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Reported on Monday, November 23, 2009 5:29 AM

• Evaluation Conclusions
• Purpose
• Programs
• Fund Raising Methods
• Financial Summary

• Charity Contact and Profile
• Additional Locations and Phone Numbers
• BBB Standards for Charitable Accountability
• Ten Tips for Better Giving

Tax Status 501(c)(3)

The mission of the Biloxi - Ocean Springs Junior Auxiliary is to improve the community by meeting the physical, medical, financial, and educational needs of the children, youth, and families in our service area.

"Junior Auxiliary represents a serious endeavor on the part of women to be active and constructive community participants and to assume leadership roles in meeting community needs. Junior Auxiliary provides the member with the opportunity to serve and to be a vital part of the community. The objectives of the Association are to unite in one body all Junior Auxiliary Chapters and members to promote National and individual Chapter purposes; to encourage members to render charitable services which are beneficial to the general public, with particular emphasis on children; to cooperate with other Charitable 501 (c)(3) organizations." NAJA Handbook

Ann Wesson
In honor of a past president of Junior Auxiliary, Ann Wesson, scholarships are awarded every year to selected high school seniors in their community. This scholarship project serves four students per year and costs JA $8000.

Art in the Afternoon
This project is a project aimed at keeping the arts in school. JA members provide education and exploration of the arts to the students attending local after-school programs. This project serves 400 to 500 students per year and cost JA $1500.

Buckets of Happiness/ Special Deliveries
This project supplies disadvantaged pediatric patients with personal hygiene and fun/educational items to assist them during their hospital stay. Recently, this project was combined with another project entitled "Special Deliveries". These young mothers are provided with baby items they will need for the child upon leaving the hospital. The projected cost for this project is $2500.

Challenge Day
The program increases self-esteem, helps shift dangerous peer pressure to positive peer support and reduces the acceptability of teasing, oppression and all forms of violence. The goal of the program is to eliminate social oppression at its roots by replacing ignorance and fear with knowledge, compassion and love. This project costs JA approximately $5900 per school and serves 80 to 100 middle school to high school aged teens.

Dog Tales
This program focuses on educating elementary aged children on the importance of caring for animals. This project serves 100 to 200 kindergarten students each time it is presented.

E-lympics
This program allows children the opportunity to exercise while participating in a variety of competitions and games. JA serves with the staff at E-Fitness in helping to safely escort children of various age groups to and from each event and assists with the closing ceremonies.

Family Matters
This project is JA's child welfare project. JA adopts a family and works with the family to break the cycle of dependancy. This project in the past has served only one family, but it is JA's goal to serve two families this year. The estimated expenses for this project are $5000.

Healthy Smiles
This program is aimed toward elementary aged children in order to promote healthy dental hygiene by visiting area schools and health fairs. This project serves anywhere between 90 and 700 children each time it is presented. It cost JA approximately $2000 per year.

Jr. Leadership
This program is organized jointly by JA and the Biloxi Chamber of Commerce. The purpose of the program is to produce students of outstanding character who are more sensitive to the needs of the community and are better able to contribute to society. JA members present a program to expose these students to outstanding people and occupations in the community. They go through a day long program with exericses and activities that get their minds working on how they can build a bigger, healthier community together as future leaders of the Gulf Coast. This project serves approximately 30 middle school aged children and has a budget of $500 per year.

Kaboom
JA has teamed up with KaBoom Organization to build area playgrounds for the youth in our community. Members assist the organization with activities for the youth on the playground site, such as helping the children paint a wall mural and map for the asphalt that will be used on the playground. JA members also interacted with the children by decorating garbage cans, painting playhouses, and painting hand impressions in the concrete. This project helps rebuild the community for the children and cost JA nothing but time. The project is funded by the Hurricane Recovery Fund, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, Fannie Mae and the Foundation for the Mid-South.

