Want to Help Other Girls?

How long has your last prom dress been sitting in your closet?  Have you ever thought about donating the dresses you don’t use anymore?  You can help girls who can’t afford a new dress!

All you need to do is to click here to find out where you can donate a dress!

Most of the time we only wear a dress once or twice anyways, so why not give it to someone who could really use it?

February Charity of the Month: Don’t Forget About Haiti

So much has been done for the people of Haiti who suffered from a terrible earthquake in January, but we can’t forget them!  People from all over the globe have reached out and it’s important we don’t forget about Haiti.

This nation is truly resilient but much more help is needed.  I am very worried about the children of Haiti.  Imagine being a 6, 7, or 8 year old and having both of your parents killed and now, not really having a home or anyone to turn to.  It’s so hard for us to imagine, but I hope we can continue to reach out to the children and people of Haiti. 

Here are some very simple things you can do right now to help!

• Purchase the Hope for Haiti now Music at Itunes.  It is an awesome collection of music from some of your favorite artists like Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Justin Timberlake and more!!! 
• Sponsor a fundraiser at your school or religious organization.  Any donation amount can help!
• Check out updates on what other teens are doing to help at FREE THE CHILDREN, an organization started by Craig Kielburger.
• Watch for updates and donate at the Hope for Haiti Now Website.
• Tell us what you’re doing and spread the word to others! 

3 Ways You Can Help Haiti Earthquake Survivors

This Tuesday a major earthquake occurred near the capital of Haiti.  It’s hard to even imagine the complete destruction this earthquake left on an already impoverished country.  Haiti needs our help.  Just because Haiti is hundreds or even thousands of miles away from where you live, don’t think you can’t make a difference.  Can you imagine what it would be like to not know where your closest loved ones are?  Or, to not have clean drinking water, food, or even a shelter over your head? 

Many agencies are stepping in to help and hopefully they will do so in a way that is uplifting and empowering to the Haitan people.   Here are 3 simple ways you can help kids, teens, and families in Haiti.

• Organize a drive at your school or with your religious organization, or troop to collect supplies and/or money for Haiti.
• Donate directly to one of the organizations reaching out.  This website has a good list of different organizations and how they are helping.  Even if you only have a few dollars to give, that’s great too!  You can donate via your cellphone by sending a text message “HAITI” to “90999″ .  A donation of $10 will be given automatically to the Red Cross to help with relief efforts, charged to your mobile phone bill.
• Encourage your friends, family, neighbors, and anyone else you know to reach out and help Haiti too.  If we all come together to help, we can make a huge difference!

December Charity of the Month: Let’s Say Thanks!

At Girls With Dreams, we believe in Giving Big and Dreaming Big!  This month we’d like to thank our troops for all of their hard work and dedication.  There is a simple way you can give thanks and reach out to them, for FREE!

Go to the Website Let’s Say Thanks and you can send a FREE card to the troops!  It will take you just a minute or two, and in return you will reach one of our brave men or women who are serving our country, many who won’t be with their family and friends this holiday.

Please, send your friends a link to our December Charity of the Month.   It’s simply:  http://www.letssaythanks.com

If you want more ideas for how you can give big this season, check out our teens advice on Girls With Dreams TV about giving big or look at some of our other Charity’s of the Month like the Pajama Program and Greg Mortenson’s Projects, like Pennies For Peace.

Teens Give Back This Holiday Season

Wendy Sheppard talks about ways teens are giving back this holiday season in her column for the Philadelphia Examiner.  “Giving back probably isn’t at the top of any teenagers list this Thanksgiving season, especially considering the holiday season is a really busy time for most families.”  See the full article here.

Give Big! November Charity of the Month is the Pajama Program

The Pajama Program provides NEW pajamas to children in need, many who are waiting and hope to be adopted.  The children Pajama Program serve are in orphanages, group homes, and shelters, and are often shuffled to different living facilities.  Many of them have been abused or abandoned and don’t have the simple pleasures of having a mother or father tuck them in at night and read them a story.

Since 2001, the Pajama Program has provided more than 350,000 NEW pajamas and 140,000 books to children in need nationwide.  Girls With Dreams wants to help!  You can donate to our November Charity of the month right here, or you can join us for the World’s Largest Slumber Party and collect NEW pajamas and books in your hometown!

The World’s Largest Slumber Party, Nov 14, 2009, is a live, virtual event starting at 8PM CST and it will unite teen girls and help collect NEW pajamas for the Pajama Program.

If you prefer to donate money instead of collecting pajamas, that’s great too!  You can join Girls With Dreams support the Pajama Program Here.

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It’s time to show your pink!

