The Junior League of Charlotte, Inc. (JLC) was featured on PBS.org as part of its Carolina Impact weekly programming on April 11, 2023. Host Beatrice Thompson highlighted JLC members and the League’s impact.
Members of the JLC were shown volunteering during our Week of Service last November, making bookmarks for community partner Promising Pages in the program’s opening. One of the most well-known and successful fundraising campaigns the JLC organizes is The Little Black Dress Initiative. Members wear the iconic “little black dress” Monday to Friday to raise awareness about poverty and its impact on Mecklenburg County.
Since its start in 1926, JLC has donated more than $13.7 million in grants and special projects. In addition, members have generously volunteered 1.6 million hours of their time. With the Community Impact Council, JLC partners with various charities that ensure children’s physical and mental health needs are met for the “School Readiness” initiative.
Despite its legacy in Charlotte, some might believe that Junior League members were just “ladies who lunch.” However, Toni Freeman, who has served as both President of the JLC as well as President of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI), disagrees.
“As I’ve joined the League, I would never say that these ladies just lunched,” Freeman said. “They’ve always been very busy. You see us serving on boards, you see us running for public office, you see us getting involved in the school board or at our local schools. We are really committed to making sure that we make a difference in our communities.”
In fact, there are many options to be a well-trained volunteer in the JLC. The Public Policy Committee helps members develop public policy and advocacy skills. Boards of Directors and Community Advisory Boards can even enlist the help of JLC leaders to serve on those boards.
The JLC focuses on offering everyone a seat at the table to serve the community.
“The League has been that place for me to connect with other women that have different points of view, different professions, different races, different ages,” said Kellie Lofton, 2021-2022 JLC President. There’s just so much to our collective background and who we are as an organization.”
Looking to the future, the Junior League has made a commitment to diversity locally and internationally. Lofton talked about the diversity statement the JLC adopted in 2018 and its five-year strategic plan around the initiative. Since 2000, the JLC has had six women of color hold the position of President. JLC membership is now more diverse and inclusive than ever.
“There are so many things that we need to do to make our communities better,” Freeman succinctly stated. “There is room for anybody and everybody under the tent and we may not approach it the same way and we may not look the same, but there is certainly room for us all to come together and work together.”
