I have been a member of the Junior Friends for a decade now and have loved it despite the up and downs. Covid and time and lack of strategic planning really dealt a huge blow to the membership, luckily not a fatal blow. But it will not be an easy road back to the membership rosters we once had. The good news is we have a chance to re-focus, re-shape, and build the organization back in a way that can be strong, inclusive, and balance that duality of commitment to service and fun.

I was at our first meeting this year (we run years with the school year) and kept hearing the same thing from people. The Junior Friends = Community. This one word encompasses a lot of what Junior Friends has meant to me over the years. 

The obvious community is the Campagna Center, the non-profit that the Junior Friends fundraise and volunteer for, which provides a host of educational services for children and adults in the community. The services range from early head start, reading, mentoring, Campagna Kids afterschool program, Wright to Read, English language classes for adults, and more. As someone who runs a business specifically focused on helping children and families in tough times, this mission really hits home for me. 

But to me, Junior Friends is more than that type of community. I joined the Junior Friends after law school when many of my friends moved away. I was very lonely and not sure where to find my tribe in the big DMV. As I got more involved, The Junior Friends became my tribe.  When I went to the farmer’s market, a junior friend was there; when I went to Wine on the Waterfront, more junior friends. They seemed to be everywhere, and I needed that. I grew up in a small town, knowing everyone, and I needed a place I felt that same sense of belonging.  The Junior Friends gave me that community of friends, and I love seeing that community all over. 

And the women of my tribe, they are pretty fierce. It’s not just planning a fundraising event; it’s lining up scotch vendors for the Taste of Scotland, getting unwieldy clans into position and moving on time during the parade, seeking out and getting auction items donated, sponsors lined up, organizing volunteer opportunities, creating communications for a large volunteer organization across multiple platforms, constantly recruiting new members, and fundraising in every way the critical funds and needs for a non-profit organization that is critical to the overall health of the community. These women manage home lives, they often have very impressive businesses and jobs, they volunteer, they organize, and they laugh when you ask when they sleep, but you can’t believe how well they do it all. Seeing these other women bossing it up is inspiring, and when I see them, it empowers me too.

But there are struggles, as there have been with any large volunteer organization - sometimes the organization felt too cliquish, sometimes communication was lacking, and I felt disconnected from the organization, sometimes I didn’t feel appreciated and supported enough, etc. The thing is, all these struggles were things that previously, as an organization, were just another thing to fix as we rolled along the planning and putting on the Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend, Bright Futures, or other events. But right now, we have a hard mirror in front of us, making us look deeply at how we do everything, who we want to be, AND what you want us to be because we have to rebuild. Our membership numbers are lower than ever. We want our old members back, and we want new members. And while our events are still happening and will be fantastic - I am chairing Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend and will not let you all down - our core focus right now is how we build the organization, not just back, but better. 

How do we make you feel that pull of community? How do we give you the warm fuzzies of friendship, volunteerism, and the knowledge that what you are doing means something to someone beyond just the basic action you are taking? How do we make our organization look more like our community and include people with interesting and diverse viewpoints and experiences? How do we continue to be the tribe of fierce women who get things done? We are working on it, but honestly… we need you. So I hope you come and join my tribe. You can get more information by emailing jfnewmembers@gmail.com.