“Volunteering is the ultimate exercise in democracy. You vote in elections once a year, but when you volunteer, you vote every day about the kind of community you want to live in”.

~Author Unknown

I hope everyone is having a fun and exciting summer and getting ready for a great Junior League of Phoenix year. As I have been traveling this summer, I have tried to stay connected by checking my Facebook page and have seen many posts regarding the political candidates up for election this November. (Don’t worry, I am not about to share my personal opinions on any candidate!) The buzz made me think about the importance of voting not just in the Presidential election every four years but also in all elections for state and local candidates. The outcome of state and local elections affects our daily lives and probably has more impact on us personally than the outcome of the Presidential election. I encourage each JLP member to ensure they are registered to vote to make their voice heard on what is important in our community, across Arizona and in our Nation.

The quote above may be as eye-opening for you as it was for me. As Junior Leaguers we exercise our vote every day by volunteering. We decide what kind of community we want to live in as we volunteer to make lives better. For example, we help kids and parents understand the importance of nutrition and exercise with our Kids in the Kitchen Program. We help educate those who live in areas without easy access to high-quality food about nutrition and healthy eating as well as ways to prepare the fruits and vegetables purchased at the Fresh Express Mobile Market. We help foster problem solving, critical thinking, and exploration skills that are critical to future academic success while making learning science fun with our ROCKETS program. We provide cooking and nutrition education to low income families through the Phoenix Day Health Links program. When we volunteer for these important programs, we vote for successful, strong, community members!

We will have another opportunity to decide the kind of community we want to live in later this year as our Community Research and Development (CR&D) group, one of our Board of Directors strategic subcommittees, gets to work researching what programs we will be voting on at our March GMM. We have 2 programs that will be sun-setting at the end of our administrative year and the CR&D group is working hard to identify options from which our members can select.  I hope everyone has had a fun and relaxing summer and is ready for a fantastic year!

With respect and gratitude,
Cathy Comer
2015-17 Junior League of Phoenix President