Charity Boil funds projects for kids By wavelandwatchers
PASCAGOULA
The Junior Auxiliary of Pascagoula-Moss Point will hold its 11th annual Charity Boil on Aug. 15 at Pelican Landing.
“The Charity Boil is our only fundraiser for the year,” said event co-chair Lisa Keene.
Keene and co-chair Katherine Williford hope to equal the $40,000 raised last year.
“We hope to match what we made last year but that may be difficult with the economy like it is,” Keene said.
The fundraiser will run from 7 until 11 p.m. It will feature boiled shrimp and side dishes, a cash bar and live band.
Last year Junior Auxiliary’s projects included the Sandra Eisler Summer Art Camp for Children, the Zonta Festival, Christmas by the River and the Exceptional School.
Its flagship program, Kids Count, counsels eighth-graders in appropriate decision-making about drug and alcohol abuse, self-esteem, relationships and career goals.
A new project is INK — Inspirational Notes for Kids. Members exchange letters with girls at Jackson Elementary School.
“The relationship established between the individual member and the girl provides the girl with emotional support, exercises her language and writing skills and develops a trusting friendship between the participants,” Keene said."
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Brookhaven JA Holds Skin Cancer Awareness Event
The Daily Leader: "Junior Auxiliary member Linda Hux (left) gives skin cancer awareness brochures to seminar attendee Liz Ratcliff Monday night at the Brookhaven Recreation Department. The Junior Auxiliary held its first Skin Cancer Prevention and Awareness Seminar for people of all ages, aimed at making sure local residents are informed about the dangers of too much ultraviolet exposure from the sun."
Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
NAJA Public Relations Committee
Front Seated: Sherry Hoskins, Paragould, AR; Caroline Kelly, Laurel, MSBack Row: Bridget Hallett, Brandon, MS; Angela Bonds, Russellville, AR; Christy Keirn
Not Pictured: Vicky Morgan, Laurel, MS; Johnna Dobbs, Jonesboro, AR
Thursday, July 2, 2009
NAJA Education Committee
Seated Front: Lynne Trusty, Water Valley, MS; Ruth McCauley, Jonesboro, AR; Sharon Weeks, Biloxi, MS; Janis Bunting, Madison, FL
Back Row: Kelly Chaney, Cabot, AR; Christy Keirn; Terri Jackson, Brandon, MS; Johnnie Tolleson, Kosciusko, MS; Merrill Greenlee and BJ Nichols
Not Pictured: Kimberly Minton, Jonesboro, AR
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
President's Acceptance Speech
President's Acceptance Speech
Christy Case Keirn
May 2, 2009
Thank you Esther, and thank all of you for allowing me to serve as your NAJA President this coming year. As I was thinking about coming to Nashville for AEC and the year we have ahead of us, I was reminded of one of my favorite writers, who happens to be from right here in Nashville. He said once that Air Conditioning ruined the South. Used to be, he will tell you, before air conditioning came along, folks sat on the front porch a lot. He says that back then, we knew everyone in the community and as different people came by, whether they were riding or walking, they stopped or slowed down and waved or spoke. That was a time when people didn’t shut themselves off from other people in the community. Everyone had a front porch and they used it. Not only did neighbors know each other, they looked after all the kids in the neighborhood. If, as a child, you misbehaved, you could bet your parents would know it before you got home from school. On front porches back then, people talked about strangers in the neighborhood, who was in need of help, and who might need encouraging.
About the same time air conditioning became popular in homes, and as my favorite writer said, began to ruin the South, a group of women were meeting in Greenville, Mississippi to talk about children and how to meet their needs. It was 1941, and the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries was born. Maybe those women sensed a need to get to know their communities better. Maybe they wanted to get to know each other better as neighbors and see what they could do together. The National Association of Junior Auxiliaries is about raising thousands of dollars and investing hundreds of hours of time in projects that make a difference.
The Children’s Defense Fund released a report in 2008 called The State of America’s Children. In it, they listed several shocking statistics for children in America. Did you know that in AMERICA …
Every 19 seconds a child is arrested.
Every 21 seconds a baby is born to an unmarried mother.
Every 33 seconds a baby is born into poverty.
