It’s (Almost) the Holiday Season: Adopt-A-Child through My Sister’s Place

by Sara Swabb

What do you do to prepare for the Holiday season?  Purchase gifts for loved ones and finalize your travel plans?  Find the best ingredients for that pumpkin pie you cook each year?

While many folks in the District are able to think along the same lines as you, there are thousands of families in the Greater D.C. community that will go without necessities, much less the exchange of gifts, this winter. 

I know this is news to none of you.  But there is a way you can help!

How Can I Help?

My Sister’s Place is soliciting volunteers to adopt a child or parent for the holiday season fulfill Holiday Wish Lists for these children.  Volunteers will be provided shopping list to provide a winter coat, hat, gloves, one outfit, shoes, socks, underwear/diapers, pajamas, a toy from the child’s wish list and a book.

What Is My Sister’s Place?

My Sister’s Place is the largest and oldest non-profit agency exclusively serving battered women and their children in the D.C. area and the Junior League of Washington (JLW) has supported their work since the 1970’s.  Every year, thousands of victims of domestic violence find sanctuary from abuse in its residential programs and supportive services.

Who Gets the Gifts I Buy?

The JLW volunteers host a Holiday Party for the domestic violence survivors and their children, who will receive the gifts.  The gifts that the JLW brings each year truly brighten the holiday season for these women and children.

How Much Will This Cost Me?

Volunteers who shop smart can fulfill the wish list for $100-$125. My Sister’s Place is also collecting $50 Visa and retail store gift cards to provide to the women in My Sister’s Place’s emergency domestic violence shelter.

Whom Do I Contact to Help?

If you are interested in lending a hand and adopting a child, please email the My Sister’s Place chair, Jackie Paranzino, mysistersplacechairjlw@gmail.com, by Friday, November 29, 2013.  Late responses will be accepted if possible.  

When and Where Do I Take My Gifts?

All donations must be received at JLW Headquarters by Friday, December 6th, 2013.

A Dream Come True at the National Book Festival

With the 2013 National Book Festival just days away, there are still volunteer shifts available for Sustaining, Active and New Members of the Junior League of Washington.

The two-day festival is such an important event for JLW because it requires the help of more than 600 JLW volunteers, it unofficially kicks off the major events for our 2013 year and it perfectly encapsulates the JLW’s focus on literacy in the greater DC area. Not to mention, the weekend is a ridiculous amount of fun!

Carly Rockstroh, the Rising Chair for Holiday Shops, shares one of her many National Book Festival memories to give everyone an idea of what you can expect if you sign up for a volunteer shift.

Though chairing the NBF in 2011 was a dream come true, one of my favorite NBF memories was from my first book festival in 2007 as a New Member. I was assigned to the book signing line for Patricia MacLachlan, author of Sarah Plain and Tall, and found myself managing a line filled with anxious elementary school girls. I noticed a bunch of the girls had American Girl dolls with them, and they told me the author has written a few books for AG -- one of my childhood favorite series. We started talking about our favorite books from AG and other books on any elementary school girl's must-read list. Sharing my enthusiasm for reading with these girls and their parents was so much fun and showed the power books and literacy can have on people of all ages. Since this was my *first* JLW volunteer experience, you could say I was hooked from day 1, and set the goal then and there to chair the crazy NBF event one day, as it is really such a special event for our League and avid readers from all over.  

Sign up today for your volunteer shift at the National Book Festival. The Junior League of Washington needs you to make the event a success and to make dreams come true.