Our outreach programs are designed to provide maximum benefit to our communities through our league volunteers, community partnerships and direct financial support.

Family Literacy Program: Our members visit Head Start preschool classrooms, read and provide books and other essential tools for improving literacy, so that children can build literacy skills at home and at school. JLCW members also organize and staff a one-day family event for the same children and their parents to provide parents with support and encourage literacy as a family endeavor.

Grace Church Soup Kitchen: JLCW members provide two meals a month to approximately 100 individuals served by the Grace Church Community Center Soup Kitchen.

Kids in the Kitchen: This program combats childhood obesity by teaching children about nutrition and exercise. Interactive cooking demonstrations, fitness activities and take-home educational materials and recipes are provided.

Public Affairs: The JLCW actively advocates for legislation on behalf of women and children in New York State.

Stepping Stone: JLCW members provide restoration, furnishings and upkeep of a home in Scarsdale for a family in transition from homelessness to self-sufficiency. When the house is occupied, JLCW members also provide support in a variety of ways to the resident family.

Steps to Liberty: The JLCW has published Steps to Liberty, a children’s picture book of historical fiction, based on the history of Wayside Cottage. JLCW members provide author visits to schools, with supplemental educational materials to enrich students’ studies of American colonial history.

Wayside Historical Cottage: The JLCW is the custodian of Wayside Cottage, a national historic site that dates back to colonial times. Our members solicit grants and oversee the restoration, maintenance and preservation of the cottage. In addition, the committee provides guided educational tours in period dress for local schools and community groups.

Westchester Joint Projects: The JLCW collaborates with the five other Westchester Junior Leagues to create a volunteer force of over 1,500 women. This year, the May No One Go Hungry initiative collected over 2,300 food items to help prevent hunger in Westchester. Projects for 2009-2010 include creating Special Angel Memory Boxes for women who have suffered a late term pregnancy or infant loss to honor their child; and making blankets for Project Linus, an organization which supplies blankets to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need.