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League
History
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by Year
"Women
Building
Better Communities"
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Today
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CURRENT VOLUNTEER PROJECTS
Palmer Drug Abuse Program's
"Special People"
The
Special People program at Palmer Drug Abuse Program is an
education and prevention program that is designed to help
children ages 5-12 who have been affected by the chemical
addiction (drug or alcohol) of a parent, brother, sister, or
other family member. This
free program focuses on feelings, friendship, trust and
self-esteem. Through
music, games, arts and crafts, children learn that their
feelings are important and that they are truly special people.
The Special People program is led by a licensed counselor
and assisted by Junior League of McAllen volunteers.
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The Vannie E. Cook Jr.
Children's Cancer &
Hematology Clinic's
"Arts in
Medicine"
| The Arts in Medicine program at the Vannie
E. Cook Jr. Children's Cancer & Hematology Clinic is a project of the
Junior League of McAllen. Volunteers provide
an avenue for the children to express themselves and help the
treatment time pass a little quicker.
They organize art supplies, choose age appropriate
art projects for patients and their siblings, and work one-on-one with the
young patients on arts and crafts - both in the waiting area and during
lengthy treatments. Volunteers also assist the
children with completing artwork for the “Making a Mark” competition
each year. |
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Bully
Talk
With the increase of violence
in our schools on the rise, the Junior League of McAllen has implemented
a program called “Bully Talk”, which provides over
3,000 children with the information and tools necessary
to handle bullies successfully. Each
year, volunteers visit every third grade classroom in the McAllen Independent
School District. The children view a video featuring
children sharing their stories of having been bullied and allowing the students in the classroom to act out some real-life
situations of bullying. The children
are given further guidance by specially trained officers
from the
Edinburg Police Department and the McAllen ISD
Police Department.
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McAllen Police Department's
"Teen Court"
Teen
Court is a legally binding alternative system of justice that offers
young first-time offenders an opportunity to make restitution for their offenses
through community service, educational classes, and jury service.
Teen
Court tries real cases with real consequences.
Teen Court is a "hands on"
educational opportunity that allows both offenders and teen volunteers to better understand our
system of justice. Approximately 600 teens are served during each school year.
The Urban Institute’s Evaluation of Teen Courts Project,
published in 2002, compared recidivism outcomes for teen court
defendants with outcomes for youth handled by the regular
juvenile justice system. The six month recidivism rates
for the two teen court programs in the study whose results
were statistically significant were 6% to 9% compared with 23%
to 28% for youth in the regular juvenile justice system.
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Community
Connections
| Community
Connections enabled the Junior League of McAllen to assist community
agencies which did not have a need for volunteers on an ongoing basis,
but needed staff for a special event.
During a typical year, this committee lent a helping hand to: American Cancer Society's "Annual Golf Tournament" (which
provides funds for children with cancer to go to camp), Mujeres
Unidas' "Mother's Day Fun Run", Keep McAllen
Beautiful's "Wild Walk Outdoor Adventure", March of Dime's
"Noche Especial", Make-A-Wish's
"Extravaganza", Children Advocacy Center's "Kickin’ Abuse
into the Cold", The Valley Symphony Orchestra's "Youth
Concerts", Tim's Coats & Toys for Tots. |
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The
Junior League of McAllen, Inc.
