Five members of Junior Auxiliary of Brookhaven attended the Annual Education Conference earlier this year. Training provided by the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries helps members better perform hands-on service in the community.

Attendees took part in workshops focusing on service to children and families, to fulfill the organization’s mission and exemplify its slogan of “Caring Hearts. Helping Hands. Changing Lives.”

NAJA volunteers were “born for such a time as this,” said 2024 NAJA President Paige Spears.

The annual conference sought to help members solidify the JA purpose by “Finding Our ‘Why’.” A fun, educational and informative weekend explored reasons why members volunteer in their local chapters, and equipped them with the tools needed to fulfill their purposes as JA members.

The conference began with a “Girls Night Out” Friday evening where members fellowshipped with others across the Southeast. A JA expert panel was quizzed about all things JA, and panel members shared individual experiences about how serving has had a positive impact on their lives.

Saturday morning featured plenary speaker Jana Kramer, a mother, actress, country music singer, author and podcast host. Kramer is known for her role as Alex Dupre on the television series “One Tree Hill,” and has acted in dozens of TV shows and movies.

Attendees next networked and took part in educational workshops on varied topics, such as leadership, conflict resolution, service projects, and chapter finances.

The annual NAJA awards banquet was Saturday night, celebrating chapters’ outstanding achievements, and recognizing many who display excellence, creativity and passion in fulfilling their JA purpose. It provided time to fellowship with other members and additional opportunities to learn about the projects other chapters offer. The conference concluded Sunday with workshops.

During the conference, attendees partnered with Team Landon Clay Foundation to complete a service project. TLCF is a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 in memory of Clay. JA members heard the reasons behind the foundation’s mission and contributed by crafting items to be given to children newly-diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Gliomas, the disease that took young Landon’s life.

“The annual meeting of our association is the time that members from our 91 chapters around the Southeast come together for learning, motivation and a little business,” said NAJA Executive Director Lauren Scott.

In 2024, JA of Brookhaven performed 854 hours of service, impacting 700 people. Its signature service projects include Wish Tree — which provided 170 children with toys, clothing and hygiene products for Christmas — and Reality World, which simulated “real world” financial responsibility to ninth-grade students county-wide.

For more information on JA of Brookhaven, visit them online at Facebook.com/jabrookhaven. For more information on NAJA, visit www.najanet.org.