Junior League of Wichita (JLW) is a nonprofit organization of over 800 women committed to building a better community. Our mission is to promote voluntarism, develop the potential of women, and improve our community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. We work to achieve our mission through community projects and training programs.

Because of events such as Holiday Galleria, since its founding in 1925, Junior League of Wichita, Inc. has contributed more than $5.6 million to the Wichita community in the form of community projects and training programs. In addition, over $31.3 million* in-kind services in the form of volunteer hours have been donated to improve the quality of life in the Wichita area (*6,071,660 volunteer hours figured at minimum wage).

In its first four years, Holiday Galleria proceeds have totaled over $350,000. 100% of these proceeds are being donated back into the community through JLW community projects and training programs such as Building Libraries, Changing Minds, The Gourmet Guy, and Eyes For Others and fund JLW training programs such as Good Works! Making the Nonprofit Leadership Connection.

Building Libraries, Changing Minds
- A one-year program providing libraries, computers and literacy programs for underserved populations to foster a lifetime love of learning.

• Building Libraries, Changing Minds is a one-year partnership among Holy Savior Catholic Academy, Anthony Family Shelter, Harbor House and JLW.
• JLW will make a significant donation of brand new library books, new computers, and will build library facilities where none currently exist.
• JLW volunteers will coordinate literacy-related events with the agencies to launch the new library collections and promote public awareness of the unique needs of the underserved populations.
• This project will serve nearly 700 students each year and will provide library facilities which will be in use for many years to come.
• With an average life of 10 years per book, Building Libraries, Changing Minds will directly impact over 7000 at risk students!
• $82,367 is being invested into the Wichita community through this project.

Eyes For Others
- A one-year program allowing children to help their visually impaired peers by recording audio books.

• Eyes For Others is a one-year partnership between Envision and JLW.
• JLW volunteers will help expand the current Eyes for Others program by purchasing updated recording technology and developing a mobile classroom to expand this project to new schools.
• Approximately 500 visually impaired children are served by this program each year, but more books are needed in order to fulfill requests made by teachers and families. The audio books allow visually impaired children to improve their reading, language and comprehension skills.
• This project allows children who record audio books to improve their reading skills, while helping their visually impaired peers. Children in this age range do not often have opportunities to participate in community service projects of this magnitude.
• This project has the potential to expand tremendously in years to come.
• $5,700 is being invested into the Wichita community through this project.

The Gourmet Guy
- A one-year program that will give young men tools they need to succeed in life.

• The Gourmet Guy is a one-year partnership with Judge Riddel's Boys Ranch and JLW.
• JLW will make a significant donation of a teaching kitchen and a cooking skills and etiquette guide to the Boys Ranch.
• JLW volunteers will build mentoring relationships with at-risk young men at the Boys Ranch and will provide additional life skills training to improve success rates among graduates.
• JLW will work with the staff of the Boys Ranch to provide special events in which the boys can practice their new skills. These events may include: "Cooking for One," "Cooking for a Family," "Holiday Meals," and "Date Night."
• $16,500 is being invested into the Wichita community through this project.

 

Good Works!: Making the Nonprofit Leadership Connection
- A leadership training program on how to be effective nonprofit board members.

• Good Works!, a partnership between the Wichita area Nonprofit Chamber of Service (NPCOS) and JLW was held October 2005.
• JLW volunteers helped organize, promote, and host the event.
• Over $7,500 in Holiday Galleria proceeds funded this premier training program.
• JLW received an Association of Junior Leagues International Leadership Development Award in recognition of Good Works!

JLW Through the Years—A Timeline of Selected Projects

This timeline is not comprehensive but does highlight many Junior League of Wichita, Inc. projects.

1925 Junior League of Wichita, Inc. (“JLW”) was founded with 10 charter members as the 51st Junior League in the United States.  Helen Brooks Hall (Mrs. Standish Hall) was the first president.

