The Junior League of Omaha’s newest fundraiser is taking place Sunday, September 26 at Topgolf Omaha, and sure to be a swinging good time. Contact karinakiewel@gmail.com for a JLO Classic flyer you can post or share.
Throughout the event is a silent auction with door prizes and a hole-in-one prize opportunity. Stay tuned to the Junior League of Omaha’s social media channels for more details on the awesome prizes and silent auction items. If you or someone you know would like to donate anything to this event, please contact our chair Beth Kalal at golfclassic@jlomaha.org.
Don’t know what to wear to the event? We’ve got you covered! This year’s theme is Caddyshack—the greatest golf movie of all time. Fire up Netflix (or do a quick google search) for outfit inspiration. There will be prizes for the best individual and team outfits that feature our theme, so come dressed to impress! Bottom line is you won’t want to miss this event!
Our 4th Annual Bargain Bash is just a few short weeks away! Join us on Saturday, May 15th, and Sunday, May 16, at The Hope Center for Kids (2200 N 20th St, Omaha, NE 68110).
Curious about what steps we will be taking to keep shoppers safe as we continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation? Rest assured that we are as committed as ever to taking the proper precautions for adhering to CDC guidelines and following social distancing best practices.
Here are the Covid-19 precautions that will be in place throughout the duration of the event:
Face masks/coverings will be required for all attendees at all times
Floor markings will be placed 6 feet apart for proper social distancing throughout the event space and at checkout lines
Volunteers will be regularly cleaning and sanitizing surfaces throughout the event
Contactless payments via the use of Square®
Plenty of hand sanitizer will be available for use by all
And of course, if you are planning to attend, we strongly advise that you continue to adhere to your own self-screening and self-hygiene practices, including:
Washing your hands thoroughly and frequently with soap and water, or using hand sanitizer if soap and water are not available
Wearing a mask that covers both your nose and mouth
If you cough or sneeze, doing so into a tissue or mask, then throwing the tissue away or putting on a clean mask, and washing/sanitizing your hands immediately
Monitoring your daily health and staying home if you feel sick or have any symptoms!
We are so excited to be finally hosting Bargain Bash after much delay, and very much hope to see you there, but please do use your best judgement and consider your comfort level when making the decision to attend. If we work together, we can make this a fun and safe experience for all!
Covid-19 has changed the way we do so many things in life. Some of us may have recently celebrated one year of working from home, mastered the art of e-learning, or maybe both! We have had to miss birthdays, celebrations, and holidays to keep those we love and ourselves safe and healthy.
As an organization committed to addressing the issues of hunger and access to food in the Omaha community, we understand how food brings people together and how food is woven into our cultures. In an effort to bring community members together, we’d love to provide an opportunity that safely brings people together and supports the League!
The Junior League is excited to be partnering with A Casserole To Go, a division of Abraham Catering, throughout the month of April to help you plan a family dinner, a date night in, or a virtual happy hour without the mess and stress of cooking and cleaning. Whether you’re able to safely come together or use devices to come together virtually, A Casserole To Go provides a plethora of ready-to-bake meals and casseroles, appetizers, desserts, and spirits! When you visit and order from A Casserole To Go, use code JLO at checkout for 10% of your purchase to benefit the League. Both Covide-friendly pickup and delivery are available! Delivery is currently available in the Omaha area only.
Take a look at how some of our members along with their friends and family came together and enjoyed “Casseroles and Conversations” during our virtual April General Membership Meeting. Our members were able to order items from a special menu, which included:
App Pack for 4
Hummus with Zataar Pita, Sliced Vegetables
Bruschetta with Sliced Crostini
6 Deviled Egg Co ‘Everything Eggs’ (Gluten Free, Keto Friendly!)
Caramel Baked Brie with Lahvosh (ready to bake)
Charcuterie Box with 4 Pack Babe Rosé100
Dessert Bites for 4 Key Lime Pie Tarts
Salted Caramel Brownie Bites
French Silk Chocolate Tart
Rosemary Shortbread Cookies
If you’d like to learn more about us, visit our website, or reach out to Join@JLOmaha.org about joining! Checkout how the League has been keeping its members and others safe here.
Like GivingTuesday, Do Good Week® is a global, week-long movement encouraging people to actively demonstrate kindness and compassion plus share positive stories using #DOGOODWEEK on social platforms. Originally, Do Good Week® started in 2016 as an effort to change the social conversation to something positive for one week and has grown into a movement to inspire kindness and promote positivity. And the world needs it now more than ever! Since 2016, Do Good Week® has reached more than 130 million people with the hashtag #DOGOODWEEK.
When is Do Good Week?
