RVWL members at the 2013 Annual Gala

In December 1965, Judy Allen, a young Ross Valley mother, gathered a group of friends to hear a presentation from a volunteer at Marin General Hospital. The mothers grew excited about supporting the hospital and decided to focus on the pediatric program. Calling themselves the Jack and Jill Branch of the Marin General Hospital Volunteers, they met once a month at 1 p.m. when their children were napping. This was the beginning of an organization that what was to become KIDS W*A*Y and today is the Ross Valley Women’s League.
The Jack and Jill’s hosted holiday parties, provided gifts for pediatric patients, and arranged hospital tours for schools and youth groups, including the VIPP (Very Important Pediatric Patients) tours that prepared incoming pediatric patients for their hospital stay. The overall goal of the Jack and Jill’s services was to provide support to both parents and young patients during what, for many, was a very stressful time.
In addition to volunteer time at the hospital, the Jack and Jill’s were known for their parties. The first fundraiser was designed to bring members and husbands together socially. It was an old-fashioned box lunch auction and picnic, where each husband ate lunch with the lady whose box lunch he purchased. The event netted $80 seed money for the pediatric ward activities. The second fundraiser was more ambitious—a lunch and fashion show entitled “The Night Before Christmas,” which was attended by a capacity audience at the Peacock Gap Country Club in San Rafael in November 1966 and raised a whopping $800.

In 1967, the Jack and Jill’s went into high gear with a full-scale dinner dance for about 300 guests. The group held a brainstorming session and came up with the idea of holding the party in an auto showroom at about the time the new models were introduced. The owner of Campbell-Bishop Chevrolet in Corte Madera thought it was a great idea. Ticket sales were so successful that the Jack and Jills couldn’t fit everyone into the showroom, so the ladies were permitted to take over the service area as well. The decorations chair remarked that “it was like decorating an airplane hangar.” Nevertheless, a good time was had by all, and the profit totaled a remarkable $2,300—a pattern that was established and has continued. The annual fall gala held by Ross Valley Women’s League is now one of the hottest tickets in Marin.

In 1986, Jack and Jill members accepted yet another challenge. They became the support group for Marin General’s Adolescent Recovery Center, assisting the staff with the fight to eliminate the growing problem of adolescent drug and alcohol abuse within our community.
Over the years the parties became bigger and more elaborate. In 1987, the Jack and Jill’s threw a black-tie Orient Express fundraiser at Larkspur Landing, with a grand prize of two round-trip airline tickets to London.

In 1989, the Jack and Jill’s changed its name to KIDS W*A*Y (Women’s Association for Youth) to better reflect its continuing support of Marin General and its association with the hospital’s Adolescent Recovery Center. In 1990, the resourceful women of KIDS W*A*Y convinced the well-known movie critic, Roger Ebert, to appear at their fundraiser. The lavish event was held at the Portman Hotel in San Francisco, and the diners were hoping for a pre-Oscar forecast. While there was some disappointment with Ebert’s subject of choice—a very colorful talk about the overabundance of alcohol and drugs glorified in films new and old - the KIDS W*A*Y volunteers pointed out that the money raised was going to substance abuse programs, the true goal of the evening.

In 1992, in addition to their continued support of pediatrics, KIDS W*A*Y adopted the Cancer Care Center as another area of focus following the closure of the Adolescent Recovery Center. Volunteers also assisted at the Mammogram Center and the Circle Library as well as participated in community outreach, visiting various groups to explain to women the critical importance of regular mammograms and self-examination. A stunning garden party and fashion show was held at the home of Anne and Tony Campodonico (who to this day continue to be among our most generous donors) to raise funds that year.

In 1994, the group changed its name to Ross Valley Women’s League to better reflect to the group’s provenance and its focus on supporting groups outside of the hospital, including Adopt A Family of Marin. The hospital also wanted more internal control of its fundraising.
In 1997, the members of Ross Valley Women’s League began to discuss how and where to more intensively focus their growing efforts. These discussions, together with input from husbands on the board of Adopt A Family and local civic leaders, led to the decision in May of 1997 to exclusively sponsor and raise funds for Adopt A Family of Marin.

RVWL has evolved into a Friendship Based Social Group engaged in charitable social events.