The members of the Junior League of San Jose are ready to squash any misconceptions that surround this longtime volunteer organization.

"Some people ask me if we are a part of Junior Achievement or even Little League," says incoming president and Willow Glen resident Molly Fezell with a laugh. "Others have a vision of women wearing long, white gloves and having tea parties."

Fezell initially joined the league to learn more about her community and recalls her own preconceived notions about the organization.

"I thought it might be like a sorority, but it's not," she says. "We are a volunteer-based organization, and we spend a lot of time preparing members to be effective volunteers in the community. Many of our members go on to serve on other nonprofit boards and hold public offices."

Fezell and her husband came to the Bay Area in 1992 after living in Pennsylvania. Soon after they arrived, they attended a friend's party in Willow Glen and liked the area so much they decided to move there.

Meanwhile, Fezell was busy working for a computer sales company but was looking for a way to get to know the community and meet more people.

After talking to a friend who was a member of the Junior League of San Francisco, she decided the organization's philosophy matched hers. So in 1995 she joined the Junior League of San Jose and has actively participated with the nonprofit for the past eight years.

As the league's newest president, Fezell says she is excited about the upcoming year and has aspirations about recruiting more members.

"I am basically a full-time, unpaid CEO," says Fezell, who has three young children. "But I love it. This is a great learning experience for me, working with like-minded women to improve the community."

With the skills she gains as president, Fezell says in the future she would like to sit on the boards of other nonprofit organizations in the community and maybe even go work for one.

Another Willow Glen resident, Stephanie Bielanski-Fehr, has also been a member of the league for the past six years. Prior to joining, she had heard about the league's involvement in the community and became inspired to lend her hand to the organization. She says her primary reason for joining was to give back to the community.

"The league provides a broad vehicle to learn about many causes," she says.

Bielanski-Fehr is also the community vice president of outreach for the organization. She says this position is multifaceted and includes overseeing agencies that are associated with the Junior League, like InnVision, a Willow Glen-based organization that helps homeless and at-risk families find housing and day programs.

But, she says, her most rewarding experience with the league has been her time mentoring two disadvantaged teenage girls.

"To make a difference in the life of these kids is the best reward of all," she says.

Bielanski-Fehr is the department chair for the league's 18th biennial Rummage Sale in October.

She says there is nothing like the moment the doors open to the pavilion where the sale is held and people come flooding in.

"It is wonderful to experience firsthand how this sale helps so many people," Bielanski-Fehr says.

The league does one big fundraiser a year—interchanging between the fashion show and rummage sale annually.

The 2001 rummage sale brought in $103,000, and last year's fashion show raised more than $200,000.

The funds raised during the rummage sale assist various community groups, and the sale also provides low-income families with the chance to purchase quality, second-hand items at low cost. The sale is set up like a department store in the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Pavilion. This 33,000-square-foot space is broken up into several sections, selling items like pots and pans, kitchen electrical appliances, clothes for children, toys, and china and silver.

Fezell says some people come to the rummage sale and will buy apparel for their children for the next two years. In past years, Fezell says, the event has included a job fair, a dental mobile, free health-care information and flu shots inside the pavilion.

This year's rummage sale will also include a community service fair, with nonprofit and service organizations such as InnVision, Emergency Housing Consortium, the American Cancer Society and the Santa Clara Public Health Department participating.

Fezell says the money made goes directly back to the league's projects in the community.

Photograph courtesy of Maribeth Portz Women in Action: Junior League of San Jose volunteers (from left) Vicki Mason, Kay Cackowski and Linda Schmidt spent time organizing the many items donated for the league's silent auction.

Another project is the Foothill High School Family Learning Center in East San Jose. With this project, leaguers mentor teen parents and pregnant teens who are pursuing a high school diploma.

In San Jose, approximately 800 members are involved in the league, and Willow Glen residents make up more than 15 percent of its membership, boasting 130 members. The organization is also headquartered in Willow Glen in a Victorian-style house on Dry Creek Road that was donated in 1976 by Dorothy Farrington. She generously donated her entire home and left it completely furnished. The league holds its committee and board meetings in the house.

Fezell says the average member is between the ages of 30 and 40 years old, with approximately 70 percent of active and new members in the workforce.

Each league picks projects and volunteer opportunities that the group deems important for its community. And the Junior League of San Jose has chosen a wide variety of groups to contribute to over the years, such as Big Brothers Big Sisters of Santa Clara County and Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County.

The Junior League began in 1901 in New York City as a volunteer-based, nonprofit organization created for only women. Today there are more than 296 Junior Leagues in four countries, with approximately 193,000 woman participating. Women 21 and older join the organization for a wide range of reasons—helping those less fortunate, an opportunity to meet those within their immediate community, and networking with other like-minded women.

For more information about the Junior League of San Jose, call 408.264.3058 or email the league at jlsj@jlsj.org. The rummage sale will be held on Oct. 18, 10 a.m. to 4.pm. and Oct. 19, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds Pavilion. The rummage sale will include a Community Service Fair on Oct.18th from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.