Junior League leaders help women, children

In response to the June 11 letter by Dennis Burrier (“Do art, wine suggestions bother you?”:

I venture to guess Burrier doesn't know many Junior League members. If he did, he would know that Junior League has a proud, 76-year legacy of spearheading projects benefiting women and children in Cedar Rapids.

I challenge Burrier to imagine a Cedar Rapids without Playtime Poppy, the Science Station, Neighborhood Watch, Taylor Elementary mentoring, Madge Phillips Center, Old MacDonald's Farm, Leadership for Five Seasons or our most recent partnership with The ARC of East Central Iowa.

Junior League has members who hold leadership roles in many companies and organizations in our community. They are women who are involved because they have a passion for improving the community. I invite any member of the community to get involved with organizations whose missions they support, instead of commenting on the sidelines, because that's what Junior League is all about – promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through trained volunteers.

Junior League is not simply a group of east-side, wine-drinking, affluent women in pearls. The Junior League of Cedar Rapids is led by a proud, born-and-bred Jefferson High School grad who spends more time in tennis shoes than in heels.

I know my focus will be to ensure the mission of Junior League is upheld, not unfortunate stereotypes that only serve to get in the way of lasting change for our community.

Karen Swanson Pelletier

President,

Junior League of Cedar Rapids