Pyramid Pals
This program introduces students to the USDA Food Pyramid Guidance System in a fun way. The program also discusses exercise and how the correct foods that you eat give you the energy to be able to exercise and play.

Rooms of Hope
This is a fairly new project to Junior Auxiliary, where members work in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, where a family is selected by Habitat for a complete bedroom makeover for each child in the household. Rooms of Hope usually serves four to six families each year and costs JA about $15000 per year.

RSVP
This project increases self-esteem among elementary aged students through improved social skills. JA members conduct a program within the area schools which covers all the necessary rules of etiquette. This project costs JA approximately $4000 each year.

Santa's Helpers
Each JA member is assigned a family from the area schools, which they are responsible for all year. The members purchase presents for the children to have during the holidays for every child in the family that is selected by the school. Members of this committee also collect gifts for various events and programs during the holidays for other families in need in our local communities. Santa's Helpers also wraps gifts for an entire weekend at Minor's Toy Store in downtown Ocean Springs during a local festival held during the Christmas holidays. This project serves about 500 children and costs Junior Auxiliary about $20,000 each year.

School Aid
Members of the Junior Auxiliary chapter work with area school counselors in order to provide clothing, school supplies, medical, dental and financial assistance for children grades K-12. The estimated cost for this project is $20,000 per year.

Someone to Talk To
The members of this committee present a puppet show for first graders which focus on physical and sexual abuse, neglect and stranger danger. After the show, JA members discuss all of the situations with the group of students, stressing to the students how important it is to talk to a trusted adult about these bad situations if ever they are faced with something like this in their own lives. The teachers and counselors are also present. This project serves between 300 and 500 children per year and costs the JA $2000 each year.

Teacher Board
This project elects a board of teachers from our Biloxi-Ocean Springs communities which communicate to JA the needs of children in the area schools. The teachers assist JA in project development and implemention.

Tomorrow's Promises
This is a new project at the Gulf Coast Women's Center for Non-Violence in which the members of JA provide positive interaction with the children residing at the shelter during a very confusing time of transition in their lives. It is estimated that it will take approximately $4000 to run this project per year and the number of children it will serve is unknown at this time.

JA uses membership dues, donations, sponsorships & ticket sales for the Spring for Kids Gala, and cookbook sales to help support the organization.

According to the IRS Form 990 for the Fiscal Year ended 4/30/2008:

(228) 396-1857

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ID: 160910130
Report as of: 11/23/2009

© 2009  The Better Business Bureau of Mississippi, Inc.

