National Charity League, Inc. is a national, non-profit, mother and daughter philanthropic organization whose purpose is to provide opportunities for its members to become involved in community service and also to enjoy and enhance their mother-daughter relationship through educational and cultural activities. NCL has been serving communities, and bringing mothers and daughters closer for over 50 years!
About Our Chapter
The San Rafael Mission Belles Chapter began in May 2002 with a mother who wanted to introduce her daughters to the importance of community service. She assembled her friends to listen to the experiences of founding members from the Marin Chapter of NCL. After hearing the wonderful stories and opportunities that these women had with their daughters through the NCL program, seven women stepped forward to begin the process of establishing a new chapter. Less than two years later, the San Rafael Mission Belles moved from Provisional chapter status to become the 107th chartered chapter of the National Charity League.
The structure of an NCL chapter is organized into two groups. In our chapter, the mothers, known as Patronesses, meet once a month (8 times per year) and decide on programs, activities and philanthropic work, as well as understanding the business of the chapter and strategic direction. Philanthropic participation with their daughters is a requirement and each member must fulfill 20-30 philanthropic and league hours per year with 75% of the required hours spent volunteering as a mother-daughter team. Each member has some kind of role or position within the chapter which they must fulfill as part of their yearly participation requirement.
The daughters, known as Ticktockers, also meet 8 times per year, separately from the Patronesses. Ticktockers range from 7th grade to 12th grade. Ticktockers are organized by grade level and have their own set of elected officers and adult grade level advisors. Their meetings are designed around the Chapter’s ‘Six Year Plan’ which assigns various age-related educational and cultural objectives for them to meet through programs, presentations, and field trips. Each year, Ticktockers are required to devote 20-30 hours to philanthropic service and league activities. The overall objective is to provide opportunities to learn the beauty of giving of themselves to others; to practice social and leadership skills within their peer groups; and to have an awareness and appreciation of the various forms of cultural education in our community.
NCL’s mission lies firmly in community service, education, leadership training and cultural awareness, and our goals are carried out through the commitments and partnerships between mothers and daughters.
The History of NCL
In 1925, a small group of women interested in philanthropic work founded the Charity League in Los Angeles. They worked quietly, doing Red Cross work, making layettes and assembling and delivering baskets of food to the hungry at holiday times. Sometimes they brought their daughters with them. By 1938, so many daughters had become involved that they decided to form their own group. They called themselves the Ticktockers.
In 1947, these groups united to become the first mother-daughter charity and took their present name, National Charity League. The newly formed group decided to expand its program beyond philanthropic work to include educational and cultural activities.
Today, there are over 120 NCL chapters nationwide.
If you have questions about our chapter or about becoming an NCL member, please use the Contact Us link to the left.
