JONESBORO, Ark. – In March 2017, Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro held the 67th annual Charity Ball, the primary fundraiser for the nonprofit organization and the most successful event in the history of the organization. The funds raised at the annual event support the service projects of Junior Auxiliary, which address a variety of needs of all children in Craighead County.
Thanks to a record-breaking year, Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro was able to not only fully fund all of their service projects for the 2017-2018 year, but was also able to increase all project budget increase requests and to fund two new service projects.
Most notably, the long-standing scholarship service project received an increase of $10,000. The scholarship committee was able to award $45,000 in scholarships for the fall 2017 semester. This is the highest amount of scholarships ever awarded in one semester by Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro with a record-breaking number of 33 recipients.
The organization was also able to add two new service projects that will greatly benefit the children of Craighead County. The first project is Girls Enrichment Senior High, which is an extension of the existing service project, Girls Enrichment Junior High. These projects pair JA volunteers with girls in either junior or senior high. The volunteers serve as mentors and plan monthly activities for the girls. In the new Senior High group, activities are aimed at providing life skills and education for succeeding after high school. The second new project added is the Community Outreach Program. The goal of this project is to address current and immediate needs throughout the community. This year, the project is focused on providing skills and life lessons for foster children who will soon age out of the foster care system.
In addition to increasing the scholarships available and starting two new service projects, Junior Auxiliary is also helping fund a visiting author of children’s books, supporting a junior high school statistical mathematics class field trip to a Memphis Grizzlies game, sending elementary school kids to a play at the Foundation of Arts and supporting the Hispanic Center’s Day of the Dead fundraiser. JA volunteers also adopted a family in a dire situation by helping them get back on their feet. The family, with three children, received various types of assistance and guidance including advice on cooking and meal nutrition.
“The ladies of Junior Auxiliary work incredibly hard to make sure Charity Ball is an exceptional experience for those who attend,” says Kristy McDaniel, current JA of Jonesboro president. “We appreciate our life and associate members and our community friends who continue to support us and have helped us achieve this record breaking year. Our mission is to serve the children of Craighead County and there are a vast number of opportunities to do that. Because of our success this past year, we were able to add more service projects and enhance those we already offer for the children in our community. We also had the unique opportunity to look outside of JA and our projects and to fund needs in our community that are also benefiting the children here. We are excited about sharing those with the community in the coming weeks. We are extremely proud of our members and all of their volunteer time and commitment to our community’s youth. Every dollar raised and every hour spent goes directly towards making our community stronger and more self-sufficient.”
If you would like to support Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro and their mission of serving children in Craighead County, you can support their one and only fundraiser, Charity Ball. The 2018 event will be held March 3 2018 at Arkansas State University Convocation Center. Opportunities are available for both businesses and individuals. To contact a Junior Auxiliary representative, you can email jajonesboro@gmail.com or visit jajonesboro.org to learn more.
Founded in 1950, Junior Auxiliary of Jonesboro, Arkansas has a mission to meet the needs of children, youth and families throughout Craighead County. The non-profit organization is run solely by volunteers and seeks ways to improve the lives of Craighead County children by developing and implementing programs that instill self-esteem and challenge minds. Community service projects focus on the health, welfare, civic and educational fields and work closely with local school districts and other organizations to identify children with unmet and special needs such as clothing, school supplies and medical/dental care. JA of Jonesboro is a chapter of National Association of Junior Auxiliary (NAJA), which seeks to improve the lives of children through local chapters in Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee.
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