A Message from Our President,                                    Mother Jennifer McCormick-Bridgewater

Mothers of the Greater Grand Rapids Chapter,

Welcome to the 2021-2022 program year! Our theme for this year is Level Up! As we celebrate our tenth anniversary as a chapter, we look forward to the next ten years. When we reflect on our first ten years, we recognize the contributions of our charter members and our founders, Mother Delvenia Beason and Mother Barbara Welch. It is on the strong foundation of their leadership that we move into the next decade of our chapter.

We build on our chapter’s legacy of dedication to children and service to the Greater Grand Rapids community. Your commitment to level up is the natural extension of the commitment that you have already shown to our children, our families, our community, and each other.  

Perhaps, this commitment has never been tested more than in this past year and a half as we faced a global pandemic. The pandemic presented difficulties that none of us could ever have imagined nor anticipated. Yet, each of you faced the challenges head-on, pivoting quickly and creating new ways of delivering the best programming for our children and our community possible. 

Under the incredible leadership of our Immediate Past President Tracey W. Brame, we provided unprecedented opportunities for our children and mothers to connect online. We became experts in technology that we had never used before. Our innovation led to serving our community for the first time with virtual Bedtime Stories and serving our region with a virtual Children’s Cluster. At the end of it all, we were able to offer a solid year of programming excellence without missing a beat. Most importantly, we did it all together, with laughter and sometimes lament, but always with care and concern for each other and our families.

Now as we look forward to coming together in-person again, we know that our service will exemplify a “new level.” We will bring all that we’ve learned from our history and recent experiences, to provide our children, and all children, with the opportunities and access that will allow them to succeed in a world that has been revealed to be more global and interconnected than previously thought. The Greater Grand Rapids Chapter will continue to contribute to the national mission of the oldest and largest African-American family organization in the country, as we show that collectively we have The Power to Make a Difference For All Children. On Mission. On Purpose.

I am honored to serve alongside all of you as your president. I appreciate each of you and am grateful for your dedication to our mission, to all children, and to each other.

Long Live Jack and Jill!

Yours in Service,

Jennifer McCormick-Bridgewater

President

Greater Grand Rapids Chapter

Jack and Jill of America, Inc.