Orinda Juniors members came together to assemble 72 blankets with a message of encouragement for women undergoing breast cancer treatment. These blankets are intended to offer extra comfort to patients during their treatment. We will be donating the blankets to the HERS Breast Cancer Foundation in Fremont, California.
The Orinda Junior Women’s Club is thrilled to announce the winners of Youth Ink 2024, the annual creative writing contest open to middle school students who live in or attend school in Orinda. The prompt for this year’s event was “Roots,” though participants had the freedom to explore other topics. Here are the talented winners of this year’s top prizes:
In addition, we’d like to acknowledge the honorable mentions for their commendable entries (in alphabetical order):
The awards ceremony took place at the Orinda Library Auditorium, with guest speaker, Kathy Cordova, Executive Editor of The Orinda News. We extend our gratitude to all participants for sharing their talents with us. We are very grateful for our volunteer judges – Linda Bizzarri, A.J. Brown, Anne Lowell, and Sana Shukairy. Their commitment, expertise, and careful consideration were instrumental in reviewing each entry and selecting this year’s winners from an outstanding pool of submissions. Lastly, we’d like to thank our community sponsors: Friends of the Orinda Library, The Intuitive Writing Project, Lamorinda Arts Council and Orinda Community Foundation.
Our annual Social at Calicraft Brewing Co. in February was a blast! The Orinda Juniors competed against several teams in Trivia, all while enjoying each other’s company and great-tasting beer and cider.
We are pleased to announce the YouthInk 2024 writing contest launches on December 15, 2023! The YouthInk writing contest was created to support the literary arts among young people in the Orinda community. YouthInk is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who live in Orinda or attend an Orinda school.
Entries must be a story (fiction or non-fiction), poem, or other creative writing form; presented in English, and written specifically for the contest and without teacher or parent involvement. Length must be 750 words or less. Submissions will be evaluated on content, clarity, structure, and originality.
Prompt
The writing prompt for 2024 is Roots; however, you may write about anything you like—real or imaginary—adhere to the prompt or not! There is no limit to your imagination.
To Enter
Contest opens December 15, 2023, and closes on February 19, 2024.
Download a YouthInk 2024 entry form.
Entries will only be accepted via email. Email your entry to oyouthink@gmail.com with the following:
Once you have submitted your entry, you will receive a receipt notification from oyouthink@gmail.com to confirm your entry was successfully submitted.
Prizes
First Place $250, Second Place $125, and Third Place $75, and ten honorable mentions gift certificates. Winners will be notified by mail and receive their prizes at an Awards Ceremony on May 2, 2024. The ceremony is open to the public and all family and friends are invited.
Contest Sponsors
The contest is organized and run by the Orinda Junior Women’s Club, with additional financial sponsorship provided by Friends of the Orinda Library, The Intuitive Writing Project, Lamorinda Arts Council, and Orinda Community Foundation.
In November, the Orinda Juniors gathered to make two gifts for our annual fundraiser. The first is a beautiful olivewood spoon and ceramic spoon rest presented in a reusable burlap gift bag. Additionally, we’ve created charming wildflower bouquets that come in your choice of colored glass vases – yellow, blue, green or grey.
Orinda Juniors members made 38 mastectomy comfort pillows during our September meeting. The pillows will be donated to HERS Breast Cancer Foundation, where they will be given to patients who are recovering from breast cancer surgery.
We are pleased to announce Youth Ink 2023 writing contest launches on December 12, 2022! The Youth Ink writing contest was created to support the literary arts among young people in the Orinda community, Youth Ink is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who live in Orinda or attend an Orinda school.
Entries must be a story (fiction or non-fiction), poem, or other creative writing form; presented in English, and written specifically for the contest and without teacher or parent involvement. Entries must be 750 words or less. Submissions will be evaluated on content, clarity, structure, and originality.
Prompt
The writing prompt for 2023 is Strength; however, you may write about anything you like—real or imaginary—adhere to the prompt or not! There is no limit to your imagination.
To Enter
Contest opens December 12, 2022, and closes on March 5, 2023.
Download a Youth Ink 2023 entry form.
Entries will only be accepted via email. Email your entry to oyouthink@gmail.com with the following:
Once you have submitted your entry, you will receive a receipt notification from oyouthink@gmail.com to confirm your entry was successfully submitted.
Prizes
First Place $250, Second Place $125, and Third Place $75, and ten honorable mentions gift certificates. Winners will be notified by mail and receive their prizes in May.
Contest Sponsors
The contest is organized and run by the Orinda Junior Women’s Club, with additional financial sponsorship provided by Friends of the Orinda Library, The Intuitive Writing Project, Lamorinda Arts Council, and Orinda Community Foundation.
We are pleased to announce Youth Ink 2022 writing contest launches on December 13, 2021! The Youth Ink writing contest was created to support the literary arts among young people in the Orinda community, Youth Ink is open to all 6th, 7th, and 8th graders who live in Orinda or attend an Orinda school.
Entries must be a story (fiction or non-fiction), poem, or other creative writing form; presented in English, and written specifically for the contest and without teacher or parent involvement. Entries must be 750 words or less. Submissions will be evaluated on content, clarity, structure, and originality.
Prompt
The writing prompt for 2022 is Glass Half Full; however, you may write about anything you like—real or imaginary—adhere to the prompt or not! There is no limit to your imagination.
To Enter
Contest opens December 13, 2021, and closes on March 6, 2022.
Download a Youth Ink 2022 entry form.
Entries will only be accepted via email. Email your entry to oyouthink@gmail.com with the following:
Once you have submitted your entry, you will receive a receipt notification from oyouthink@gmail.com to confirm your entry was successfully submitted.
Prizes
First Place $250, Second Place $125, and Third Place $75, and ten honorable mentions gift certificates. Winners will be notified by mail and receive their prizes in May.
Contest Sponsors
The contest is organized and run by the Orinda Junior Women’s Club, with additional financial sponsorship provided by Friends of the Orinda Library, The Intuitive Writing Project, Lamorinda Arts Council, and Orinda Community Foundation.
At the October Orinda Junior Women’s Club meeting, members came together to decorate pumpkins for the residents of the Orinda Senior Village. Each resident was able to pick one up to add some Halloween cheer to their homes.
