What about the Junior League of Washington

[Anonymous]

I am a member of the JLW and was a member of the Junior Friends of the Campagna Center. IMO, the Jr. Friends are actually more about the cocktail parties, luncheons, etc. (I still get invited to their functions, they have a TON of them, I didn't have any requirements to volunteer in the community like JLW, just to help organize their parties and the parade, might be different now), and I felt more discriminated against in that organization than I ever have in the JLW. I was in both at the same time and ultimately quit Jr Friends because I just couldn't click with these people or make any friends whatsoever. The reverse was true for me at JLW. So you say tomato, I say tomatoeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Does the Junior League of Washington have free cocktail parties at embassies? I heard they call them teas and tours, but that they really are cocktail parties with open bars. That would be fun.

[Anonymous]

Several years ago these embassy functions sponsored by the JLW were problematic. Although the details were never fully disclosed, my understanding is that there was some financial mismanagement. In other words, somebody was profiting from these functions, but it wasn't the Junior League of Washington or the community.

[Anonymous]

I'll be blunt - I don't have aspirations to join a group of here-to-pad-their-resume, (poorly) bleached blonde (think 1970's salt and pepper), judgmental, look down your nose Southerners who can't stand the thought of someone that doesn't look like them. I've been in that situation here many times over the past 20 years and it gets old very quickly. No, it's not everywhere. Other areas are not so anything to pad your resume. It's really obvious. It's really not productive. Too bad there isn't more of a screening process.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'll be blunt - I don't have aspirations to join a group of here-to-pad-their-resume, (poorly) bleached blonde (think 1970's salt and pepper), judgmental, look down your nose Southerners who can't stand the thought of someone that doesn't look like them. I've been in that situation here many times over the past 20 years and it gets old very quickly. No, it's not everywhere. Other areas are not so anything to pad your resume. It's really obvious. It's really not productive. Too bad there isn't more of a screening process.

Clearly, you aren't a member. This is preposterous. The DC branch of the League is not like this at all - I have been in 3 years and can say maybe less than 5% of the people I have met fit this description. (And PS most have good colorists)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the Junior League of Washington have free cocktail parties at embassies? I heard they call them teas and tours, but that they really are cocktail parties with open bars. That would be fun.

They used to do them, but don't anymore.

The Junior League has 2 kinds of placements, inplacements (volunteering within the league, which could be house management, public relations, in league social events, fundraisers) and outplacements (volunteering with other league members in the community (N Street Village, tutoring at risk kids after school, delivery meals to home board people, working with the elderly, working with HIV positive population, working with homeless shelters, working with the mentally handicapped, etc.). I personally have done both kinds of placements and found both very rewarding. They do have social events for league members to meet each other, a few big annual parties that are also fundraisers, but the main focus is always giving back to the community, not an open bar. People join the JLW for many reasons. Mine personally were that I wanted to volunteer, but just didn't know where or how to get started and I wanted to meet other people outside of work (because when I moved here, those really were the only people I knew). I have been in the JLW for 8+ years now, and even though my life has changed drastically since I joined (married, 2 kids, SAHM, etc.) I still enjoy volunteering with the league and meeting people there. I was just there yesterday for a meeting. It is a diverse organization of women, I am not sure why there is such negative feedback. IMO, it sounds more like people are referring to the Madisons, not the JLW. If you don't know what that is, well, google it.

[Anonymous]

I think the League members who have the free open bar parties are the older women. They don't volunteer anymore and probably never did.

[Anonymous]

Weird that this thread came up in a google search about Junior League projects. Clearly it's NOT a project! LOL

I can tell you that as a 7 year member of a league in the other Washington that for the last 100 years Junior Leagues have been first and foremost about improving communities. I have attended several national leadership training events across the country that AJLI (Assoc. of Junior Leagues International) puts on and I can tell you that the auditorium is not by any means filled with blondes or the other stereotypes posters are imagining. The majority of attendees are well-educated women of all colors and creeds who care enough to give up their own time and money to give back to the community.

