Brief History  

• The Junior League of Wyandotte and Johnson Counties was originally formed as The Service League in 1934.
• The JLWJC was admitted into the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI) in 1949.
• In the 2007-2008 League Year there were more than 100 active members.

Ronald McDonald House

One of the biggest challenges for our organization was developing a metropolitan-wide service project that began with the community outreach members of our league in 1979. After only 6 months of identifying and researching the community need for a temporary home for families whose children were being treated for critical or long-term illnesses at area hospitals, Children's Oncology Services of Mid-America, Inc. was formed.

League volunteers provided the leadership that brought the families and community together to open the first RONALD McDONALD HOUSE in Kansas City in 1981 at 45th and State Line Road. With the initial financial commitment from our League as a founding organization, funding over the next decade grew to over $100,000. The original home is closed; however, two additional homes are today serving hundreds of families and children at 25th and Cherry and Longfellow Park, as well as family rooms within Children's Mercy Hospital.

The Ronald McDonald House project was a courageous vision and profound organizational commitment for the Junior League and one that the organization takes personal and collective pride with the Kansas City community. We experienced and witnessed volunteerism at its finest through this remarkable League project that gave birth to the dream of "a house that love built"!

Wyandotte House - (KVC Behavioral Healthcare)

In 1967-68, Junior League saw a need to help abused and neglected children and voted to establish Wyandotte House (the original name). It began with one home for 9 homeless boys. This was a joint effort by the Junior League of Kansas City, Kansas (our original name), the Kansas City Jaycees, and the Juvenile Court. The first house opened one year later.

It began with one house, then went to three houses in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, to a full residential facility in 1986 when their name changed to Kaw Valley Center. In 1997 it became one of five foster care private providers in the state of Kansas, and it operates in 33 counties under its current name of KVC Behavioral Healthcare.