After a VERY LONG AND COLD winter, spring is coming! All of the signs are here! A couple of days of sunshine and 60 degrees - then back to the 30's and a snow squall... and then pretty soon the trees will turn green again and the flowers will bloom, and we will start to forget the ice storm and the 20 foot mountains of snow that piled up in parking lots and the downed limbs from trees - and enter into the renewal of Spring!
Here at Girls Inc, there is LOTS going on as we get ready for spring and we want to shout out that good news across Central Massachusetts!
- Our summer program schedule is complete and the weeks are filling up - with some special programs, including Sports Week, Lego Robotics, the Lady Leonardos, Carnival Week and more...
- Our new Strategic Plan was developed and launched with very strong support from the Worcester Community
- Our Saturday program is growing stronger and more interesting each weekend!
- The Girls Inc team is walking in the Taking Steps Walk to end violence against women and children on Sunday April 26. As a partner in this event, we encourage all of you to participate in some way. http://www.takingsteps.org
- Nunsense is returning - as Nunsense 2 onstage from mid-April to early May - with proceeds benefitting our summer programs
- We are getting ready for the Girls Celebration event on June 11th here at Winthrop House
- Take Our Daughters to Work Day program (April 23) promises to be wonderful this year in partnership with the Girl Scouts and the Women's Initiative of the United Way, and support from Big Brothers/Big Sisters. In addition to the breakfast, featuring Senator Harriette Chandler and Dr. Mattie Castiel, we will host an "after work" event, inviting working women from across the region for a dialogue about achieving goals through education led by Dr. Gail Carberry, President of Quinsigamond Community College.
- We are collaborating with new program and business partners every week
- A Camp Cleanup Weekend at Camp Kinneywood is scheduled for May 30 and 31 - watch for details in our upcoming newsletter
- We are rolling out a new parent education program - details on that later this week!
Our programs, education and training come at a time when the need could not be greater! The news media are filled with stories about Chris Brown and Rihanna - and the girls we work with struggle to sort out the very complicated issues of relationship violence; staged fights between teenagers are broadcast on You Tube - and the pain of street violence becomes a home movie; today a 14 year old in New Jersey was arrested for posting nude photos of herself on MySpace, for her boyfriend (and all the world) to see - and could become labeled as a sex offender for life. A Girl's World is a complicated place where the girls - and their parents - need to have a strong and ready resource like Girls Inc for information, support, programs and services designed specifically and intentionally to help girls find their own voices and succeed in relationships, education and life!
The last six months has been an exciting time of making new friends and renewing old relationships - but I know there are many more friends for us to make! We look forward to increasing our reach and our impact across the Central Massachusetts community in the weeks and months to come! Please join us as we do!