About Our Chapter

NCL, Inc., Fort Worth Cowtown Chapter is a group of mothers and daughters who have come together in a commitment to community service, leadership development and cultural experiences.
Members shall reside in or attend schools in the southern Fort Worth metropolitan area. Like all NCL, Inc. Chapters, Fort Worth Cowtown aims to foster the mother-daughter relationship by serving its communities together.

Membership in NCL strengthens the mother-daughter bond during the challenging developmental years of grades 7 through 12.  It provides mothers and daughters alike a unique opportunity to:

• serve together with local and national philanthropies
• learn and grow as individuals and reflect on the values and skills needed to become capable, courageous leaders
• develop a deeper understanding and appreciation of the differences in each other and the world by connecting with different people, communities, and cultures

NCL OVERVIEW

National Charity League first started in 1925 when Gladys Wilkinson Lawrence gathered together Patronesses from Los Angeles society to make layettes for the American Red Cross and food baskets for the hungry. They brought along their daughters, who at first would anxiously watch the clock go “tick, tock” as they waited for their mothers to finish, but with time began to help.  The “Patronesses” lovingly referred to them as “Ticktockers” and they called themselves “The Charity League.” Over time the organization developed into the NCL we know today – the largest mother-daughter philanthropy in the nation.

THE NCL EXPERIENCE

The three pillars of our six-year (7th-12th grade) NCL experience are Community Service, Leadership Development, and Cultural Experiences. Members of NCL participate in an enriching program that embraces these three pillars:

• Community Service: Mothers and daughters serve together in their communities.
• Leadership Development: Every member holds a leadership role each year to build leadership skills.
• Cultural Experiences: Programming offers members the opportunity to learn about a variety of topics.

THE TICKTOCKER EXPERIENCE

We are dedicated to providing our Ticktockers with opportunities to learn the joy of serving others, to grow aware of and respect a wide array of cultural traditions, to develop life skills, maturity, confidence and compassion, and to make friends while engaging in chapter activities. We believe that this well-rounded experience will inspire and empower them to succeed as confident and socially aware contributors in their communities. Ticktockers are divided into classes based on their year of high school graduation. Each Ticktocker class has a Board and committees. The Ticktockers are trained in parliamentary procedure and conduct their own meetings, with the support of Patronesses known as Grade Level Advisors (GLAs). Each Ticktocker class will focus on a different area of leadership development year-after-year.

  

THE PATRONESS EXPERIENCE

We are equally dedicated to deepening the mother-daughter bond and spending time with our daughters while watching them grow into strong, capable and compassionate women. Each Patroness will know the satisfaction of working with other talented women who value serving the community and who want their daughters to do so as well. Each Patroness has opportunities to serve on the Board or in a leadership position, such as a Grade Level Advisor or Chair of an event. Patronesses will also serve on committees to perform tasks and projects for the chapter.

 

   

MEETINGS AND EVENTS

KICKOFF

The Fort Worth Cowtown Chapter kicks off each service year with an event in August, at which members who provided exceptional community service the prior year are recognized.

MONTHLY MEETINGS

The Fort Worth Cowtown Chapter holds monthly meetings from September through May for both Ticktockers and Patronesses, sometimes together as “Joint Meetings” but often separate. Ticktocker meetings address topics in our Chapter’s “Core Program” and include guest speakers and/or hands-on activities. Each class year of Ticktockers meets separately.

PHILANTHROPY EVENTS

Ticktockers and Patronesses must fulfill an annual philanthropy hours requirement by attending volunteer events scheduled with the Fort Worth Cowtown Chapter’s approved philanthropy partners.

SPRING TEA AND SENIOR RECOGNITION

All members are required to attend the Spring Tea and Senior Recognition, a tradition that dates back to NCL’s founding in the 1920s and promotes the cultural focus of etiquette.