Every 35 seconds a child is confirmed as abused or neglected.
Every 4 minutes a child is arrested for a drug offense.
Every 7 minutes a child is arrested for a violent crime.
Every 18 minutes a baby dies before its first birthday.
Every 3 hours a child is killed by a firearm.
Every 5 hours a child commits suicide.
Every six hours a child is killed by abuse or neglect.
These are the statistics many of you have seen first-hand, by conducting community surveys through Junior Auxiliary, AND, you are making a difference in your communities by attacking these issues through the projects you create.
In Mississippi, almost 3 in 10 children live in poverty – the highest rate in the nation. For children living in poverty, nothing is the same as it is for you and me. To make a difference for children in poverty, Junior Auxiliary Chapters are developing projects to provide the basics. Thank you to Franklin, Tennessee for Coat of Many Colors; Crystal Springs, Mississippi for Pencil Pals; Gulfport, Mississippi for Clothes Closet; Harrison, Arkansas for Home to Home; and Humboldt, Tennessee for Somebunny Cares.
To fight drugs in the community, Junior Auxiliary has implemented projects like Kids Count by Laurel, Mississippi; Cabot, Arkansas for Crystal Meth Awareness; and to combat under-aged drinking, there are projects like Hattiesburg, Mississippi’s Total Reality; Tate-Panola, Mississippi’s Prom Promise; Camden, Arkansas’ Tie-One-On; Columbia, Mississippi’s Last Dance; and Columbus, Mississippi’s Choose Your Path.
For abused or neglected children Wayne County, Mississippi makes a difference through Bear Hugs; Mountain Home, Arkansas through Caring Hearts; Houma, Louisiana through Haven Helping Hands; Benton, Arkansas through Project Comfort; Biloxi-Ocean Springs through Tomorrow’s Promises; and Collierville, TN through A Place for Peace.
For at-risk girls, special clubs have been developed to help build self-esteem and to encourage social experiences that these girls might otherwise never have. Thank you Amory, Mississippi for making a difference through Princess for a Day; Batesville, Mississippi for Heart to Heart; Columbia, Tennessee, for KD’s Kids; and Greenville, MS for Smart Girls. You have made a difference by giving these girls hope for their futures. These are just a few examples of remarkable projects you are working on to address the statistical horrors we hear about.
I will never forget the first project I worked on a JA active in McComb, Mississippi. I was assigned to Kennedy Girls, a club at Kennedy Elementary School much like those I referred to. Girls were chosen by Ms. Patty, a secretary at the school who invited third and fourth grade girls with no female role model to be a part of this special club. We mentored these little girls and taught them about things we hoped would make a difference in their lives. I was paired with an awkward little girl named Rochelle. She had a sister Ranada and one she called Tootie. All three were under the age of 10. All three lived in poverty. All three were taken from their single mother before the year was out because of her addiction to drugs. Rochelle and her sisters moved in with her grandmother, and seemed to be doing well, until her grandmother remarried and the new husband decided he didn’t want several young children living with them. Rochelle and her sisters were moved to Tupelo, Mississippi to live with their dad. In Tupelo, things were not much better for these girls. The Department of Human Services found out about physical abuse and moved these girls to three different foster homes.
When I talked to Rochelle about the move into Foster Care and the separation from her sisters, I could tell over the phone she was smiling as she said “It’s gonna be okay, Ms. Christy, they have Junior Auxiliary ladies in Tupelo too.” That child knew someone would be there for her because of Junior Auxiliary. Rochelle thrived in the foster care environment in Tupelo. Her grades were good and she had a happy high school life. She is old enough now to make her own choices about where she lives and she has chosen to go to Louisiana to be near her mom, whom she loves despite their past. We still keep in touch and I still treasure a little drawing she did for me when she was in Kennedy Girls that says, “I love you Ms. Christy. I wish you was my mom.” The truth is, knowing Rochelle through Junior Auxiliary made a difference in MY life.
This has been the mission of Junior Auxiliary since 1941…to make a difference. To make a difference for children in over 100 communities where there are 14,000 women just like me and you dedicated to serving. To make a difference by getting to know our neighbors and what their needs are. There are many, many children just like Rochelle in this world who need us. They have needs that we can meet, working together as a group of committed women like we have for the last 68 years.