1925-26 Free Milk and Ice; members provided over 25 cars and drivers weekly to take nurses and social workers on their visits to the poor and ill, deliver free milk and ice to needy babies and drive mothers and children to doctors and clinics.

1926 Junior League Day Nursery; JLW set out to build the “best planned, best equipped day nursery in the Southwest” after the Cleveland Avenue Day nursery was condemned by city inspectors.

1932 JL Salvage Shop opened at 2142 N. Market, renamed in 1940 to The Thrift Shop, in 1980s renamed to the Junior League Shop; the shop has moved many times but has always served the purpose of raising money for JLW and providing clothing at reasonable prices to the community.

1933 Swimming lessons for crippled children.

Town Talks luncheon lecture series formed to address women’s issues and the state of our community. In 1961 Eleanor Roosevelt spoke at the series.

1937 Marionette presentations were given to over 4,350 Wichita children that year

1940s Members sold war stamps and bonds to the public, sewed and knitted for the Red Cross, and passed out donuts, coffee and smiles at Union Station.

1940 JLW started the Dental Clinic in conjunction with the Board of Education to assist children needing dental care.  In 1945, the clinic and all of the equipment was turned over to the Sedgwick County Board of Health.

1943 JLW donated the Wichita Day Nursery to the Family Consultation Service.

1946 Puppet and marionette productions by members led to the beginning of Wichita Children’s Theater. 

1950s Members made and delivered over 1,325,000 cancer bandages to local hospitals, the Wichita Public Health Nursing association and the Cancer office in the fight against cancer.

1951 Community Arts Council formed; members served on boards of local art associations and provided countless volunteer hours to identify and meet needs of the Wichita Arts community.

1952 Toy Lending Library in the Southwest Community Center opened; fully staffed and funded by JLW volunteers. By 1956, the library serviced over 400 children a week and had grown to three locations in Wichita.

Late 1950s Members served as the first docents at the Wichita Art Museum. 

1966 JLW helped promote a bond referendum and furnished volunteers and funds in connection with the proposed new zoo.

1969 JLW along with the Historical Museum Association published an official centennial book, Wichita Century, depicting a pictorial history of Wichita from 1870 to 1970.

JLW began the Juvenile Court Volunteer Program to work one-on-one with children on probation; by 1971, 150 volunteers had been trained and 135 children had been served.

1970 JLW was instrumental in the successful start up of KPTS, Channel 8.

1972 JLW established the Ecology Study Committee, which eventually led to the creation of the Ecology Speakers Bureau.

1972-73 JLW increased the number of volunteers registered with the Volunteer Bureau (renamed to the Volunteer Action Center) from 1,567 in 1970-71 to 2,459 volunteers with an estimated 206,520 hours of volunteer service per year with agencies in need

JLW was instrumental in establishing the Wichita Youth Home, Inc., a residential home for twelve to fifteen year-old boys by purchasing the home for the organization.

1976 JLW’s 50th Anniversary was celebrated by raising $75,471 for the funding of Heritage Square, a “park for the people.”  Each year thereafter, JLW sponsored a flower festival to mark the beginning of the Wichita River Festival.

1977 JLW’s Child Advocacy Committee implemented the Pelican Project.  Pierre the Pelican, a free monthly newsletter series, was designed to educate new mothers on the growth and development of the child and the parent.  By 1980, 4,200 monthly newsletters were sent to new and expectant mothers.

1981-82 Kids on the Block, a creative hand puppet show educating audiences about the disabled child’s problems and feelings, was implemented.

JLW members supported Accent on Kids, Inc. in its efforts to establish a Ronald McDonald House in Wichita; funding was obtained for two homes to be purchased and were established as a home-away-from-home for families of critically ill children.

1982-83 Support for Roots and Wings began to assist with training of court appointed special advocates for children in need of care.  Some JLW members even became C.A.S.A. volunteers.

