37th Annual Festival of Trees
The Junior League of Bergen County (JLBC) is thrilled to announce our 37th Annual Festival of Trees Gala to be held on Saturday, November 23rd, 2024 at The Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, NJ. Festival of Trees, a formal gala, is our signature fundraiser and features both a live and online auction.
Established in Bergen County in 1933, the JLBC is an organization of women whose mission is to advance women’s leadership for meaningful community impact through volunteer action, collaboration, and training. The JLBC has long been a non-profit innovator in Bergen County by founding and supporting non-profit organizations such as The Volunteer Center of Bergen County and Rebuilding Together North Jersey, most recently we partnered with The Center for Hope and Safety to provide year-round care for their Pathway to Self-Sufficiency in Van Saun Park, a space that memorializes victims and survivors of domestic violence.
The JLBC launched our newest signature community project in Fall 2023 called “Empowering Environments,” which focuses on transforming community spaces inside and outdoors into settings where everyone thrives. Our most recent Empowering Environments project renovated the Art Therapy room at West Bergen Mental Health Facility in Ridgewood, NJ to give their clients a refreshed space to express their creativity. Funds from this year’s Festival of Trees will support our next two Empowering Environments projects with the Opportunity Center in Fair Lawn, NJ and a Flat Rock Brook in Englewood, NJ.
At this year’s Festival of Trees, we are proud to honor sustaining league member Deborah “Beechie” Witcher Jackson. Beechie’s dedication to community service and leadership is evident through her 16 year tenure with JLBC. Her concurrent membership with the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc Bergen/Passaic Chapter, which included multiple Presidential seats, further highlights her commitment to advocacy and empowerment, culminating in the prestigious Classic Women in Red Award. A testament to her impactful contributions, she was also awarded the Garden State Woman of the Year Award for Non-Profits in 2008.
