Community

We’re Focused on What Matters Most Right Now in CENLA

The Junior League of Alexandria takes pride in our awareness of community needs and opportunities to contribute to solutions so that we can make a positive impact in the community.

During recent years, the Junior League of Alexandria has worked on developing a more specific focus area.  We have chosen the education and mentorship of safety and life skills for women and children.

Diaper Bank

September 27-October 3, 2021 has been proclaimed Louisiana’s Diaper Need Awareness Week. The Junior League of Alexandria is launching the JLA Diaper Bank to bring awareness to this important issue and share how you can help.
Access to a sufficient supply of clean diapers ensures infants and toddlers are clean, healthy and dry. Access to diapers benefits infants’ overall health and well-being, but also the caregivers’ mental health and can reduce the risk of child abuse by removing stressors that disrupt the developing parent-child relationship.

Did you know:

  • one in three mothers with children under age three experience diaper need?
  • 48% of families delay changing a diaper in an effort to extend supply?
  • programs like SNAP and WIC do not include diaper purchases?

Most childcare facilities require parents leave a supply of diapers with the child which means that parents and caregivers who lack sufficient diaper supply will be unable to access childcare, which may result in missed work or school.

How can you help?

  • Order diapers from our Amazon Wish List to be added to our local diaper bank. 
  • Make a donation to the Junior League of Alexandria Diaper Bank fund. 
  • Make an in-person donation at the Junior League of Alexandria. Donation day and time to be announced.

*Information provided by the National Diaper Bank Network and Proclamation from Gov. John Bel Edwards

Cenla KidzFest

Cenla KidzFest is a free event, designed to promote safety and life skills for women and children through fun activities for children in grades 3rd-8th.

The Junior League of Alexandria hosts this annual event to make lifestyle education fun for kids and their parents. Kids are invited to City Park in Alexandria to visit booths that focus on health, safety, and life skills. There is fun for everyone at Cenla KidzFest, where all booths offer advice and education, but some offer a chance to win prizes or giveaways!

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR SENIORS

Scholarships for Seniors is a program to encourage voluntarism within the female teenage population of Rapides Parish. This fund allows for at least five $1,000.00 scholarships to be given to female high school seniors who have participated to an exceptional degree in volunteer activities. A student will be awarded a scholarship based on the number of volunteer hours, as well as the quality of the service performed. Interested in partnering with us to give additional scholarships to more deserving students? Email our Fund Development Vice President at [email protected] and let us know!

GRANTS

​The Junior League of Alexandria Grants Program’s exclusive goal is to support other non-profit organizations in the community who are working in the League’s focus area by awarding them direct financial assistance. A unique aspect of this grant program is that there are no categorical restrictions on the use of the money.

JLA has afforded the grant committee the liberty to consider proposals for any legitimate need in addressing women’s and children’s issues–administrative, direct care, and all things in between. In receiving detailed narratives of other community efforts, the League is better able to keep its finger on the pulse of these issues. Not only interesting and impressive, but these proposals also foster networking and informational exchange opportunities that are vital to working efficiently and effectively.

Grants are awarded up to $2,500.00 each. The Grant Committee and the League as a whole look forward to learning about and assisting in many worthwhile efforts to enrich the lives of women and children in our community.

DONE IN A DAY (DIAD)

Each year, our League partners with charitable organizations in Cenla to complete one-day projects that positively impact the organization and those it serves, aiming for each project to be “Done in a Day”.
Examples of past projects are:

  • Mini Market at the TREE House Children’s Museum
  • Job Seminar for residents of Turning Point Shelter & Hope House
  • Mural painting at YWCA
  • Painting project at Hope House
  • Filling backpacks for the Food Bank of Cenla backpack program