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Sunday, October 14, 2001
Their cup of tea
Ladies-who-lunch are no longer the norm
By Leanne Libby
Caller-Times

Michelle Christenson, George Tuley/Caller-Times

Evelyn Faris-Gonzales (from left), Sylvia Ford, and Leticia Mondragon are among the new faces in Junior League.

Evelyn Farias-Gonzales recently took the stage in Austin, wearing a bikini and flexing her muscles for her first body-building competition. She walked away with second place in the master's division and third in the novice lightweight division.
   Her preparation included hours in the gym; she can do curls with 30-pound weights. It's not dainty work. Farias-Gonzales, 35, also flexes her volunteer muscles at Junior League meetings. The Blanche Moore Elementary School assistant principal is one of 43 women in the newest class of Junior League members, and she's found she fits right in.
   While Junior League was founded 100 years ago on the basis of community service, it has been the subject of ridicule in some circles, stereotyped as a group of wealthy Anglo housewives who meet for tea and try to cling to their sorority days.
   There may have been some nuggets of truth in that caricature, but there is scant evidence of it today in the Corpus Christi chapter. In Farias-Gonzales' group of new members, close to half are Hispanic, and most are busily forging careers outside the home.
   Weighty organization
   Gonzales, 35, readily admitted she didn't know a thing about Junior League until recently.

What does the Junior League do?

1940 Established Family Welfare Services at 915 S. Staples St. It is now known as Family Counseling Service
1943 Members served as “minute maids,” passing through public places with trays of bonds and stamps
1959 Established the Del Mar Student Loan Fund
1970 Established a YWCA outreach program at Clairlane Center
1976 Coordinated city’s first Bayfest, along with the Arts Council
1989 Established Opportunity Knocks, a program awarding grants and volunteer assistance to nonprofit organizations
1990 Collaborated with the city of Corpus Christi to establish a community playground at Cole Park (built KidsPlace in 1991)
1991 Collaborated with Nueces County Court Systems and Department of Human Services to develop Nueces County C.A.S.A. (Court-Appointed Special Advocate) to speak on behalf of abused or neglected children.
1997 Initiated Graffiti Wipe-Out
1999 Initiated Corpus Christi chapter of Dress for Success (providing clothing and counseling to low-income women looking for employment) Source: The Junior League of Corpus Christi, Inc.
Projected expenses for 2000-2001

Total income: $207,288.87
Community projects and programs: 49 percent
Program support: 35 percent
Volunteer training: 14 percent
Research: 2 percent