Those who think otherwise simply don't get it. Junior League isn't for everyone, nor will it ever be for everyone. Like any organization there are requirements for meeting attendance, project work and hours spent toward fund raising for community grants. Every year we usually lose about a quarter of our new member class after a year or so because there is REAL work involved, dues that need to be paid annually, and not the parties and socializing they may have expected.

Most of them should have joined a social club instead since volunteering clearly wasn't their focus.

[Anonymous]

I think the League members who have the free open bar parties are the older women. They don't volunteer anymore and probably never did........

And you are probably not a member......When these "older" women joined, they required far more hours and when you signed up for something you showed up on time and you did it and did it well. You would be shocked at the number of non profit organizations that these women founded. All ages of the JLW are a tribute to the organization. The problem is that is difficult to find people who have that same sense of dedication and drive and commitment to the community......

[Anonymous]

funny thing is that the JL in Northern Virginia has so many really overweight women. I went to a formal event with my wife, thinking I'd see a bunch of blonde southern hotties, and boy was I in for a letdown. Maybe one 8, the rest 4s and 5s.

Other than appearances, they seemed great. Really into the community and charity. Didn't pick up on any cattiness whatsoever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Former Junior League of Washington member here. There is no such thing as a "senior volunteer".

The Junior League was founding in NYC ~100 years ago. At that time, "respectable" unmarried ladies weren't allowed to go around the city without an escort. A young woman who wanted to make a difference helping the city's destitute citizens formed the Junior League as an acceptable way to help. Junior refers to the fact that it was for unmarried women.

Fast forward to Junior League of Washington in the 21st century.

JLW does not require sponsors to become a member. They are really trying to diversify their membership, with limited success. The majority of their active members are 22-35 years old. I'd venture that most start out single and are married by the time they quit (or go "sustainer") in their mid-30s.

JLW strives to have *trained* volunteers. Ones who can be useful, not just show up and not get anything done. They partner with a lot of organizations throughout DC. Martha's Table, N Street Village, College Bound, National Book Fair, Iona Senior Services, among many others. You probably aren't aware of the activities they are in, b/c they look just like the other volunteers at those organizations. I was never a super enthusiastic member on the social side, although I do think they provide solid opportunities to volunteer in DC.

They also raise money to maintain their facility and to donate to organizations that apply for grants.

I quit a year or two after my DC was born. I just didn't have the schedule that would allow me to make the various meetings and events. I honestly don't think they have figured out how to make it work for working moms or SAHM with kids too young for school.

As for all of the members looking alike, there is a bit of truth to it. Quite a few blonds, quite a few multi-carat diamond rings, some seem to have gone to the same plastic surgeon. But not all by any means. It is quite a bit like a southern sorority, although they really are trying to change that. It is just a slow process when all the southern sorority girls move to DC and want to join b/c their mothers expect them to do so. A few years back they actually had a waiting list to join, as they can only handle a certain number of new members every year (b/c of the training demands).

Instead of trying to figure out fact from fiction on this board, go to their site:
http://www.jlw.org/

I followed you in agreement 'til I got to the part about southern sororities. That analogy seems unfair. Why single out southern any more than any other area with sororities?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I'll be blunt - I don't have aspirations to join a group of here-to-pad-their-resume, (poorly) bleached blonde (think 1970's salt and pepper), judgmental, look down your nose Southerners who can't stand the thought of someone that doesn't look like them. I've been in that situation here many times over the past 20 years and it gets old very quickly. No, it's not everywhere. Other areas are not so anything to pad your resume. It's really obvious. It's really not productive. Too bad there isn't more of a screening process.

Why the bias against southern women? It's amazing how many negative comments are made about southerners in DCUM threads. Guess that doesn't count as prejudice?

[Anonymous]

DCUM is mostly liberal new yorkers/new englanders, so they don't like the south, don't like catholics and certainly don't like republicans.

[Anonymous]

20:50 - your ignorance is showing. Clearly you have never spent substantial time in NY or NE! I think PP may have been referring to the fact that some believe a southern girl's aspirations are somewhat......limited. Just a guess.

[Anonymous]

No, 20:50 is accurate.