In 1979, a group of mothers residing in the Contra Costa County area started a Jack and Jill of America Interest Group. The Oakland Chapter sponsored the Interest Group and worked very closely with the group to help them meet the requirements of the National Organization.

 

The Interest Group elected their first President, Ruth Lockhart, and began holding their first Mothers’ Meetings at the Breuner’s Furniture Store Meeting Room in Pleasanton, CA. Their goal was to create educational, cultural, civic, recreational and social programs for their 125 children. The Contra Costa County Interest Group met once a month and quickly hit their 75-member maximum and stayed at that level for their first 3 years. After meeting all the requirements, Contra Costa County Chapter was chartered by the National Organization of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. on March 6, 1982.

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The Chapter soon held their first fundraiser to contribute to the Jack and Jill Foundation. The event was a boat ride on the San Francisco Bay. A good time was had by all, and lessons for fundraiser success were learned for the future.

 

In recent years, Contra Costa County Chapter has been honored several times as the top fundraising chapter in the Far West Region. We are blessed to enjoy the gift that gives twice, the gift of giving. Some of our sponsored charities over the years have included: The East County Boys and Girls Club, Judy Davis Leukemia Foundation, Westwind Foster Family Agency, EMQ Foster Family Agency, Pittsburg Pre-School Coordinating Council, UC Berkeley Partnership Program, Pillars of Strength, Girls Inc., Students Rising Above, Bay Area Crisis Nursery, and several others.

 

Contra Costa County Chapter is very proud of our large roster of Associate Members, which currently exceeds 30. Over the years our Associate group has been acknowledged as the largest in the country and continually gains us recognition at Regional and National conferences. In 2010, our last founding member, Cheryl Grigsby, graduated out of the chapter and is now a proud legacy member of our Associate group. “These Are The Ties That Bind!” We are very proud to have such a phenomenal group of associate mothers actively supporting our chapter.

 

Some of our Associate Mothers are now beginning to see their own sons and daughters become members in the Chapter. In fact, in 2013 Jasmine Dartez, the daughter of our past president Thywara Porter, was voted in as President. Then in 2015, Janene Grigsby, daughter of past president Cheryl Grigsby took over the reigns as President.

 

For the last 40 years, The Contra Costa County Chapter has matured and evolved to an established and well- respected family organization within the county and within the Jack and Jill organization. The members of the chapter have nurtured hundreds of families, helped build life-long friendships and prepared our children to succeed in the world. We have also proudly returned the favor given to us by our sister chapter, Oakland, by sponsoring new Jack and Jill chapters in the Tri-Valley and Vallejo region.

 

Today, we have 52 active mothers and 82 children in the Contra Costa County chapter. During our growth over the years, we continue to stay mindful that we are mothers by design and sisters by choice. And, we remain true to our commitment to the Jack and Jill values and vision.