League’s Service Honored by the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber

February 2013

The Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Awards Luncheon recognized the Junior League of Houston, Inc. along with a number of other individuals and organizations for tremendous community impact on January 29, 2013 at the Westin Galleria.

The Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce is a nonprofit organization of highly influential and diverse women and men dedicated to the advancement and empowerment of women through avenues of leadership, education, advocacy and mentoring.

The Junior League of Houston was honored for its trademark support of the Houston community both financially and in countless volunteer hours. The League most notably contributes $2 million in direct financial support and volunteer hours to the Houston community each year. In the last three years, the League has added four community projects, providing volunteers and funding to the Houston Zoo, Story Time LIVE, the Houston Arboretum and Nature Center, and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus. This year the League will add a 38th community project at Texas Children’s Hospital Pavilion for Women.

2013 also marks the inaugural gift of $75,000 from the Junior League of Houston Foundation’s Community Endowment Fund. This gift increases the League’s total Community Assistance to $145,000, which has not been matched or exceeded since 1985. The League gives Community Assistance Grants to organizations that do not receive volunteers or funding through its community projects. This year the grants will go to nine organizations to help them mentor at-risk youth, educate through fine arts, address family poverty, and improve the lives of children and families in Houston.

The League’s message of mission-driven voluntarism has remained steady for more than 80 years. The innovative group of women who began a tea room to help finance a well-baby clinic planted seeds that produced an organization with more than $28 million in net assets that include the League’s building, Tea Room, Community Trust Fund, and $11 million Foundation. How does a $28 million organization thrive? A mission-driven focus and a well-trained volunteer membership.