I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as President of this incredible Association. I want to thank my husband, Bud, too for always supporting me and for loving those little Kennedy Girls as much as I did. Thank you to the Batesville, Mississippi Chapter for the logo design they have allowed me to adopt for my theme this year. I saw the design on their Chapter t-shirts and asked them to let me share the “Making a Difference” theme with you this year. Thank you to my home Chapter, McComb, Mississippi, and to all of these incredible women who do such good work in the town I grew up in. Especially thank you to Judi Passman who is one of my dearest friends in all the world and who is here tonight.
I hope that you will share your stories with me this year. Email me, call me, add me as a Facebook or MySpace friend. I look forward to hearing how your Chapter and your members have been good neighbors, gotten back out on the front porch in your community, and made a difference in a child’s life.
I am truly proud of this honor. Thank you again, Christy Keirn
Christy Case Keirn
May 2, 2009
Thank you Esther, and thank all of you for allowing me to serve as your NAJA President this coming year. As I was thinking about coming to Nashville for AEC and the year we have ahead of us, I was reminded of one of my favorite writers, who happens to be from right here in Nashville. He said once that Air Conditioning ruined the South. Used to be, he will tell you, before air conditioning came along, folks sat on the front porch a lot. He says that back then, we knew everyone in the community and as different people came by, whether they were riding or walking, they stopped or slowed down and waved or spoke. That was a time when people didn’t shut themselves off from other people in the community. Everyone had a front porch and they used it. Not only did neighbors know each other, they looked after all the kids in the neighborhood. If, as a child, you misbehaved, you could bet your parents would know it before you got home from school. On front porches back then, people talked about strangers in the neighborhood, who was in need of help, and who might need encouraging.
About the same time air conditioning became popular in homes, and as my favorite writer said, began to ruin the South, a group of women were meeting in Greenville, Mississippi to talk about children and how to meet their needs. It was 1941, and the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries was born. Maybe those women sensed a need to get to know their communities better. Maybe they wanted to get to know each other better as neighbors and see what they could do together. The National Association of Junior Auxiliaries is about raising thousands of dollars and investing hundreds of hours of time in projects that make a difference.
The Children’s Defense Fund released a report in 2008 called The State of America’s Children. In it, they listed several shocking statistics for children in America. Did you know that in AMERICA …
Every 19 seconds a child is arrested.
Every 21 seconds a baby is born to an unmarried mother.
Every 33 seconds a baby is born into poverty.
Every 35 seconds a child is confirmed as abused or neglected.
Every 4 minutes a child is arrested for a drug offense.
Every 7 minutes a child is arrested for a violent crime.
Every 18 minutes a baby dies before its first birthday.
Every 3 hours a child is killed by a firearm.
Every 5 hours a child commits suicide.
Every six hours a child is killed by abuse or neglect.
These are the statistics many of you have seen first-hand, by conducting community surveys through Junior Auxiliary, AND, you are making a difference in your communities by attacking these issues through the projects you create.
In Mississippi, almost 3 in 10 children live in poverty – the highest rate in the nation. For children living in poverty, nothing is the same as it is for you and me. To make a difference for children in poverty, Junior Auxiliary Chapters are developing projects to provide the basics. Thank you to Franklin, Tennessee for Coat of Many Colors; Crystal Springs, Mississippi for Pencil Pals; Gulfport, Mississippi for Clothes Closet; Harrison, Arkansas for Home to Home; and Humboldt, Tennessee for Somebunny Cares.
To fight drugs in the community, Junior Auxiliary has implemented projects like Kids Count by Laurel, Mississippi; Cabot, Arkansas for Crystal Meth Awareness; and to combat under-aged drinking, there are projects like Hattiesburg, Mississippi’s Total Reality; Tate-Panola, Mississippi’s Prom Promise; Camden, Arkansas’ Tie-One-On; Columbia, Mississippi’s Last Dance; and Columbus, Mississippi’s Choose Your Path.
For abused or neglected children Wayne County, Mississippi makes a difference through Bear Hugs; Mountain Home, Arkansas through Caring Hearts; Houma, Louisiana through Haven Helping Hands; Benton, Arkansas through Project Comfort; Biloxi-Ocean Springs through Tomorrow’s Promises; and Collierville, TN through A Place for Peace.
