As it was in its founding year, the Junior League of Charleston’s community focus is children at risk. The Junior League of Charleston recognizes the need for every child to have an opportunity to live in a nurturing environment, conducive to developing his or her potential. A majority of our community projects today involve reaching out to children and youth.

In 2012, the JLC launched a three-year ‘signature’ project focusing on Childhood Obesity and Nutrition called Junior League on the Move. The program aimed to educate children on healthy living, including nutritious food choices and activities that get kids moving. JLC members developed curriculum, applied for grant funding to provide exercise equipment and led workshops for children on health eating and different types of exercise.

In the fall of 2015, the JLC changed our focus to the expansion of our “Backpack Buddies” program. With our Backpack Buddies program, we provided supplemental nutritional bags of non-perishable food items to 48 children from 3 local preschool classes at 2 different Kanawha County schools. 100% of the children we serve are living in poverty – meaning the family income is at or below the federal income guidelines for poverty. Several of these students are living in a chronic state of homelessness.

In 2018, the JLC members voted to continue our Backpack Buddies program and approved an expansion to the program to include hygiene items.

In 2021 the Backpack Buddies program was expanded yet again to include a local middle school. Currently, we provide 165 bags per month to three local schools, providing children with much needed food and hygiene products.

If you would like to donate to our Backpack Buddies program, we welcome and appreciate contributions of any size. Please feel free to donate through our Support Us page. We will use the shipping address provided to send a letter acknowledging your generosity that can be used as documentation for tax purposes.