It’s right around the corner! Join in SHARE Omaha’s Do Good Week®, April 19 to April 24, 2021, presented by FNBO. Each day of Do Good Week® is themed to help inspire you to take positive action and learn about nonprofits doing good – like us! The Junior League of Omaha!
Five days dedicated to helping us meet our needs, followed by a day of celebration!
Monday, April 19: Mission Monday Learn more about our work and needs.
Tuesday, April 20: New Donor Tuesday If you’ve never given a gift to our organization, now’s the time! Your gift could help us unlock a cash prize.
Wednesday. April 21: Wish List Wednesday Donate the equivalent cost of or purchase items used in our programming.
Thursday, April 22: Volun-Thursday Join us! Become a member or join our volunteer team.
Friday, April 23: Fund It Friday Help us meet our fundraising goal!
Yes, you! Right now! It’s super easy to join this week-long movement and support the Junior League of Omaha. Start by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter along with SHARE Omaha. Don’t forget to use the hashtags: #JLOMAHA and #DOGOODWEEK. Next, check out ways to get involved, learn more, and how to support us here.
Who We Are
The Junior League of Omaha is an organization of women committed to our Mission of promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Since 1919, the Junior League of Omaha has trained volunteers, provided civic leadership, raised funds and developed programs and services to help make Omaha great. Throughout our League’s 98 years of service, our membership has donated more than $2 million and more than 1.4 million volunteer hours to causes in our community. The Junior League welcomes all women who value our Mission. We are committed to inclusive environments of diverse individuals, organizations and communities. The wide reach of our community impact would not be possible without the financial support we receive from fundraising activities such as Do Good Week®. We encourage you to support our mission and join us for Do Good Week® this year!
The Junior League of Omaha is thrilled to be working with our community partners! This year, the League is partnering with Heart Ministry Center, The Big Garden, No More Empty Pots, The Union for Contemporary Arts, and Together Omaha. This blog entry will discuss one of our partners, Together Omaha.
Together was founded by the leaders of Countryside Community Church, Dundee Presbyterian, Temple Israel, Kountze Memorial Lutheran, Trinity Cathedral, First United Methodist, St. Cecilia’s Cathedral, and many others in response to the 1975 tornado that swept through Omaha. The leaders decided to make Together a permanent resource, focused on providing food, clothing and shelter to local residents.
Together now also provides case management, financial and employment assistance, financial education assistance, navigation services, furniture, bus tickets, and identification. Together’s mission is to prevent and end homelessness in the Omaha community, with a focus on its core values of hope, dignity, compassion, excellence, and diversity.
Together offers several programs aimed at reducing homelessness, including the Horizons Program, assistance with rent, utilities, and deposits, obtaining identification, transportation, and the Choice Pantry. The Horizons Program provides eligible households with outreach, case management, and assistance in obtaining benefits, which may include: health care services, daily living services, personal finance planning services, transportation services, fiduciary and payee services, legal services, child care services, and housing counseling services. Together may also provide Horizons Program participants with assistance in paying rent, utilities, and deposits.
Together issues vouchers to aid in obtaining state-issued identification, including a valid ID or a certified birth certificate. They also provide eligible participants free MAT bus passes until the participants receive their first paycheck. The Choice Pantry provides 20-30 meals, including breakfast, meat, fruit, vegetables, and more. Participants may visit the pantry once every 30 days.
Together is a valuable partner in providing important resources to community members. The League looks forward to an educational partnership!
In the mood for some spring cleaning? You’ll have one more chance to donate to the Junior League’s 4th Annual Bargain Bash! We will be holding our final drop-off date in April, and would love the chance to take any gently used home goods, clothing, kitchen appliances, décor, and/or furniture off of your hands.
Your donations directly contribute to the success of this event, helping the League to continue to impact the community with our projects and league engagement.
Drop-Off Date Details:
When: April 24th, 2021
Where: Junior League of Omaha Headquarters; 12315 Pacific Street
Time: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Rest assured, our drop-off date volunteers will be taking all of the necessary precautions that we have come to expect in this current climate, including masking and regular hand sanitizing and/or glove wearing. We value your support and care about keeping you safe!
As always, don’t forget to spread the word to your friends and family. Every donation counts, and nothing will go to waste! Any unsold inventory will be donated to other local non-profits who specialize in providing support and basic necessities to those in need. These partnerships with other charitable organizations is just one more way that the league is able to support our community and lend a helping hand.
We would also like to give a huge shout out to our sponsors, Mike Morris and Brenda Christensen of Thermo King Christensen, who have graciously donated the storage space needed to accept all of the generous donations received so far. We could not have done it without them!
Thank you so much for your continued support and we hope you’ll stop by on May 15th and 16th to check out our new event space at The Hope Center for Children and (of course) do some shopping!