For at-risk girls, special clubs have been developed to help build self-esteem and to encourage social experiences that these girls might otherwise never have. Thank you Amory, Mississippi for making a difference through Princess for a Day; Batesville, Mississippi for Heart to Heart; Columbia, Tennessee, for KD’s Kids; and Greenville, MS for Smart Girls. You have made a difference by giving these girls hope for their futures. These are just a few examples of remarkable projects you are working on to address the statistical horrors we hear about.
I will never forget the first project I worked on a JA active in McComb, Mississippi. I was assigned to Kennedy Girls, a club at Kennedy Elementary School much like those I referred to. Girls were chosen by Ms. Patty, a secretary at the school who invited third and fourth grade girls with no female role model to be a part of this special club. We mentored these little girls and taught them about things we hoped would make a difference in their lives. I was paired with an awkward little girl named Rochelle. She had a sister Ranada and one she called Tootie. All three were under the age of 10. All three lived in poverty. All three were taken from their single mother before the year was out because of her addiction to drugs. Rochelle and her sisters moved in with her grandmother, and seemed to be doing well, until her grandmother remarried and the new husband decided he didn’t want several young children living with them. Rochelle and her sisters were moved to Tupelo, Mississippi to live with their dad. In Tupelo, things were not much better for these girls. The Department of Human Services found out about physical abuse and moved these girls to three different foster homes.
When I talked to Rochelle about the move into Foster Care and the separation from her sisters, I could tell over the phone she was smiling as she said “It’s gonna be okay, Ms. Christy, they have Junior Auxiliary ladies in Tupelo too.” That child knew someone would be there for her because of Junior Auxiliary. Rochelle thrived in the foster care environment in Tupelo. Her grades were good and she had a happy high school life. She is old enough now to make her own choices about where she lives and she has chosen to go to Louisiana to be near her mom, whom she loves despite their past. We still keep in touch and I still treasure a little drawing she did for me when she was in Kennedy Girls that says, “I love you Ms. Christy. I wish you was my mom.” The truth is, knowing Rochelle through Junior Auxiliary made a difference in MY life.
This has been the mission of Junior Auxiliary since 1941…to make a difference. To make a difference for children in over 100 communities where there are 14,000 women just like me and you dedicated to serving. To make a difference by getting to know our neighbors and what their needs are. There are many, many children just like Rochelle in this world who need us. They have needs that we can meet, working together as a group of committed women like we have for the last 68 years.
I want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve as President of this incredible Association. I want to thank my husband, Bud, too for always supporting me and for loving those little Kennedy Girls as much as I did. Thank you to the Batesville, Mississippi Chapter for the logo design they have allowed me to adopt for my theme this year. I saw the design on their Chapter t-shirts and asked them to let me share the “Making a Difference” theme with you this year. Thank you to my home Chapter, McComb, Mississippi, and to all of these incredible women who do such good work in the town I grew up in. Especially thank you to Judi Passman who is one of my dearest friends in all the world and who is here tonight.
I hope that you will share your stories with me this year. Email me, call me, add me as a Facebook or MySpace friend. I look forward to hearing how your Chapter and your members have been good neighbors, gotten back out on the front porch in your community, and made a difference in a child’s life.
I am truly proud of this honor. Thank you again, Christy Keirn
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Annual Education Conference 2009
What an amazing experience it was to be in Franklin, Tennessee last week for Annual Education Conference! Seeing nearly 600 women check into the Cool Springs Marriott for one reason - to help them learn more about serving children - was an overwhelming sight! It was a pleasure to meet new people and to see old friends again. Thank you to everyone for such a wonderful weekend.
Because someone asked to see the statistics I mentioned in my speech, I am posting the entire speech here. I will also post a link to the website where more information can be found. Thank you for all of your support. I look forward to a wonderful year ahead!
Because someone asked to see the statistics I mentioned in my speech, I am posting the entire speech here. I will also post a link to the website where more information can be found. Thank you for all of your support. I look forward to a wonderful year ahead!
Monday, May 4, 2009
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