 

MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS

PATRONESSES

• 15 Philanthropy Hours (with daughter)*
• 10 Leadership Hours**
• 5 Patroness Meetings
• Attend Spring Tea and Senior Recognition

TICKTOCKERS

• 15 Philanthropy Hours (with mother)*
• 10 Leadership Hours**
• 6 Ticktocker Meetings
• Attend Spring Tea and Senior Recognition

*Philanthropy Hours: Credit is given for service in NCL Fort Worth Cowtown Chapter philanthropic projects.

**Leadership Hours: Patronesses and Ticktockers earn leadership hours when their work is directly related to their role within the Fort Worth Cowtown Chapter. Examples of hours include trainings, committee meetings/work, board meetings/work, time spent coordinating an event, telephone work, etc.

Join Our Chapter

Interested in joining our chapter? Membership opportunities are dependent on chapter openings.

Please complete the Membership Inquiry Form so we can contact you directly. If you know a current chapter member, feel free to reach out to them as well to learn about getting started.

Membership Inquiry Form

For any questions regarding Membership, requests for transfers or assistance with connecting as a Sustainer, email us.

We can be reached at membershipfortworthcowtown@nclonline.org.

   

Community Service

We understand and serve communities in partnership with local and national nonprofits. Each NCL, Inc. chapter promotes social awareness by considering the local community’s needs and selecting appropriate non-profit organizations to support through different volunteer activities.

We work with the following philanthropies:

• Adera Foundation
• Alzheimer’s Association
• American Heart Association
• American Red Cross
• Arise Africa
• Botanical Research Institute of Texas
• Carrie’s Closet
• Catholic Charities
• Cuisine For Healing
• Disaster Response
• Feeding America
• Fort Worth Drowning Prevention
• Gladney Center for Adoption
• Justin’s Place
• Laundry Love
• LVTRise
• Mother’s Milk Bank
• National Day of Service
• Opal’s Farm
• Operation Gratitude
• Presbyterian Night Shelter
• Project 4031
• Project Linus
• Ronald McDonald House
• Ryan Place
• Saving Hope Animal Rescue
• Stolen Shakespeare Guild
• Streams and Valleys
• Tarrant Area Food Bank (Feeding America)
• Tarrant County Master Gardener Association
• The Cowtown
• The Kindness Campaign
• The Parenting Center
• The Warm Place
• The Welman Project
• Union Gospel Mission
• Wreaths Across America

If you are interested in becoming our philanthropy partner, please email nclfortworthcowtown@nclonline.org.

   

Leadership Development

We build capable, courageous leaders through opportunities to learn, reflect and develop. Our leaders become successful in their education, career and communities by learning the necessary skills during their NCL experience.

Examples of skills developed include:

• Confidence
• Consensus building
• Team building
• Conflict resolution
• Event planning
• Parliamentary procedure

Our Chapter Board of Directors:

• President: Schuyler Wiegand
• President Elect: Christine Spikes
• Secretary: Claire Midkiff
• Treasurer: Beth Cobb
• Parliamentarian: Diane Wolff
• Vice President Communications: Jenny Phillips
• Vice President Membership: Nicole Shelton
• Vice President Philanthropy: Carrie Moore
  Danica Richey
• Vice President New Members: Rebekah Byrne
• Vice President Ticktockers: Jacqueline Adams
• Vice President Chapter Engagement and Inclusion: Adri Smith

 If you are interested in speaking at one of our meetings, please email membership@nclonline.org

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Cultural Experiences

We preserve National Charity League traditions and core values, while appreciating the growth that comes from connecting with different communities and cultures. We continually strive to build stronger ties with our communities and the individuals within them. It is through this understanding that we grow and develop broader worldviews that will shape and support our lives.

• Traditions – We celebrate the richness of our history through traditions that honor the past while serving the future.
• Values – We embrace values that make us strong as an organization of mother-daughter leaders.
• Community Connections – We build connections through experiences that impact our communities.
• Etiquette – We encourage and mentor kind, respectful and gracious social conduct.