1. A board of directors that provides adequate oversight of the charity's operations and its staff.
2. A board of directors with a minimum of five voting members.
3. A minimum of three evenly spaced meetings per year of the full governing body with a majority in attendance, with face-to-face participation.
4. Not more than one or 10% (whichever is greater) directly or indirectly compensated person(s) serving as voting member(s) of the board. Compensated members shall not serve as the board's chair or treasurer.
5. No transaction(s) in which any board or staff members have material conflicting interests with the charity resulting from any relationship or business affiliation.
6. Have a board policy of assessing, no less than every two years, the organization's performance and effectiveness and of determining future actions required to achieve its mission.
7. Submit to the organization's governing body, for its approval, a written report that outlines the results of the aforementioned performance and effectiveness assessment and recommendations for future actions.
8. Spend at least 65% of its total expenses on program activities.
9. Spend no more than 35% of related contributions on fund raising. Related contributions include donations, legacies and other gifts received as a result of fund raising efforts.
10. Avoid accumulating funds that could be used for current program activities. To meet this standard, the charity's unrestricted net assets available for use should not be more than three times the size of the past year's expenses or three times the size of the current year's budget, whichever is higher.
11. Make available to all, on request, complete annual financial statements prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
12. Include in the financial statements a breakdown of expenses (e.g., salaries, travel, postage, etc.) that shows what portion of these expenses was allocated to program, fund raising, and administrative activities.
13. Accurately report the charity's expenses, including any joint cost allocations, in its financial statements.
14. Have a board-approved annual budget for its current fiscal year, outlining projected expenses for major program activities, fund raising, and administration.
15. Have solicitations and informational materials, distributed by any means, that are accurate, truthful and not misleading, both in whole and in part.
16. Have an annual report available to all, on request, that includes: (a) the organization's mission statement, (b) a summary of the past year's program service accomplishments, (c) a roster of the officers and members of the board of directors, (d) financial information that includes (i) total income in the past fiscal year, (ii) expenses in the same program, fund raising and administrative categories as in the financial statements, and (iii) ending net assets.
17. Include on any charity websites that solicit contributions, the same information that is recommended for annual reports, as well as the mailing address of the charity and electronic access to its most recent IRS Form 990.
18. Address privacy concerns of donors by (a) providing in written appeals, at least annually, a means (e.g., such as a check off box) for both new and continuing donors to inform the charity if they do not want their name and address shared outside the organization, and
    (b) providing a clear, prominent and easily accessible privacy policy on any of its websites that tells visitors (i) what information, if any, is being collected about them by the charity and how this information will be used, (ii) how to contact the charity to review personal information collected and request corrections, (iii) how to inform the charity (e.g., a check off box) that the visitor does not wish his/her personal information to be shared outside the organization, and (iv) what security measures the charity has in place to protect personal information.
19. Clearly disclose how the charity benefits from the sale of products or services (i.e., cause-related marketing) that state or imply that a charity will benefit from a consumer sale or transaction. Such promotions should disclose, at the point of solicitation: (a) the actual or anticipated portion of the purchase price that will benefit the charity (e.g., 5 cents will be contributed to abc charity for every xyz company product sold), (b) the duration of the campaign (e.g., the month of October), (c) any maximum or guaranteed minimum contribution amount (e.g., up to a maximum of $200,000).
20. Respond promptly to and act on complaints brought to its attention by the BBB Wise Giving Alliance and/or local Better Business Bureaus about fund raising practices, privacy policy violations and/or other issues.

Most charities are honest and ethical, but questionable solicitors are counting on the fact that you won't bother to check out the charity before you give. Here is some basic wise giving advice:

1. Watch out for similar names.
   As there are many charities raising funds for similar causes, some charity names sound the same. Be sure to look at the name carefully, because the charity soliciting you may not be the one you have in mind.
2. Do not be pressured to make an immediate gift.
   Be wary of solicitors that demand an 'on the spot' donation. Charities should welcome your gift whenever you want to send it.
3. Question vague appeals.
   Appeals should clearly identify the charity's programs. Watch out for appeals that are strong on identifying a problem, but weak on describing what specifically the charity intends to do about it.
4. Do not give out personal information to phone solicitors.
   Don't give out credit card numbers, checking account numbers or any other personal information to unknown telephone solicitors.
5. Do not give cash.
   Write a check out to the charity's full official name, not to an individual or third party that may be collecting the donation.
6. Keep records of your donations (receipts, canceled checks and bank statements) so you can document your charitable giving at tax time. (Note: The IRS requires donations of $250 or more to be substantiated through a written receipt from the charity.)
7. If you want a deduction, make sure the organization is a charity.
   There are many different types of soliciting nonprofit organizations. Most appeals will indicate if the organization is eligible to receive gifts deductible as charitable contributions. (To be sure, review the list of organizations in IRS Publication 78 or ask the charity for a copy of its tax exempt status determination letter.)
8. Don't hesitate to ask the charity for written information on its programs and finances.
   This tip can be particularly helpful in responding to phone appeals from charities that interest you.
9. To verify if a charity is registered to solicit, contact your state government.
   In most cases, this will be the state's office of the attorney general. Remember that the state registration does not mean 'approval', it means the group has filed the appropriate forms.
10. Report bad practices.
    Contact your Better Business Bureau and your state's Attorney General office about solicitation problems.