Junior League of San Antonio Announces 2018-19 Volunteer Extraordinaire

SAN ANTONIO - Feb. 12, 2019 - PRLog -- Each year, the Junior League of San Antonio honors a Sustaining member who exemplifies the benefits of Junior League training through her continued volunteer contributions to the community. Our 2018-2019 Volunteer Extraordinaire Gretchen Garceau-Kragh exemplifies the true spirit of voluntarism. A Junior League member since 1997, Gretchen served as JLSA President from 2011-2012 and has been a Sustaining Advisor to various League committees and projects since the culmination of her Active membership in 2013, serving in Finance, development of the upcoming Centennial Signature Project, mentorship of other members, and the JLSA Nominating Committee.

The Connecticut native received her Bachelor of Science degree in sports science from Colby-Sawyer College in New London, New Hampshire, and her Master of Education from Elmira College in Elmira, New York. She launched her career in New York as the Head Athletic Trainer at The Gunnery School and then the US Military Academy, West Point, New York. In 1999 she married Dr. John Kragh, an Army orthopedic surgeon, and they moved to Fort Bragg, North Carolina the same year. In 2001, the Army moved them again, this time to San Antonio when John was stationed at Joint Base San Antonio -- Fort Sam Houston as an orthopedic surgeon and researcher at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research. With their move, she transferred her Junior League membership to San Antonio. By 2004 she would earn an MBA in Sports Management from the University of Incarnate Word while she worked at the school as the inaugural Athletic Training Program Director, having been hired to establish the major. During her husband's 2006 deployment to Iraq, she turned to her Junior League family for support and friendship, all while nurturing a record of community service and touching countless hearts through her JLSA leadership.

Gretchen's volunteer experience has touched not just San Antonio but has stretched across the country. Gretchen joined the Junior League in Orange County, New York, where she was nominated for Active member of the year. She later transferred to the Junior League of Fayetteville, North Carolina; JLSA was her third League, and Gretchen credits her Junior League membership with helping her meet new people and learn about her community in every new city she and John moved to. Gretchen took her vast knowledge about her Junior League experience to serve on the Association of Junior Leagues International's nominating committee from 2013-2015, and she leveraged her knowledge closer to home by serving on the board of the King William Association and as a member of the 2018 NCAA Final Four Hospitality committee.

The new skills Gretchen acquired throughout her Junior League membership helped her transition from a career as an athletic trainer to a successful career in the nonprofit sector, developing fundraising funnels for nonprofits in San Antonio including The Cannoli Fund, which she founded in 2011 and named after her beloved cat Cannoli. The Cannoli Fund, based in Southtown, provides resources and support to improve the lives of cats and dogs in King William and Lavaca neighborhoods. Gretchen is also an esteemed board member for the Animal Defense League of Texas, further incorporating her compassion for animals in her voluntary service.

Gretchen is currently a grant writer for multiple nonprofits in south Texas and nationwide, where she has devoted her skills in organizing and fundraising to help bolster the ability of many organizations to fulfill their missions. She has also served the Alamo City Cancer Council, San Antonio Children's Museum, Seton Home, and Guide Dogs of Texas throughout her career in the nonprofit sector.

Gretchen is an avid sports fan who enjoys playing golf and going to Major League Baseball games with her husband. She has three cats and a multitude of other neighborhood cats she cares for. Her unwavering ability to give and serve genuinely knows no boundaries.

Gretchen will be recognized and honored at the Unstoppable: Passion for a Purpose Luncheon presented by University Health System on Friday, April 5 at the Stars at Night Ballroom in the Henry B. González Convention Center. Table sponsorships are available online at https://www.jlsa.org/unstoppable-passion-for-a-purpose-lu...

About Junior League of San Antonio

The Junior League of San Antonio, Inc. is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. Its purpose is exclusively educational and charitable.