Volunteer In Portland

To our donors: your generosity and support have been remarkable and greatly appreciated.

The Volunteer in Portland project has been hard at work from the beginning of this Junior League year.  We had a successful community partner fair in September with all partners attending and received positive feedback from each of them regarding the enthusiasm of the league.  Our liaison from Children’s Relief Nursery (CRN) sent us the following message after the partner fair.  “Junior League’s contributions to CRN are like an outpouring of goodness.  We have needs, and there is this wonderful group of smart caring women out there to help us fulfill them.  It’s marvelous.” 

We have volunteered over 100 hours of service at Peninsula Children's Center, beginning in August, when 8 members gave 24 volunteer hours to paint a stroller shed. The shed is used by parents to store strollers and car seats during the school day and was a project that the PCC staff was very grateful to have completed.   In September, volunteers donated their time at PCC's 40th birthday party. Members helped with games and activities to help the children and their parents celebrate PCC's milestone.  At the Fall Festival in October, volunteers assisted with games, crafts and face painting. By giving their time, volunteers provided much appreciated support to the teaching staff. Similarly, in December, volunteers helped at the Holiday Festival, providing the same support to the PCC teaching staff. 

We volunteered 150 hours at the Alpenrose Christmas Village. Forty-five Junior League of Portland members provided the opportunity for children and families to visit Santa during the holiday season.

In March, we assisted at the Girls Inc. Power of the Purse event.  Volunteers were greeters and checked guests in and out of the event. Since 2005, Girls Inc. of NW Oregon‘s annual POWER OF THE PURSE fundraiser has brought together more than 100 of the Rose City’s most notable community leaders, media personalities, artists, and entrepreneurs. Each of these ‘purse-o-nalities’ are paired with talented local designers to create one-of-a-kind handbags. The event is an important night for Girls Inc., as all money raised from the event sustains and supports their programs throughout the year (17 schools, reaching over 350 girls in 2009-2010).

Junior League of Portland members have also volunteered 120 hours of service to the Ronald McDonald house making dinners for children and families who are undergoing medical treatments that have brought them to two different Portland hospitals, and far away from their own homes.

We’re also continually training women to become future community and civic leaders.  We’ve already completed trainings on public speaking, event planning, and cultural competency: exploring effective cross-cultural communication.  We also hosted the Northwest Exchange Conference in March.  Over seventy women attended and learned about nonprofit management, budgets, social media for nonprofits, constructive confrontation, and more!  We have a half-day leadership summit scheduled in May which will focus on exploring leadership and communication styles.

Your donations help make all of this possible.  We, again, thank you for your generosity.

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To our donors: your generosity and support have been remarkable and greatly appreciated.

The Volunteer In Portland project held a volunteer day for the Portland, Oregon community on October 22^nd.  On this day, over 120 volunteers completed nearly 500 hours of service at four different community partner sites throughout Portland.

Oover 16,000 square feet of walls were painted including offices, a lunch room, and classrooms.  15,000 toy pieces were disinfected; outdoor play areas were cleaned; and a garden was winterized at Children’s Relief Nursery. 

Peninsula Children’s Center volunteers weeded beds, raked leaves, planted a shade and rain garden with over 400 spring bulbs and flowers plants, and built a musical fence.  Indoors, they removed cubbies and cleaned classrooms and the kitchen.  

Raphael House volunteers cleaned the shelter’s grounds, provided childcare services and taught residents to use crockpots for low-cost, quick, healthy meals.  Each resident received her very own crockpot and a gift card to a local grocery store. 

White Shield volunteers prepared gardens, beautified the exterior of the buildings and planted over 150 spring bulbs and flowers. They also leveled and prepped the area for White Shield’s upcoming greenhouse and planted winter vegetables in 20 donated pots. 

Planning is already underway for the next volunteer day to be held in 2012.

Beyond the volunteer day, volunteers have been busy at other locations around Portland.  Volunteers worked at the Peninsula Children’s Center Harvest Festival and Girls Inc. Summit events.  We’ve also prepared meals for residents at the Ronald McDonald House. 

Planning is currently underway for an interviewing skills workshop to be held at Raphael House.  Another crockpot cooking class is tentatively planned for the spring.

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