1983-84 Old Cowtown Museum benefited from JLW’s purchase of a microfilm reader, microfilms of 1870’s Wichita newspapers and other equipment to assist with historical research. 

 JLW’s Witness Wichita Bus Tour, which started in 1972, gave 41 guided tours, 19 school tours, 19 convention and civic tours and three additional tours.

1985 As part of JLW’s 60th anniversary, a new recreational facility at Sleepy Hollow Park including two game field clusters, a jogging path and a children’s play area was presented to Wichita.

1990 JLW started the Komen Wichita Race for the Cure®, the first Komen co-ed race with over 1400 participants, the largest first year road race in Kansas history.

1993  Better Beginnings project:  an effort to improve health and wellness of kids in Wichita. 
The Limited Edition Sunflower 20th Anniversary cookbook was published.

1994  The Children’s Health Expo at Colvin Elementary School was held.  The JLW assisted with education, hearing and dental screenings, vision testing and immunizations, and donated necessary hygiene products.

1995 Women of Great Taste cookbook won the regional Tabasco® Award for the Midwest the year it was published as well as an advertising award for the artist who designed it.

1997  JLW partnered with Communities In Schools for the Giraffe Project.  This elective course for 9th graders taught them how to identify real-life heroes, and to become active in community service.

1999 JLW established Kids’ Zoobilee, a collaboration with Sedgwick County Zoo benefiting the Pride of the Plains exhibit and JLW community projects.

2000 JLW’s 75th Anniversary gift to the community was the Pride of the Plains exhibit at the Sedgwick County Zoo; the exhibit was a $1.5 million financial commitment and houses lions, meerkats and warthogs.

2003-06 Share A Story: A Junior League of Wichita and KPTS Reading Initiative designed to break intergenerational illiteracy, volunteers read aloud to 3,600 pre-kindergarten children weekly in 72 Wichita Public School Pre-K classes for a total of 63,000 volunteer hours as well as distributed over 36,000 Clifford books to the children.

2004 Holiday Galleria inaugural year; in its first four years, Holiday Galleria net proceeds have totaled over $350,000 that JLW is investing back into our community in the form of community projects and training programs.

2005 Good Works! Making the Nonprofit Leadership Connection, collaboration with the Nonprofit Chamber of Service, a one-day training event designed to equip leaders for non-profit service and match them with organizational needs in the Wichita area.

2006 JLW won an Association of Junior Leagues International Leadership Development Award for partnering with the Nonprofit Chamber of Service to produce a premier training event called, Good Works! Making the Nonprofit Leadership Connection.

2006 JLW becomes a Vision partner in Visioneering Wichita.

JLW members participated in the rebuilding of a home for a family in the community for the television show "Extreme Home Makeover," volunteering over 1,000 hours.

2006-07 Reading Rocks: Literacy for Lifelong Learning, collaboration with Wichita Public Schools and Wichita Public Libraries. JLW invested over $60,000 into the Wichita community impacting approximately 1,300 elementary students.

Money Talks: Financial Literacy for Teens, collaboration with Youth Entrepreneurs of Kansas. JLW invested over $10,000 into the Wichita community teaching approximately 125 high school students important lessons about managing credit and finances.

2007 75th Anniversary of JL Shop

2007-08 Reading Rocks: Literacy for Lifelong Learning, collaboration with Wichita Public Schools and Wichita Public Libraries. JLW invested over $65,200 into the Wichita community impacting an estimated 1,750 elementary students.

Centsable Girls: Financial Literacy for Elementary Girls, partnership with Girls Scouts of the Golden Plains. JLW invested $6,000 into the Wichita community teaching 120 elementary school girls financial literacy skills.

* Resources include: JLW Archives, 75th Anniversary Propeller, & 80th Anniversary Propeller

For more information on becoming a sponsor of Holiday Galleria click here.

Holiday Galleria proceeds will be used to fulfill Junior League of Wichita, Inc.'s mission of building a better community.

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