beginnings Wishlist

Cassandre Durocher

The Junior League of Washington (JLW) established Bright Beginnings (BB) in 1990. For more than 30 years, BB has helped thousands of children and their families experiencing housing instability by providing them with quality care, education, and support during times of hardship and transition. In 2014, Bright Beginnings pioneered the first home-based program in the country with the sole focus of supporting families impacted by the trauma of homelessness. In 2018, BB built a state-of-the-art learning center in Washington, DC’s Ward 8. This learning center gives parents peaceof-mind in knowing that their children are safe, learning, and growing every day.

While the 2021 holiday season brought hope for some and uncertainty for others, JLW volunteers worked to spread holiday cheer and give back to the community. One of the ways in which they did this was through partnering with BB to sponsor children through a “holiday wishlist.” Each child’s wishlist included a full outfit, winter coat, underwear/diapers, pajamas, and a pair of shoes.

Planning for the wishlist began during the dog days of summer. For the 2021 drive, BB and JLW started the process in August “by first addressing what worked well in past years, changes that needed to be made, and the best way to communicate with our [BB] parents” shares Jamie Holloway, BB Family Service Manager. For the 2021 holiday wishlist, the JLW BB Committee created an online sign-up list. Through the wonders of social media, JLW members, friends, and families could participate at any level, buying one item or fulfilling an entire wishlist. In previous years, individual donors would sponsor an entire child’s wishlist. This change allowed “members to feel like they could afford to participate and be involved, and secondly, to be sensitive to the financial challenges that the Pandemic has put on many households across the District and throughout the country” explains Heather Lawrie, Co-Chair of the BB wishlist drive.

Donors brought or shipped their items to JLW Headquarters where JLW volunteers received and sorted the items in person over the course of a few days. Lawrie explained that coming together in person for these activities was especially rewarding because “for the first time since the Pandemic started, we were able to be together and get to meet all the women we’d worked with for months.” As a new member of JLW, Kayla Walter was excited to work with Bright Beginnings. For her, “the holiday drive is just one example of why service and the work we do with JLW is so important. I’m glad that we were able to secure all of the items requested on the wishlist and to be able to transport all of the items to the center. It’s good to know that the parents were just as excited to receive the items, as we were to give them.”

JLW volunteers then brought the donations to BB where the items were distributed to the children’s parents. “Over 500 items were donated so it was no easy feat! [. . .] So many of our donors were generous and provided more than what was asked for, so we also donated those items to Bright Beginnings,” says Margaret Faso, BB Committee Chair.

The donations were distributed to each child in BB Center-Based and Home-Based Programs. Holloway explains that “Each year Junior League works diligently with Bright Beginnings to ensure our children have a great Christmas. […] Parents were elated and thankful for every donation. I continue to hear feedback from our families that BB, in partnership with compassionate organizations like the Junior League, are their biggest source of support.” •