Local Junior Auxiliary Members Attend the 70th Annual Education Conference

"Unlocking the Doors to a Brighter Future" was the message to members of Tate - Panola at the 70th Annual Education Conference held recently in Memphis, TN. Almost seven hundred ladies were in attendance at this year’s event.

Junior Auxiliary is a national non-profit organization that encourages members to render charitable services which are beneficial to the general public with particular emphasis on children. Tate - Panola was chartered by a group of caring, enthusiastic women in 2006 and continues to grow and thrive throughout the Tate County and North Panola areas. Volunteers work tirelessly throughout the year on a variety of projects that focus on local children and families in need of assistance.

Tate - Panola is a part of the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries (NAJA), a non-profit organization founded in 1941 with
Headquarters in Greenville, MS.  NAJA has more than 15,500 active, associate and life members in 100 chapters in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee and Texas.

This year’s conference was packed with entertainment, education and networking with other chapters from across the Mid-South. Members from the Tate - Panola Chapter enjoyed speakers such as Sam Haskell, author of Promises I Made My Mother who shared lessons of faith, hope and character that he learned at an early age; Julia Taylor, author and
professional school counselor, whose message educates children, teens and parents on relational aggression, body image and other adolescent/teen issues; Barbie Basset, chief meteorologist at WLBT-3 in Jackson, MS and author of the book Forecast and Faith shared her story of faith and perseverance through the hardships of life; Fran Flener, Drug Director of the state of Arkansas, spoke on Rx Abuse Prevention;  Josh Gunderson, gave an informative and entertaining talk on Facebook and the pros and cons of social networking; Charlotte Mullinnix, Director of Corporate Relation for the Mississippi Organ and Recovery Agency, educated attendees on organ /tissue donation and J. Helen Perkins, Associate Professor of Reading and Urban Literacy at the University of Memphis, gave a compelling talk on Literacy Impacting the Community. In addition, up and coming Board Members of our chapter were trained in their specific duties for the next year.

The NAJA slogan is “Care Today – Character Tomorrow”.  Junior Auxiliary chapters all over the Mid-South are working more than ever before to increase awareness of children in need and the benefits of caring today to create character tomorrow.
For more information on the Tate - Panola Chapter, visit https://sites.google.com/site/tatepanolaja/home, check them out on
FaceBook, or call 662-609-4950. For more information on NAJA, visit www.najanet.org.