Pictured Above: Members of the Junior League of St. Petersburg pictured with Mayor Rick Kriseman on March 4.
Courtesy of the Junior League of St. Petersburg on Instagram
By Andrew Quinlan
The Junior League of St. Petersburg celebrated their 90th anniversary on March 4, including a “light up” at Tropicana Field, a declaration of the date as Junior League of St. Petersburg Day by Mayor Rick Kriseman, and the launch of a massive education donation program.
The organization, founded in 1931, is a group of young women dedicated to promoting volunteering activism in St. Petersburg and other local areas, including Gulfport. The group hopes to develop the potential of women and educate them and improve their community through effective action.
“It was amazing seeing the support from Mayor Kriseman and the Rays,” said Megan Roach, the president of the organization and a resident of Gulfport. “We look forward to continue doing more work to help grow St. Pete and the surrounding areas.”
To celebrate their landmark anniversary, the Tampa Bay Rays lit up their stadium inside the dome at Tropicana Field with red and white lights, which are the colors of the organization.
In honor of these celebrations, the Junior League of St. Pete is donating 6,000 bags to local schools that include different items that represent the organization’s various projects and programs: 2,000 bags have a book and bookmark to promote reading for their Literacy program, 2,000 more will have a healthy snack and recipes for their Kids in the Kitchen program and 2,000 additional students will have a coloring sheet and pack of crayons for their Kids Create program.
The organization has been focusing on youth education recently. They are currently running a fundraiser for John Hopkins Middle School in St. Petersburg and Perkins Elementary in Gulfport.
“Education is incredibly important to us at the Junior League,” Roach said. “Our future is in the hands of young students, so we hope to leave a positive impact on them and inspire them to improve their communities.”
Junior Leagues have been a staple in America for over a century. The organization, which has nearly 300 divisions across North America, are a fixture in volunteer work. As their mission statement proclaims, “The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.”
The Junior League of St. Petersburg has clearly made a noticeable impact on their local communities, and is poised to continue to do so.