National Charity League, Inc. is built on a simple pairing: a mother and her daughter, volunteering side by side.
The Charlotte chapter of National Charity League, a mother-daughter service organization for daughters in grades 7 to 12, will begin accepting applications for new members in February 2027.
NCL is committed to community service, leadership development and cultural experiences. For more than 100 years it has been developing women leaders through volunteerism and supporting philanthropies with hands-on activities in local communities across the country. Chapters have 30 mother-daughter pairs per grade level, and there are more than 270 chapters in 27 states.
Service across Charlotte
A high school student who has belonged to NCL with her mother for four years, since she was a freshman, described the work in this month's issue. Members volunteer in person all over Charlotte with community partners including Nourish Up, Baby Bundles, Crisis Assistance Ministry, Hospitality House, Freedom School, Classroom Central and InReach. They sign up through a master calendar on the website and app.
Her favorite nonprofit is The Relatives, a youth emergency shelter and resource center. Teenagers live for around a month at a time at its East Boulevard location and receive life skills training at its On Ramp location. She averages four hours a month between the two: decorating for the holidays, playing board games, baking, preparing hot lunches, doing crafts and spending time with the teens.
"I bonded with one of the residents over our shared love of running, and I developed patience and an understanding of how quality time makes people feel seen and heard," she writes. "Even though my acts are small, I hope it makes them realize they have people who care deeply about them."
NCL has also widened her circle, she writes, with new friends from other public and private Charlotte schools, and she appreciates how easy regularly scheduled volunteer opportunities make it to have an impact.
A tea party to count the hours
Every fall the chapter holds a celebratory tea party at Carmel Country Club, coming together to recognize everyone's volunteer hours. Sometimes there is a theme, and members dress for it; past themes have been Boots and Bling, Parisian, and Floral. The event includes a slideshow of the past year and volunteer awards, and members sit with their "family tree," one to three girls from each grade level.
How to join
Each year, members must perform a minimum number of community service hours, attend a minimum number of monthly chapter meetings, take part in League-supported activities and events, and hold a leadership position.
The membership drive will fill the rising 7th grade class and openings in grades 8 and 9, should spaces become available. New membership in grades 10 and 11 may occur only if a sibling is accepted into grades 7, 8 or 9.
The steps:
- Fill out a prospective member inquiry form on the website. It can be submitted any time of year.
- Prospective patronesses, the mothers, must attend a prospective member meeting to receive an application. The meetings take place in January and February 2027 and give an overview of NCL Charlotte and its membership requirements.
- Patronesses who want to apply must submit an application in February.
- New members are selected by a blind drawing and notified of acceptance in early March 2027.
Questions about NCL or membership can go to membershipcharlotte@nclonline.org.
This story appears in the November 2026 issue of Stroll Dilworth.