LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Volunteers with the Junior League of Lubbock have been providing leadership and helping the city improve since 1935.
Deborah Finlayson, a sustaining member and former president, says the Junior League got its start by providing immediate assistance to those who needed it most.
“It started as the Junior Welfare League,” Finlayson said, “and one of our biggest projects was the Well Baby Clinic. The Well Baby Clinic was very popular and very helpful to all of the people in our community.”
Over the past nine decades, Junior League of Lubbock has continued to make an impact by establishing and supporting several local nonprofits.
Those include the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Southwest, CASA of the South Plains, and Women’s Protective Services.
“We have a committee that will look at the needs of the community,” Finlayson said, “and then they will define three or four things that they really want to focus on, and then the membership will vote on what’s the most pressing for them as well.”
Current President Ginny Simpson says the organization creates a great relationship between the people who are involved and the projects they’re most passionate about.
“I think that’s at the heart of what the Junior League is about, is giving back to our community and making our community better through our trained volunteers,” Simpson said. “I’ve stayed in the Junior League because it gives me that outlet, the ability to see the good in the community and the good people are trying to do here.”
Finlayson estimates roughly $15 million have been put back into the community through the organization’s hard work.
The league and its members are committed to making a bright future for Lubbock, working to create a welcoming environment that helps women develop leadership skills.
“The Junior League allows women to come in and have a safe environment to learn to lead and to learn these skills they can take back to the workplace or to serve on another nonprofit board,” Simpson said.
“I love how what we do and what we set out to do shows results,” Finlayson said. “We might not solve world hunger tomorrow, but my gosh we certainly make a dent in it.”
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