During the week of the November 4-8, The Junior League of Douglas County, (JLDC) is launching the Little Black Dress Initiative, which will seek to raise awareness around the limits poverty and literacy can play on employment opportunities by asking our members to wear one black outfit for a week. As part of the initiative, we will be raising $10,000 for the Annual Fund, which goes to support the JLDC mission of promoting volunteerism, developing the potential for women, and improving the lives of women and children in our community and; among other things, helps us improve the lives of women and children living in generational poverty in our community.
Did you know that 1.8 million people in Georgia that live in poverty? Poverty means living without financial support to adequately cover shelter, transportation, food and other necessities. As a participant, we will be wearing one black outfit for five working days to: 1. To highlight how limited resources impacts the ability to afford work-appropriate clothing needed for economic growth above the poverty line; 2. To understand how limited resources can affect daily life; and 3. To fundraise supporting the mission of the JLDC to promote volunteerism, develop the potential of women, and improve the lives of women and children in our community through literacy.
Here are a few reasons why Junior League of Douglas County is passionate about literacy:
Reading skill is the single greatest predictor of future academic success. (National Assessment of Education Progress)
40% of America's children have difficulty learning to read. (National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, 1998)
People in the US who are illiterate represent 75% of the unemployed;
