‘Edmonton Jaycees’ aim to improve local communities

By Trevor Robb

EDMONTON — ‘Be Better’.

That’s the message Junior Chamber International (JCI) Edmonton hoped to get across at their annual membership drive, ‘Experience JCI’, on Thursday at the west end Edmonton Lexus dealership.

“Its an opportunity to come mingle with fellow JCI members and learn a little bit of what we’re all about and a little bit about the four pillars that we offer our members,” said Stefan Cherwoniak, director of membership with JCI.

As part of their ‘Be Better’ slogan, JCI hopes to instill four key pillars to becoming successful:

•    Individual
•    Community
•    Business
•    International

The not-for-profit organization has over 130 members within the ‘City of Champions’, the second largest chapter in Canada. The uniqueness of the membership group is that it primarily consists of young Edmontonians, aged 18 to 40.

“It’s going to be the next generation that will take over both the city, the country, and internationally and being involved in a positive matter across the world.” said Cherwoniak.

While JCI Edmonton was founded in 1929, JCI International dates back to 1915 and was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, by Henry Giessenbier. Now, the organization is global, with over 200,000 members worldwide, and with national organizations in over 100 countries and over 5,000 local organizations, like JCI Edmonton,.

Locally, the group has their hands in all sorts of fundraisers and charity events within the city. As part of their work, JCI helped to bring Junior Achievement, a non-profit children’s literary organization, to Edmonton in 2010.

“We donate tens of thousands of dollars in money and man hours back into the community,” said Cherwoniak. “We participate in a lot of already started events like the ‘Run for the Cure’, the ‘Underwear Affair’, or one of our flagship events, the annual ‘Turkey Drive’, which provides gifts and hampers to the underprivileged of Edmonton.”

International Impact

Last year, Cherwoniak was sent to Osaka, Japan for an annual JCI International Conference. One of JCI International’s main partners is the United Nations (UN). Through partnerships with the UN, JCI is involved with multiple groups and organizations with various different goals – from holding conferences on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), to helping eradicate malaria in Africa through the ‘Nothing but Nets’ program.

Currently,  JCI is the only non-governmental organization (NGO) allowed to use the UN logo within their own logo.

“Whether it’s traveling to the five conferences we have in the year or whether it’s just traveling to visit a country, I personally will always have a couch to sleep on by participating in JCI,” said Cherwoniak.

Looking to Join?

A $135 membership fee is required for interested people looking to become a part of JCI, something Cherwoniak said is well worth it.

“That $135 garners you a lot in the year, whether its travel subsidies in the thousands of dollars, or an opportunity to participate in our various training opportunities,” said Cherwoniak

Having graduated from the University of Alberta, Cherwoniak described himself  as ‘blinded’   when coming out of school and into the reality of today.s job market.

“Everybody has a degree now, you need to have an opportunity to meet people, and this is an opportunity to meet like-minded people and business people that are even higher up than you coming out of university,” said Cherwoniak.

robbt@mymail.macewan.ca