October is Breast cancer awareness month, show your support by…

1. Wearing pink!

2. Buying products that support breast cancer. They usually have a pink ribbon on the product.

3. Go to http://thebreastcancersite.com.  All you have to do it click a button, to support it.

4. Create something at your school, maybe have everyone wear pink and donate a dollar to go toward breast cancer.

5. Search for a breast cancer walk in your area by going to http://ww5.komen.org/findarace.aspx

6. Go to circleofpromise.com to learn how to get more involved.

Give Big! October Charity of the Month is Pennies for Peace

How can you make a tremendous impact on world peace, education, and girls?  Donate to Pennies for Peace or the Central Asia Institute, both of which are helping to promote education and literacy, especially for girls.  If you don’t want to read my whole blog post, then trust me on this, and find a way to give to this organization which is building schools and doing more for peace in our world than we could ever imagine!  It only costs $1 per month for one child’s education in Pakistan or Afghanistan, and only a penny to buy a pencil.

Recently I read, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin.  I had been wanting to read this for sometime, but it wasn’t until I found out my kids school was integrating this book into a service learning project that it made it’s way off the bookshelf.  Once I started reading Greg’s story, I was totally and completely inspired on so many levels. 

Basically, Greg had been an avid and expert climber in one part of his life.  During a near death experience on K2 he drfited into a tiny village in the Karakoram mountains in Pakistan.  He was so touched by how they helped him and by how little the children had, he promised to return and build a school.  I was deeply touched by many aspects of Greg’s story:  from his description of his own journey, the hundreds of roadblocks he overcame, and his ability to be a peacemaker during these very tenuous times. 

He now has built over 55 schools, especially for girls.  Much of the area Greg has been building schools with his organization has been an area where the Taliban has recruited young people.  Greg Mortenson is an unsung hero in many ways and I can see how he is doing more for World Peace than most of us can imagine.   You won’t be disappointed by reading Three Cups of Tea  and I hope it inpspires you to donate a penny or two, or three, or more to this incredible mission!

Give Big! September Charity of the Month is ICA

We hope you’ll join Girls With Dreams in supporting our September Charity of the Month, International Crisis Aid.   We are so excited about the work this organization is doing, Girls With Dreams is participating in their 5K Walk for Freedom on Saturday September 19th from 7AM-10AM.  Will you join us?

One of the programs of International Crisis Aid is to rescue children from sex trafficking around the world.  ICA currently has 6 rescue homes.  Proceeds from this event will be used to open a home in St. Louis for American children victims of sex trafficking.   This is a huge problem many people don’t know about.  Currently over 300,000 American children are at risk of trafficking into the sex industry (US Dept of Justice)!

Even if you can’t join us for the walk, please consider giving a donation of any amount here.   Please feel free to join our Girls With Dreams team if you do register for the event!  Registrations for the walk are at www.crisisaid.org.

How You Can Help Save a Teen

I recently met Caylee, who works for International Crisis Aid, an organization that combats the commercial sex industry worldwide.  I asked her to share a little more about the problem, so we can be aware of what is happening to our sisters here in the United States and around the world.  Here is what she had to say:

“The commercial sex industry is overwhelming. How overwhelming you ask? Well…it is in fact currently the third largest black market in the world affecting over 12.3 million children and adults who are forced into slave labor or sexual servitude at any given time (2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, which can be found HERE.) Can you imagine? That is more than double the population for the entire state of Missouri.

The University of Pennsylvania carried out research and recently discovered that within the United States there are conservatively 300,000 children at risk for being commercially sexually exploited in the sex trade this year. Wow…and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

After several discussions with the FBI regarding the enormity of this problem in the United States, International Crisis Aid has decided to open the first home for domestic victims of sex trafficking.  As we begin our fundraising efforts for the SAFE campaign we have been consistently confronted with two questions that we love to answer and hope that answering them here might be helpful:

1.  The problem seems overwhelming– is it even worth attempting to change?

YES!  Absolutely! Here at International Crisis Aid we have seen the enormity of this problem in many countries across the globe and understand that it can definitely seem hopeless.  However, we want to assure you…it is NOT.  In fact, people like you are the reason that International Crisis Aid has been able to extend hope to into the lives of hundreds of men, women, and children around the world!  We thank you for your partnership in confronting what seems like a hopeless problem with HOPE that endures!

2.  ”DOES THIS REALLY HAPPEN HERE IN THE UNITED STATES?”

The answer, sadly, is…yes.  In fact, it happens all over the United States which is why International Crisis Aid is committed to multiple homes across the United States which will serve women and children who are rescued from these situations with a place for holistic care and rehabilitation.

We understand that this situation is difficult to wrap our minds around.  In fact, we are grateful that the vast MAJORITY of us really have to work to try to understand what these women and children have gone through.

To donate to the work that we are doing to combat sex trafficking, click HERE.

“I’ve been through war zones & refugee camps. Seen orphans, widows, sickness & disease. But nothing grasps my heart like the face of a young girl that has been held captive by sex trafficking.”

- Pat Bradley, President & Founder ICA.

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