Childhood Health and Welfare
	Last October, when our membership voted to begin a five-year initiative aimed at improving the lives of children in the Roanoke Valley, I began looking for a visual depiction of Childhood Health and Welfare. I came to the conclusion that a child could best describe health and welfare by telling us what makes him or her happy and healthy. After all, isn’t that our ultimate goal? An art contest seemed to be the best way to get the opinion of as many children as possible. Several of our community partners who work with children were contacted at the beginning of the year and offered the opportunity to participate in the contest, where children would submit drawings of what it meant to them to be healthy and happy. We received more than 100 entries and a panel of current and sustaining members voted for a winner from the top 10 entries. The winning entry came from a 4 year-old girl at TAP’s Arnold R. Burton Center. Her teacher received a $75 cash prize and I had the opportunity to meet the artist, her mother and her teacher on the day I presented the check. What started out as a simple contest to choose a representation of our focus area ended as a touching encounter which I truly enjoyed. -Beth Cross, President

	Community Council News
	2009 Community Christmas Store Challenge The Junior League of the Roanoke Valley is partnering with the Community Christmas Store to collect socks, underwear and diapers for the upcoming holiday season. The Community Christmas Store is an organization run solely by volunteers whose goal is to “assist impoverished families in a dignified manner during the holiday season.” All items are provided free of charge and families get to select the items according to the individual needs of each family member. Provisionals, Actives and Sustainers, we need your help! The Community Council is challenging each member to donate and support this cause. We will have a friendly competition and the group with the highest percentage of donations will win a prize!! Items needed: Socks (packaged not individual pairs). Toddler and children sizes Packaged underwear. Toddlers and children (boys and girls) Diapers – Newborn to size 6 Pull-ups – 2T to 5T We will be collecting items at the September and October general membership meetings. Please contact Angela Thomas at angelathomas2@aol.com with any questions or to arrange pick-up of items. We need your help and together we can make a difference!