Mission
Junior Hospitality is Oklahoma City’s premier women’s organization.
Our mission is to raise money for community grants and provide volunteer opportunities to members.
As a vital part of our community for more than 75 years, members have donated countless hours and more than $2 million to help make central Oklahoma a better place to live and work.
Background
Junior Hospitality Club, Inc. is made up of a committed group of women who live in the greater Oklahoma City area. As concerned members of the community, the women of Junior Hospitality are vitally interested in enhancing the quality of life for those who live and work in Oklahoma County and its surrounding areas. Club members devote many hours and tremendous effort to raise funds directed toward the support of other non-profit civic and philanthropic organizations established to serve the many needs of our diverse community.
On August 11, 1934, the Junior Division of the Oklahoma Hospitality Club was organized under the leadership of Mrs. Betty Harwood who served as the first sponsor to the Junior Group. This separate club was organized for the daughters of Oklahoma Hospitality members with the objective of raising money for local charitable concerns and assisting the Oklahoma Hospitality Club. There were 50 chapter members and a total membership of 75. The Junior Hospitality Club was incorporated as a separate organization on November 21, 1958.
Throughout the years, membership in Junior Hospitality has included women who are committed to balancing work to meet the civic, charitable, and philanthropic needs of our community, while raising families and pursuing busy careers. Junior Hospitality is a self-sufficient, self-governing organization, which elects its board of directors from the membership. Although Junior Hospitality is no longer part of the Oklahoma Hospitality Club, the two clubs remain closely connected with a member of each club serving on the board of the other.
Junior Hospitality has made an immeasurable impact on the lives of many Oklahomans throughout its years of existence. From the proceeds raised by the original Follies to the present-day Xanadu, countless numbers of citizens have benefited from the services provided by Junior Hospitality efforts. Junior Hospitality was the first organization to provide funds for the Oklahoma City Food Bank and has been a driving force in the funding of the Children's Center. The original motto of the club, "Help Yourself by Helping Others," and the flower, a single red rose, are among the many traditions that remain from the 1934 organization of the club.