What started as a burden among a select few to promote volunteerism and to develop the potential of women in the Greater Valley Area has now blossomed into the newly formed, nearly 70-member strong Chattahoochee Valley Women’s Service League.

The CVWSL held its first interest group in February of this year and registered with the Alabama Secretary of State’s office to become an official organized group approximately two weeks ago, on April 9 2018. The journey from idea to reality happened quickly for the group, as it took approximately three months from the first interest meeting to the time the group registered with the state.

“We held an organizational meeting in February to gauge interest and had about 25 women attended,” CVWSL President Kimberly Carter said in a phone interview on April 20. “From there we formed an application and sent out 94 applications to people that were interested and had 67 that were turned in.”

These 67 represent the founding members of the CVWSL, are all women over 21 years of age and come from all walks of life. Carter and the executive board put a large premium on diversity, hoping to draw women from different backgrounds within the Greater Valley Area.

“We really want to focus on diversity,” Carter said. “I want this to be something that young women in high school, that are born into whatever situation they’re born into, I wanted to create something that they could strive for and look forward to and give them something to work towards.”

The group may have come together quickly once the first organizational meeting took place, but the idea has been fermenting for far longer. Carter, who works with the Chambers County Development Authority, reached out to Jessica Ledford and Brooke Lumpkin, both of whom are on the CVWSL executive board as well, and expresses that she felt compelled to launch the group, in part because of the need she saw day-to-day through her job.

“I had a burden on my heart to do something,” Carter said. “I was looking for something to get involved with to do service in our community. Through my job, I see a lot of community need. This was about two years ago. We started looking in to whether or not we wanted to be a national or local group.”

The CVWSL has been granted a Junior League chapter, however the process to become a Junior League chapter takes approximately two years, meaning the CVWSL will hopefully become a Junior League chapter in 2020.

“That’s the end goal,” Carter said.

The CVSWL is prepping to hold a back to school bash in August for foster children within the Alabama Department of Human Resources who are being fostered and waiting to be adopted, and plan to give haircuts, backpacks, school supplies, etc. at the event.