Community Counts
JLE-NS' Community Counts Committee works on, at least, several mini-projects during a League year. Recent projects include:
A private, non-profit organization, Links has been helping young people find answers to difficult questions for over 30 years. Links provides that help in a caring, confidential and nonjudgmental way. Their website is www.linksyouth.org.
- JLE-NS members volunteered at the Girls on the Run Spring Wonder Girl 5k Race. Girls on the Run is a non-profit after school program that encourages pre-teen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through running. More than 1700 young girls celebrated their “girl power” by running 3.1 miles together with their parents, teachers, and community members.
- We manned one of two water and Gatorade stations at the race. All volunteers learned a skill that we are sure will come in handy some day – how to pour THOUSANDS of cups of water and Gatorade in about an hour – and then hand them out to hot and thirsty runners. Needless to stay, we were a bit sticky with the Gatorade but had a lot of fun!
- JLE-NS was also one of the Sponsors of the race, giving us great visibility in the community through all the marketing materials produced for the event, including the t-shirts worn on race day.
Girls on the Run is a non-profit prevention program that encourages
preteen girls to develop self-respect and healthy lifestyles through
running. Their curricula address all aspects of girls' development -
their physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual well-being.
Girls on the Run International (GOTRI) is the parent organization of
more than 100 Girls on the Run councils across the United States and
Canada. GOTRI establishes trains and supports a network of
community-level councils with local volunteers. The volunteers serve
as role models to the girls through coaching the 12-week, 24 lesson
curricula. The curriculum is delivered in these areas through
after-school programs, recreation centers and other non-profit
settings. Their website is
www.girlsontherun.org.
- Santa International Day is a family day hosted by the McGraw YMCA in Evanston, where kids learn about winter holidays of other cultures. We participated by hosting an interactive booth and designing and providing the materials for the kids to make their own holiday crafts.
- Healthy Kids Day is a national YMCA program that gives families the opportunity to learn more about adopting healthy lifestyles through fun activities and informational booths. We incorporated our national Kids in the Kitchen program by hosting a booth focused on nutrition and exercise.
For three years running, we continued our renovation and redecorating efforts at the Evanston YWCA Women’s Shelter (now called “Mary Lou’s Place”). The 2007-2008 Community Counts Committee tackled the children’s playroom -- which gets a lot of wear and tear from the Shelter’s younger residents! Our most significant contribution was a brand new floor for the playroom in a colorful, durable – and most important to the Shelter – WASHABLE tile material. The previous flooring was carpet which got very dirty over time. The Shelter staff were absolutely thrilled with the new floor, which was a sizable investment that our League has made in maintaining a healthy and safe environment for the Shelterresidents.
In addition to a new floor, we outfitted the playroom with a child sized table and chairs, a TV stand with a TV and DVD player, several types of toy storage, a whimsical wall mural hand painted by Kate Wettergren, cheerful posters and prints for the playroom walls, and TONS of toys and books! We also gave the playroom a thorough scrubbing so it was a clean and colorful play space for the Shelter kids and moms.