   "I thought it was more like a sorority," she said. "I was just oblivious."
   Farias-Gonzales, who generally works an eight- to 10-hour day and some weekends, could just as easily flop on the couch during her precious time off. But when four Junior League members offered to recommend her as a new member, she agreed. Farias-Gonzales said the opportunity to join came at just the right time."I think I needed to broaden my horizons," she said. "I've been with education for such a long time, and I always wanted to volunteer but never took the time. I wanted to give back to the community and not be so self-centered."
   Farias-Gonzales said she was also attracted to the diversity of the group at all levels.
   "Because I am a Hispanic, I know more Hispanic people, and the women I kept running into were in Junior League," she said. "There are also quite a number of Hispanics playing major leadership roles."
   When she went to her first provisional class meeting, she realized that close to half the women were Hispanic.
   As of 2000, the League boasted 200,000 members in Canada, Great Britain, Mexico and the U.S. What began as the Junior Assistance Club in 1937 in Corpus Christi became a Junior League chapter in 1944. Now it has about 448 members, 43 new, or "provisional" members, 130 active members and 275 sustainers, who are advisors to active and provisional members.
   No time for tea
   Barbara Milfelt laughs when asked about the stereotype that the Junior League is little more than a gossip party.
   "We don't have much social time," she said. "We might get a little in before a meeting starts, but as a group, we don't get together much."
   Milfelt, a legal administrator, has been in Junior League for eight years. This year, she is a provisional chairman, meaning she shepherds new members like Farias-Gonzales through their first year.
   During their provisional year, new members attend weekly meetings to learn about Junior League as well as dip their toes into League projects. Once they are active members, the women will be required to volunteer at least 100 hours a year.
   New members are between the ages of 23 and 45. The average age of a new member has been creeping up over the years.
   "Recent changes in our bylaws have allowed us to offer membership to an older crowd, if you will," said Milfelt, 43. "Before, you couldn't be older than 39."
   What's in it for me?
   Many Junior League members have jobs that demand well over 40 hours a week, and some are raising families as well. Why take on volunteer work, let alone with an organization that demands so much time?
   Norah Peters-Davis, dean of undergraduate studies at Arcadia University, said her studies of volunteers have shown motivation that reaches outside community service.
   "There's a mixture of self-interest and altruism," Peters-Davis said. "Sure, you can network on the golf course or you can go to bars, but something makes you choose this sort of organization."
   Peters-Davis noted that men used to join organizations considered "instrumental," such as Rotary International,while women's groups such as Junior League were viewed as "effective," or helping, organizations. As more and more women entered the workplace, however, this perception changed.
   "As women redefine their roles, what they want out of an organization is also redefined," she said. "(Junior League) is a place where women can join together with other women. It's a known entity with a structure and national level already in place."
   Getting dirty
   Leticia Mondragon, is terrified of heights. But shortly after she joined Junior League she found herself standing in the baking sun one afternoon, staring up a telephone pole she was challenged to climb.
   She clamped on her helmet, clung to her safety rope and began inching up. Going halfway up was accomplishment enough for her. She returned home sweaty and sunburned, but with a new connection to her fellow provisional members.
   "Unfortunately, sometimes Junior League gets a bad rap," Mondragon said. " Generally ... we are a group of professional women who of course always want to look nice. But we were all at that ropes course with no makeup, wearing shorts and getting dirty."
   Mondragon, 34, works in public relations and donor recruiting for the Community Blood Bank. She spends most of her days dressed in a suit, and it's not unusual for her to work all seven days of the week.
   She's also something of a volunteer-a-holic. In addition to joining Junior League, she's on the board of directors for the Paisano Girl Scouts Council. She mentors a class of kindergarten students. She's an ambassador for the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
   Since she's unmarried and doesn't have children, Mondragon has more time to volunteer than some peers. Still, she's running out of time to spare. No one in her family sneered when she mentioned the League, but they did wonder when she would sleep.
   "They were surprised because I am so involved in other things," she said.
   Times have changed
   For more than 50 years, Junior League presidents were usually listed as "Mrs. (husband's name here) Smith." Since 1989, however, not only was the president's first name listed, but she was likely to have a hyphenated last name as well.
   Atlee Ann Tyree, who was listed as "Mrs. James I. Tyree" during her 1959 to 1960 presidency, remembers the Junior League of yesteryear as having the same dedication to community service, but a very different membership.
   "It was mostly stay-home mothers," Tyree, 82, said. "They didn't have the night meetings like they do now. So, the women who had time during the day were usually a little more fortunate in their financial situation."
   No bows allowed
   Sylvia Ford probably can't remember the last time she sat home, twiddling her thumbs. She works in community development for Frost Bank; her average workday lasts 10 to 12 hours, not counting the time she spends coordinating the bank's volunteer group. As a mother of four who has worked in banking for 23 years, parenting was about the only volunteer work Ford had time for.
   "Before, I had enjoyed the idea of volunteerism," she said.
   As the children started getting older and began moving out of the house, Ford saw an opportunity. Today she is involved with groups such as Leadership Corpus Christi and Corpus Christi Metro Ministries.
   With her time still at a premium, Ford said she tries to select groups that fit her life philosophy."I think the great mission of my life is to serve the community and give back the many blessings I've been given," said Ford, who was born and raised in Corpus Christi."If (Junior League) was all social parties and that's all, I wouldn't have wanted to be a part of it."
   She watched Junior League from afar for about 15 years, she said, and saw it evolve into just what she wanted.
   "Now there's a sense of women empowered to do things in the community," she said. "As women, sometimes we are limited in resources and not given the opportunity to show what we can do. But, when I saw it at Junior League, that impressed me so much."
   Still, she knows the stereotypes are still out there. When the soft-spoken Ford told people she was joining Junior League, some of her friends were taken aback.
   "Oh, Sylvia, now we've got to get you a bow," one of her friends teased.



Contact Leanne Libby at 886-3615 or libbyl@caller.com

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