Dare to dream at JCL’s Cinderella Ball

The Vindicator/Robert K. Yosay

HAVING A BALL: Helping to make dreams come true are Junior Civic League members as they prepare for the 53rd Annual Cinderella Ball. From left to right are Susan M. Moorer, co-chair; Elsina Winston, president; and Cynthia Mason, chair.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Junior Civic League is preparing for its holiday-season fundraiser, the 53rd Annual Cinderella Ball.

Featuring the theme “Captured in a Dream,” the ball will begin at 5:30 p.m. Nov. 28 at Mr. Anthony’s in Boardman.

The donation to attend is $40 per person, and the deadline for tickets is Sunday. For information on buying tickets, call Betty Scott at (330) 759-8583.

Debutantes who are to be presented:

• Mackenzie Blackmon, McDonald High School.

• Janee Cotton, Girard High School.

• Lanee Cotton, Girard High School.

• Utopia Fant, East High School.

• Eve Danielle Griffin, Youngstown Christian School.

• Jalisa Jones, Chaney High School.

• Devone’ G. Kitchen, East High School.

• Brianah Lourrae’ Lewis, Liberty High School.

• Kelsey McDaniel, Boardman High School

• Rayana McGuire, East High School.

• Amber Monroe, Ursuline High School.

• Brittany Rivers, Chaney High School.

• Ashley Roberts, Austintown Fitch High School.

• Brittanie J. Sadler, Liberty High School.

• Paris Smith, Chaney High School..

• Kayla C. Williams, Campbell Memorial High School.

For more than 50 years, the ball has been the sole fundraising event for scholarships that have been awarded to area high school minority graduates in the amount of $450,000 to date.

The overwhelming support of the Youngstown community has made the Cinderella Ball a Youngstown holiday tradition.

The Junior Civic League is one of Youngstown’s oldest and most prestigious black women’s organizations, dedicated to volunteerism and community service in the areas of health, education and civic affairs. The club motto has been “Decide at once upon a noble purpose, then take it up bravely, bear it joyfully, and lay it down triumphantly!”

The Junior Civic League was organized by the Civic League in the spring of 1952 to draw younger women to continue operating the Rhoda Johnson Well Baby Clinic, which the Civic League had organized and operated for many years. For those who were in need, the clinic provided free medical care to minority infants and children.

Following are some of the group’s ongoing projects:

• Sponsoring the Cinderella Ball, which supports the league’s scholarship and education program.

• Organizing the Annual Scholarship and Installation Brunch, where recipients and their parents are presented and a formal installation of new officers is conducted.

• Participating in the Youngstown City Schools’ Adopt-A-School Program.

• Presenting an annual Political Candidates Forum in collaboration with the Community Mobilization Committee.

• Hosting an annual Children’s Christmas Event, through organizations that serve children and families in need.

For more information about the JCL, visit the Web site at www.juniorcivicleague.org.