Find the Good Day is an Association of Junior Leagues International (AJLI) initiative dedicated to finding the good in ourselves, our communities, and the world around us. This Day is not just a date on the calendar; its a movement that reflects the timeless spirit of Junior Leagues a legacy of kindness, empowerment, and community transformation.
As its signature Find the Good Day project, the NYJL partnered with All Souls NYC, Catholic Charities of New York, and Henry Street Settlement, to provide 603 hygiene kits for unaccompanied youth, families and individuals experiencing homelessness, and clients in other situations. “The New York Junior League is proud to recognize the second annual Find the Good Day by focusing on some of New York City’s most marginalized residents, said NYJL President Jeri Powell. “Basic necessities are taken for granted by many, but in the communities we serve, they are an overlooked need that impacts a person’s dignity, sense of well-being, and ability to engage in everyday life. We are working with our partners to get hygiene kits directly to their clients to meet an immediate need.”
In the weeks leading up to Find the Good Day, NYJL volunteers fundraised in-kind and monetary donations to create the hygiene kits, which included necessities such as socks, deodorant, toothbrushes and toothpaste, and more. The hygiene kits, which were sorted and packaged by volunteers on September 19, will have a tangible impact on hundreds of individuals across three community partners in New York City.
Catholic Charities Community Services operates a wide array of specialized programs that serve immigrants living in NYC shelters. We offer free legal consultations twenty days per month at the three New York City Immigration Courts, in more than 45 NYC schools and several times a month at our offices. We also work with unaccompanied youth who reside in the shelter system, some with children of their own, shared Beatriz Diaz Taveras, Executive Director of Catholic Charities Community Services, New York. We are delighted to be able to share hygiene kits from the New York Junior League with these clients, who are often the most vulnerable individuals we support. We are grateful to the NYJL for contributing to the well-being of those we serve.
The Find the Good Day hygiene kits are interconnected with the NYJLs current four focus issues for state and city government advocacy: mental healthcare equity, women’s health and equality, poverty relief, and domestic violence. Mental health is an invisible issue that affects as many as one in five New Yorkers every year and the hygiene kits will allow recipients to practice self-care, which can positively impact mental health. The hygiene kits will directly impact womens health and equality and poverty relief, as well as those impacted by domestic violence, as it is the single largest driver of family homelessness in New York City.
The NYJL also focused on its mission as a training organization and its advocacy issue of womens health and equality by offering a sold-out educational training and skills training in CPR and AED from a registered health practitioner. Course participants received American Red Cross certifications.
The spirit of Find the Good day continued over the weekend, as NYJL volunteers and supporters shopped for good with official AJLI Find the Good Day partner, Kendra Scott, both online and at the brands East Coast flagship store in SoHo. Kendra Scott generously donated 20% of sales on September 20 and 21 to the NYJL in support of its hygiene kits initiative.
About the New York Junior League
Since 1901, the New York Junior League (NYJL) has responded to New York Citys most pressing socioeconomic challenges. Powered by more than 2,500 women volunteers, the NYJL works with more than 60 community-based organizations to advance childrens social-emotional learning and to provide life skills programs to youth and adults who are navigating periods of difficult transition. Bringing their diverse experiences and talents, trained NYJL volunteers engage women and children in health, education, and arts workshops specially customized to their needs. The NYJL advocates with state and city government for women- and children-centered policies and develops volunteers leadership skills for service in the NYJL and on other nonprofit boards, all while cultivating a community that reinforces womens personal relationships and collective power as drivers of positive change. The NYJL also responds to community partners requests for immediate support and invests funds and volunteers time in restoring public parks and community spaces to create welcoming environments conducive to fitness, health, recreation, and socialization.
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