The Junior League of Omaha is thrilled to be working with our community partners! This year, the League is partnering with Heart Ministry Center, The Big Garden, No More Empty Pots, The Union for Contemporary Arts, and Together Omaha. This blog series will take a closer look at each of the League’s community partners and discuss who they are, what they do, and why we’ve chosen to partner with each organization.
Heart Ministry Center began as the Sacred Heart Human Needs Door Ministry. They are based in North Omaha, and focus on providing essentials such as food, clothing, and shelter. They began as a small organization focusing on the families of children attending Sacred Heart, but overtime have expanded their reach, notably becoming the first “choice” pantry in Omaha that allowed the public to choose their own foods, and expanding the services they provide.
According to their website, more than thirty-three percent of Heart Ministry Center’s clients are children, and ten percent are seniors. Over forty-six percent of their clients are below the poverty line. They provide meals for more than 60,000 families and medical assistance for more than 2,000 individuals each year, and estimate that within the last twelve months, they have provided case work and social services for over 6,800 individuals.
Heart Ministry Center provides a lot of excellent services to the community. Their programs include the Choice Food Pantry, the Laura and Dan Monen Healthcare Clinic, the Fresh Start Job Placement Program, and the Gary L. Maag Dental Clinic, as well as other programs. The Choice Food Pantry was the first pantry in Omaha that allows families to choose their own foods. The Laura and Dan Monen Healthcare Clinic, in partnership with Creighton University, provides free basic medical care, and accepts walk-in patients.
The Fresh Start Job Placement Program teaches job skills including workplace communication and customer service skills to members of the community, and assists in job placement for its graduates. The Gary L. Maag Dental Clinic partners with volunteer dentists to provide dental care, as well as extractions and fillings, and is available by appointment only. Heart Ministry Center also provides other services including meeting with case managers to meet other needs, working with local attorneys to provide free legal advice, and hosting special events throughout the year such as holiday parties, back-to-school events, health screenings, and block parties.
Heart Ministry Center is a wonderful organization that provides a lot of valuable resources to the community, including not only the ability to choose the foods they receive from the pantry, but access to basic health care, as well as job training skills. The League looks forward to an educational partnership!
Did you know the first recorded Junior League cookbook was printed in 1930? It’s titled “The Junior League Recipe Book” and was privately printed by the Los Angeles league. The oldest Junior League cookbook still in print was published initially in 1950! Since their inception, any profits from cookbook sales were used to support community projects and programs – which is still happening today. In Omaha, JLO’s A Century of Serving cookbook supports the League’s training and community initiatives.
We are lucky to have access to a small cookbook library through the JLO Cookbook co-chair Katy Spratte Joyce! Of her collection of 100+ books, more than 60 are Junior League offerings from around the world. Some of her favorites are “Colorado Cache” from the Junior League of Denver (1978), “And Roses for the Table: A Garden of Recipes” from the Junior League of Tyler, Texas (1997), and “Fresh from the Valley: A Harvest of Recipes” from the Junior League of Yakima (2003).
What are your favorite Junior League cookbooks? Be sure to pick up our newest one, A Century of Serving, online or at any of our partner retail locations! https://www.jlomaha.org/cookbook/
Below are the cookbooks photographed:
“California Fresh” The Junior League of Oakland-East Bay (1985)
“Tuxedos to Tailgates: A Celebration of the Seasons” Dallas Junior Forum (2003) “Beyond Parsley, Beautiful Food Presented by the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri” (1984)
“Stop and Smell the Rosemary: Recipes and Traditions to Remember” The Junior League of Houston (1996)
“Pig Out: Selected Recipes from the Junior League of Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa” (1986)
“Atlanta Cooknotes”, Junior League of Atlanta (1982)
“Sassafras: The Ozarks Cookbook”, The Junior League of Springfield, Missouri (1985)
“Seaboard to Sideboard: A Collection of Recipes from the Junior League of Wilmington, North Carolina (1998)
“Pomegranates & Prickly Pears”, flavorful entertaining from The Junior League of Phoenix (2005)
The Junior League of Omaha is thrilled to be working with our community partners! This year, the League is partnering with Heart Ministry Center, The Big Garden, No More Empty Pots, The Union for Contemporary Arts, and Together Omaha. This blog will discuss our partnership with The Big Garden.
The Big Garden was created by United Methodist Ministries in 2005 as a new program. The goal was to create 12 community gardens over the following five years. They went on to create 26 gardens in Omaha over the following five years, in addition to a sister project, The Big Rural Garden. There is now a network of over 150 community gardens in Omaha, as well as small communities in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas.
