ABOUT US
The San Antonio Junior Forum, one of ten JFI chapters in Texas, was founded on January 20, 1961, with seventeen original members. We had a profit that year of $42.50 from selling candy. San Antonio Junior Forum has grown in strength, numbers, and influence. We have a membership of nearly 200 women and have made financial contributions to our city of over $1 million.
Committed to serving the needs of our community, San Antonio Junior Forum is involved with a number of worthwhile service projects. Through the contribution of volunteer hours and extraordinary fund raising efforts, SAJF continues to have a positive impact on San Antonio, helping many individuals and groups that otherwise would have no support.
Among San Antonio Junior Forum’s many accomplishments is the San Antonio Junior Forum Literacy Library, established in 1966 in conjunction with the Literacy Council. SAJF also established the original grant for Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital Cancer Research Center Patient Aid Fund. Members have spent countless hours at the Brighton School for children with Down’s syndrome and the San Antonio Children’s Shelter. Members have volunteered at the Nix Tumor Clinic (now part of Methodist Hospital) and conducted tours of The Alamo.
Seniors have received attention at the Commander’s House, where in 1975 SAJF teamed with the City of San Antonio to provide older citizens with recreational activities, educational classes and nutritious meals. SAJF members continue to serve seniors through Mobile Meals, and monthly entertainment provided to local senior centers. Other service projects have included: San Antonio Festival, Art League Jamboree, Southwest Craft Center, Circle T Riding School’s Equestrian Therapy Program, American Cancer Society and Leukemia Society, The Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Baptist Memorial Hospital Nursing Unit, and the Texas Society to Prevent Blindness.
In 1985, SAJF started Kids on the Block, an innovative puppet show that helps children learn about handicaps and become more accepting and sensitive to individuals with disabilities. About 10,000 school children a year see the show as the puppeteers travel to all area school districts.
From 1966 through June 2005, SAJF members have volunteered over 242,000 service hours.
And that is only half the story. Through our fundraising ability, San Antonio Junior Forum rose over $1 million and distributed it in our city. Starting with the candy sale that netted only $42.50, these resourceful women have raised funds through rummage sales, gala parties of all imaginable themes (Hawaiian Luau, Las Vegas Night, Mardi Gras, Western), luncheon style shows, book and author luncheons, and the sale of SAJF’s dynamic cookbook, Celebrate San Antonio. Celebrate San Antonio was voted into the Walter S. McIlhennyHall of Fame and won the Tabasco Award for community cookbooks.
In 1993, San Antonio Junior Forum purchased the building at 12475 Starcrest. They used the structure for business meetings, the cookbook office, and as another avenue for Community Assistance fundraising, by leasing the extensions for special events. In 2000, we sold the building and the proceeds enabled us to establish an endowment whose proceeds help support our scholarships and grants. Over $186,000 in scholarships have been awarded to deserving students in the San Antonio area.
San Antonio Junior Forum looks to the future in great anticipation as we continue to contribute both financially and personally and in service to our community.
