Interview with Mary Forleo about the Junior League of Rochester

Last week, we started sharing more information about how each of our selected charities for 2024 are making a significant impact in their respective areas and within the lives of the Mindex employees who nominated them.

Our first featured story was with Kelsey Kolar, SchoolTool Trainer Manager, who nominated the Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration in memory of her cousin, Billy.

Our second featured story is with Mary Forleo, SchoolTool Training Specialist, who nominated the Junior League of Rochester.

Q: Can you shine a bit more light on the charity’s purpose? 

Mary: The Junior League of Rochester is a local training organization for women that promotes leadership skills through volunteer work and community projects.  The organization is completely volunteer run, so one of the benefits of volunteering is that you receive a lot of standalone training as well as the opportunity to develop leadership skills through their different projects that make an incredible impact on the community.

The League typically kicks off a project and then eventually hands it off to the community once they’re able to take it over and keep it running, so we’ve worked with many charities, centers, support organizations, and volunteer groups in the past.

The League's current project is Rochester’s only diaper bank.  As a diaper bank, they’ve distributed over 1 MILLION diapers throughout the community so far, which equates to 20,000 diapers every month.  We distribute diapers to organizations and refuges the League partners with, such as Salvation Army, Volunteers of America, and many others.

Previously, the Junior League of Rochester created the Rochester Toy Library that is currently at the Lincoln branch.  Families can go to the library and check out toys, so it’s a fun way to try out and rotate between different toys without needing to purchase them.

We also created the Discovery Room at the George Eastman Museum! There are actually a lot of projects throughout Rochester that the League had a hand in creating.

Q: Do you have a personal story or experience you can share that has inspired your support for this charity?

Mary: Volunteers like myself get a ton of experience in areas outside of what they normally do professionally, but looking at the broader impact the League has made on the community, the diaper bank has made a significant impact in the lives of many families.

1 in 2 families experiences diaper need, which means they don’t have enough diapers for their baby to stay clean, dry, and healthy. Not having diapers can impact a child’s health, but what I didn’t realize was that diapers are required for children to go to daycare. If you don’t have a supply of diapers that you can give to daycare, you can’t go to work!  Families experiencing diaper need miss an average of 4 days of work a month just because they don’t have diapers they can send along. Without work, you can't afford diapers. It's a hard cycle to break.

Many federally funded programs like WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) or food stamps don’t cover diapers, and with diapers costing anywhere from $80-$100 per month, a lot of parents can’t afford them. This leaves families in a really hard position and the diaper bank helps them alleviate that struggle as much as possible. Poverty rates are extremely high and I don’t think many of us realize how many people in Rochester need this kind of assistance. 

“Not having diapers can impact a child’s health, but what I didn’t realize was that diapers are required for children to go to daycare. If you don’t have a supply of diapers that you can give to daycare, you can’t go to work!  Families experiencing diaper need miss an average of 4 days of work a month just because they don’t have diapers they can send along. Without work, you can't afford diapers. It's a hard cycle to break." 

The League also provides a lot of support for its volunteers. I originally joined the Junior League of Rochester for the social aspect and the volunteering opportunities that came along with it, but before I knew it I ended up in a leadership position, was chairing a committee, and then that turned into several years on their Board of Directors. I was a teacher at the time and realized how transferable a lot of my workplace skills were to the projects happening with the Junior League. It ultimately inspired me to make a career change and had also allowed me to develop additional skills I needed to transition into the position I have today at Mindex!

I’m very grateful to them for helping me go a different direction in my life and find a job I’m much happier in.

Q: Are there specific programs or initiatives the charity has that allows people to get involved?

Mary:

• The first is to join us!  We’re entirely run by volunteers so we’re always looking for people who are interested. We have a new member interest form on the website people can fill out and we’ll follow up with more information on how to get involved.
  
  
• We are always sourcing donations, so if you’d like to donate you can do that through the website, or through corporate initiatives like Mindex has.
  
  
• Physical donations are also always welcome. We accept new packages of diapers, opened packages, loose diapers— We want them all!  Our drop box sites are listed on the website.
  
  

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share about this charity or your experience that you haven’t yet said?

Mary: The Junior League of Rochester really is a unique, local, entirely volunteer-run non-profit.  We support our League members in many ways by promoting their own development, but we also get to support the community by providing those essential supplies to those who need it.  I love being able to volunteer and be present during diaper distribution, see how incredibly grateful people are, and feel the positive impact we’re having in their lives.

Inspired by Mary's story and want to donate to this charity's cause or want to learn more?

Visit The Junior League of Rochester's website for more information.

Since day 1, giving back to our community has always been a key priority for Mindex. While we usually select one main charity to focus our donation efforts on every year, we’ve committed to supporting three charities in 2024 as part of our 30-year milestone— 3 charities to celebrate 30 years! #3for30

The 2024 Selected Charities include:

1. The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration. Improving the quality of life of people affected by FTD and driving research to a cure. Read Kelsey's Story >>
   
   
2. Junior League of Rochester. Advancing women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training.
   
   
3. Ronald McDonald House Charities. Caring for families with children who are ill or injured, so no family has to deal with their child’s medical crisis alone.