Junior Auxiliary of Natchez is celebrating National JA Week this week. This annual celebration is a time to pause and thank the community, sponsors and volunteer members who work so hard year-round to make a positive difference.

The week will be celebrated by our chapter with a book drive benefiting our local schools and nursing home residents. We are asking for new or gently used books, magazines and activity books which will be donated to help foster the love of reading in our school-age children and also help keep the minds of our elderly citizens active. Books can be dropped off with me at J.E. Hicks Distributing in Natchez or I can be contacted to arrange a pick-up.

Also, the drive will stay open until the Shrimp Boil which will take place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on April 22 on the bluff across from Bowie’s Tavern on Broadway Street in historic downtown Natchez.

JA of Natchez has been a part of the community since 1952. Members, over the years, have logged countless hours to serve the community, and during the 2014-2015 year, hundreds of hours went into various projects such as the JA Shrimp Boil and Angel Tree.

This is an exciting week for us because it gives us the chance to thank all of the citizens of Natchez-Adams County for supporting us in this work. The families and children we serve are so deserving and thankful for the assistance we receive from the community, without which none of what we do would be possible.

“As the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries will soon be entering into our 75th year of serving others and many chapters have been a part of that from the beginning. “Whether a chapter has been with us for 75 years or one year, the fact that our members have a heart for service and a passion for making a difference in the lives of their neighbors around them has never wavered,” said Amanda Knauer, NAJA (National Association of Junior Auxiliary) president.

Junior Auxiliary of Natchez is a part of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries (NAJA), a non-profit organization founded in 1941 with headquarters in Greenville. NAJA has 15,043 active, associate and life members in 96 Chapters in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. Junior Auxiliary members volunteered more than 96,312 hours in their communities in 2014-2015, and invested $2,808,969.55 in seven southeastern state in 2014-2015.

The NAJA slogan is “Care Today – Character Tomorrow.” Junior Auxiliary chapters are working more than ever to provide care to those less fortunate in order to make their tomorrows better.

For more information about donating books call me at 601-597-8244, or to make a tax deductible donation to JA of Natchez, visit its website or call Chassity Cannon at 601-870-0195. For more information on NAJA, visit www.najanet.org or call 662-332-3000.

 

Morgan Mizell is the public relations chairman of the Junior Auxiliary of Natchez.