375 members (143 Actives, 30 Provisionals, 202 Sustainers) and a record number of 17 Transfers into JLA.

The theme this year was “Women in Leadership,” which brought women leaders from all different areas of leadership to speak to the membership and encourage the membership to challenge themselves with the opportunity to be a leader in their community.

Throughout the year “Women in Leadership” was promoted through articles in the Blast and the Log, and the following speakers spoke at monthly GMMs:

• Robyn Gerber, Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way.
• Frances Glendening, Former MD First Lady – mentoring
• Griff Hall, Leadership Anne Arundel – Leadership
• Christine Benero, Past President of AJLI – Celebrate volunteers

Membership Council

• Provisional Committee got off to a great start this year by hosting its Open House at Griffins West in Annapolis. After extensive training in the fall, the provisional class chose to fill “Bags for Foster Children” as their spring project.  Over $11,000 was raised to support 100 of CASA’s foster children.  30 women became new members.
• Education and Training planned numerous and diverse training opportunities for the membership. Some examples of this included holiday decorating at Tin Can Alee and a yoga session.  The committee held University Day at AACC on April 6, 2005.  Entitled “Roadmap to Teen Success,” the session hosted a diverse panel of experts and discussed how to guide teenagers through junior and senior high school.
• Nominating and Placement helped to facilitate the February Area Group meetings and discussed “Connections and Commitments.”  Eight JLA members were sent to conferences and trainings.
• Sustainers planned various activities including a Diplomatic Series, a Book Club, its annual Christmas trip to NYC and a Build-a-Bear workshop for needy children. The annual Sustainer/Provisional social was again a favorite among all. There was very positive feedback about the electronic newsletter and webpage put out just for Sustainers.  The Sustainers newsletter and webpage solved both the problem of a small budget and the difficulties of getting the word out in a timely way through the office.  Mailings were sent out to all Sustainers several times during the year with information about the entire Sustainer calendar.  The Sustainer Questionnaire was a very useful resource for making decisions on behalf of Sustainers.  The goal was met of retaining dues-paying Sustainers and enticing former Sustainers to again become dues-paying members.

Communication Council

• Meetings and Events: A number of community leaders were invited to speak at our General Membership Meetings.  Hosted the September kick-off picnic at Quiet Waters Park.  Coordinated the first social tea at Reynolds Tavern.  Hosted the Annual Luncheon at the Chart House.  We were happy to be back at the Chart House for this event.  Hosted the year-end dinner at the Crofton Country Club with a Spring Fling theme.  One of goals of the Meetings and Events Committee was to find good quality places to host the General Membership Meetings (GMMs) for a nominal fee or free.
• Public Relations created and implemented new press release fact sheet and templates, which gave specific guidelines on how to effectively write a press release, the importance of proper structure and format, as well as the content needed in an effective, modern media release. This new process was introduced by PR members via JLA committee meetings throughout the League year. PR committee assisted several committees with writing and submitting press releases, flyers, posters and other media to promote the JLA events. Public Relations actively promoted JLA’s fundraising efforts and volunteerism activities within the Annapolis community.

Community Impact Council 

• TEAM completed its 4th year with a new 2-hour member requirement. ICAPPP program with YWCA continued with moderate success and partnership with AAMC was again reviewed.  To mark the end of the Signature Project next year, a room-naming opportunity at AAMC and a new program, “Girls on the Run” are being evaluated.  Teen pregnancy in the County continues to decline and represents less than 1% of all births.
• COPR held 9 Done-in-a-Days including 2 new initiatives: “Prom Boutique” with Admiral Cleaners and Christmas wrapping at Sarah’s House.
• Public Advocacy – TV PSA for Safe Haven Law awareness, featuring First Lady, Kendel Ehrlich, was recorded and sent to all major television stations throughout Maryland and Washington, DC.
• Book Bag Project continued its partnership with Office Deport. We supplied 680 backpacks to 4 schools in Anne Arundel County including Freetown, Tyler Heights, Maryland City and North Glen Elementary Schools.  This provided for most of the Free and Reduced Meal (FARM) students, although, due to budget constraints, the number was far less than previous years.  Next year, the program will be year-round to provide for spring shortages in classrooms.  We have already secured significant grant money.
• Community Assistance Donations totaling $4,500 were awarded to Hospice of the Chesapeake, Homes for America, Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Volunteer Center of Anne Arundel County and Broadneck Elementary.
• Excellence in Voluntarism Merit Award was given to Mary A. Schumaker, founder of Centro de Ayuda/Center of Help, Inc. She received $600 for her not-for-profit.

