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FORT MYERS, Fla. (Sept. 29, 2015) – The Junior League of Fort Myers, Inc. invites all of its current and past sustainer members to a Sustainer Reunion to benefit the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium, located at 3450 Ortiz Ave in Fort Myers, on Oct.15 from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

“We’re kicking off the League year with a Sustainer Reunion at the Planetarium at the Calusa Nature Center,” said Sustainer Chair Lou Pontius. “This will be a great kickoff to the Junior League’s 50th Anniversary. All current and past JLFM sustaining members are invited to join us.”

According to Pontius, the Junior League was instrumental in the establishment of the Nature Center back in 1973.

“After much planning and grassroots fundraising, the Nature Center was set to become a reality thanks to the Junior Welfare League – now the Junior League of Fort Myers,” she said. “The suitcase museums that were constructed to be displayed in schools prior to the museum’s construction are now on display at the Nature Center – some 45 years later.”

Pontius added that the Junior League has a long history of supporting the Nature Center in various ways and was also responsible for moving the Iona House from near McGregor Boulevard to the museum site. General meetings were held at the Iona House, and it also housed the Gulfshore Delights cookbook office.

The price to attend the Sustainer Reunion is $25 per guest with proceeds supporting the Nature Center. Reservations are requested by Oct. 12 by emailing Becky Antonucci at otr1957@aol.com.

Since 1966, the Junior League of Fort Myers has contributed more than one million volunteer hours to community projects and programs.

Through the decades, the JLFM has made major contributions to Southwest Florida to support a wide variety of community needs, including founding the Calusa Nature Center & Planetarium (1973), the Volunteer Service Bureau – Volunteer Action Center – now known as Volunteer Center (1992), Teen Court (1992) and the Women’s Resource Center (1996). It has also been active in feeding the hungry in the five-county area through the food drive at the annual Taste of the Town, mentoring teenage girls in foster care, supporting self defense for women, preparing women to re-enter the workforce, creating a listening library for cancer patients, preserving historic architecture, supporting the Ronald McDonald House, distributing holiday food baskets, organizing holiday gift drives, providing gender-specific programming to teenage girls in juvenile justice, supplying backpacks to children in Harlem Heights Community and more.

A member of the Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc., the Junior League of Fort Myers, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1966 and made up of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable. The JLFM is also a granting organization, providing mini-grants to organizations throughout Southwest Florida’s five-county area to programs that create better life outcomes for our area’s youth. JLFM memberships are open to all women aged 21 and older of all races, religions and national origin who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism.

For more information about the Sustainer Reunion, call 239-848-6014.