The Big Garden’s mission is to “cultivate food security by developing community gardens, creating opportunities to serve, and providing education on issues related to hunger.” They are unique in both the large number of sites, as well as their emphasis on local partnerships. Community agencies own the land where all Big Garden sites are located, and the Big Garden partners with sites to assist with initial start-up costs, ongoing program support, garden and nutrition classes for children, and by brokering collaborative relationships in the community.
The Big Garden has several valuable programs. These include providing online gardening education, community gardens, Growing Gardeners Workshops, the New Roots internship, Grow-Your-Own, Farm to School, and Garden to Table. The online gardening education was an adaptation of some of their education programs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. They also provide other online resources, such as recipes, a list of recommended reading, and a skill library that includes information on various topics such as how to start seeds at home, a guide to edible wild plants, and more.
The Growing Gardeners Workshop is provided each season, and is low-cost, available to budding gardeners of all ages, and is open regardless of availability to pay. There are four educational tracks that the workshops cover: urban ag school, herbal medicine cabinet, culinary & nutrition, and craft & lifestyle. The New Roots internship is a 12-week summer internship for young adults interested in organic gardening, food security, local food, and working with children. The interns receive training in gardening, food security and classroom management and often go on to have careers in these fields. Grow-Your-Own, Farm to School, and Garden to Table are all programs that teach students how to grow, tend, harvest, cook, and preserve the produce they grow. Grow-Your-Own classes are held at The Big Garden, while Farm to School and Garden to Table are held at school gardens.
The Big Garden is a fantastic organization that provides a lot of valuable training to community members interested in learning to grow their own produce. The League looks forward to a fruitful partnership!
Let’s face it, breakfast casseroles are perfect when you need to feed a crowd right away in the morning. Eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns, layered in a casserole dish and placed in the oven – does it get easier than that? Serve this with fruit (and a mimosa or two), and you are guaranteed to start the day off right with this recipe!
Now I do not pretend to be a professional chef or photographer so I apologize in advance for my amatuer skills here, but I started by prepping all of the ingredients.
The recipe calls for a bag of hashbrowns. The store only had about 498 options, so I went with a 30oz bag and was happy with the results!
*Disclaimer* This recipe calls for garlic and onion, so onion is featured in the photo, but due to dietary restrictions neither were used in the casserole that is photographed (I know, it’s the saddest thing ever). Good news – this recipe tastes just as great without it!
Start by browning Italian sausage over medium heat, then remove with a slotted spoon and place to the side in a bowl. Saute the chopped peppers, onion, and garlic in the grease remaining in the skillet. Again, I’m not able to cook with onions or garlic so you won’t see them in any of my photos, but my goodness the red pepper smelled amazing cooked in the Italian sausage grease!
You know that part when you’re cooking where you wonder if it’s supposed to look like that? Yeah, well this is that part for me.
I added the peppers to the hashbrowns and cheese, mixing them together in a large bowl. As I whisked the eggs and milk together I was 150% convinced there was no way that would be enough to cover all of those hashbrowns – but it does! Top with the remaining cheese and it’s ready for the oven.
This was baked covered with foil at 375 for 20 minutes, then uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. I don’t have a 7×11 pan so I used a 9×13 instead and felt it worked just fine.
Overall, this recipe is really easy and delicious! I was surprised how much egg there was considering there are only 6 in the whole recipe. The Italian sausage adds a ton of flavor so if you have dietary restrictions but can tolerate breakfast sausage, this recipe is great! From start to finish it probably took an hour, including cook time, and it was a hit with my family so it will definitely be made again! If I can make it and have it turn out well, I promise you can too.
…and I wasn’t kidding, this pairs really well with a mimosa 😉
Breakfast Casserole is one of the recipes in the Junior League of Omaha’s A Century of Serving cookbook, available online and in stores now: https://www.jlomaha.org/cookbook/
Ingredients:
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
1 white onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 package frozen hash browns, thawed
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
6 eggs
⅓ cup milk
Black pepper to taste
Sliced green onions to taste (optional)
Chopped fresh cilantro to taste (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Brown the sausage in a skillet over medium heat, pressing and stirring with a wooden spoon to crumble. Remove the sausage to a bowl using a slotted spoon. Pour off most of the skillet drippings. Saute the onion and red bell pepper in the remaining skillet drippings for 5 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic. Saute until tender. Add the onion mixture, hashbrowns and 1 ½ cups Cheddar cheese to the sausage and mix well. Whisk the eggs, milk and black pepper in a bowl. Stir into the sausage mixture. Spoon into a 7×11 inch baking pan. Sprinkle with the remaining Cheddar cheese. Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes. Bake, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes or until light brown. Let stand for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with green onions and cilantro. Serve with salsa.
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