Member at Large

• Sent cards to members who had babies and deaths in family
• Announced birthdays in the LOG
• Completed the Healthy League Initiative for Cheryl Kinney (Sept. through Jan.)
• Held FDE Ad Hoc committee in February
• Wrote spotlight article for the LOG each month
• Presented “Cause for Applause” awards at GMM (email VPs for nominations)
• Started the “Box of Appreciation” at the GMM

Treasurer’s Report

• Updated & implemented new investment policies.
• Interviewed & hired new investment firm with a reduction in fee.
• Interviewed & hired new insurance agency with significant savings.
• Re-negotiated contract with bookkeeping agency for a reduction in monthly fee.
• Reduce operating costs by eliminating unnecessary expenses.

Financial Resources Council 

• Cookbook – Of Tide & Thyme had a fabulous year! Our cookbook commemorated its tenth year in print, and we celebrated all year.  The OT&T committee wanted to recognize the 10 years in print by having a party at Roedown in April.  Over 50 members and their families attended this event.  The OT&T committee developed some innovative marketing and sales strategies this year.  In September, they announced the sales contest and prizes for the member who sold the most books.  At the beginning of the year, they only had about 25 wholesale accounts so they worked to significantly increase this number.  They were able to open almost 40 new wholesale accounts this year.  They also ran a distributor special in October in hopes that they could boost our sales for the month.  They offered discounts on buying multiple cases.  In retrospect, it backfired on them as the distributors stocked up for the holidays and did not purchase much from them in November and December.  The OT& T committee introduced new marketing materials this year including a bookmark, a postcard, aprons, and a crab cookie cutter.  Sadly, even after all of their efforts they fell short on revenue again this year.  Without May’s numbers, they were almost $8000 short of our revenue from last year.  Reasons for the decline could include:  October sales special, no books sold to FRP at all, and lower distributor sales overall due to competition in cookbook industries.  The OT&T chairs suggest that the committee next year develop relationships with more distributors, continue to open new wholesale accounts, and manage the ones that we already have.  They also recommend designating a special events person to organize and staff things like the boat shows, home parties, craft shows, etc.  If JLA had the resources, hiring a part-time staff person to make calls could really make a difference.  They also recommend that everyone be re-trained in office hours just to make sure everyone is on the same page.  It is the OT&T committee’s hope is that the new cookbook committee will work closely with them, as the decision on which publisher they choose will impact OT&T.
• Fund Development and Evaluation (FDE) Committee helped to raise $12, 500 in corporate sponsorships for Talk of the Town. The committee also wrote several grants and the JLA was awarded two:  $2500 from Nordstrom to be shared between TEAM and the Back to School Book Bag Project and $5000 from Ronald McDonald House of Baltimore for the Back to School Book Bag Project.  Mini-fundraisers, which included 50/50 raffles at GMMs as well as sales of Chevy’s gift certificates, tickets to Westfield Wonders, and Chick-fil-A calendars, brought in about $1500.  The committee also surveyed the entire JLA membership regarding Talk of the Town, Chefs by the Bay, and potential fundraising opportunities for coming years.
• Chefs by the Bay 2005 –Held on Sunday, March 13th at Chartwell Country Club in Severna Park, MD from 6pm to 9pm. There were roughly 400 people in attendance, both members from the Junior League of Annapolis and numerous attendees from the Chartwell and Anne Arundel County community.  Fifteen local chefs supported the event by providing a variety of local favorites and upscale cuisine from their establishments. The Chefs in attendance were: Annapolis Biscotti Company, Aqua Terra of Annapolis, Boatyard Bar and Grill, Caroline’s Cakes and Catering, Chartwell Golf and Country Club, DeLoache Chocolates, Galway Bay, Hard Bean Coffee and Booksellers, Lindt Chocolate, The Main Ingredient, Mexican Café, Northwoods Restaurant, Phillips of Annapolis, Reynolds Tavern and Whitman’s Catering.  The event was sponsored by Bay Ridge Wine and Spirits and UGI Energy Services, Inc.  Funds were raised through a silent auction featuring 125 packages for bidding, and the evening concluded with a live auction featuring 23 custom packages. First Lady Kendall Ehrlich auctioned off the first package which included a signed picture from Governor Bob Ehrlich and a signed Maryland coffee table book. John Whitman of Whitman’s Catering was the auctioneer for the remaining packages which included numerous trips and vacation homes, private dining experiences, wine tasting events, portraits and custom artwork. The event raised a total of $43,000.