The main sponsor of last week’s Mom 2.0 Summit was Dove. Their goal was to spread the word about their “Girls Unstoppable” campaign.
Their mission?
“To encourage all women and girls to develop a positive relationship with beauty, helping to raise their self-esteem, and thereby enabling them to realize their full potential.”
I have to say – it was the highlight of the weekend for me, and I want to share with you what Dove is doing, how you can get involved, and how you can use the tools they’ve developed with your own kids.
Here’s a quick video produced at Mom 2.0 (I didn’t see Jenny or me in the background but we were THERE!)
Why is this important? Take a look at these statistics:
– 72% of girls feel pressure to be beautiful.
– More than 60% of girls avoid certain activities because they feel bad about their looks. For example: 19% won’t try out for a team or a club; 23% won’t go to the beach or pool; 13% won’t give an opinion; 15% won’t go to school.
– Satisfaction with body image decreases as girls progress to adolescence. While 75% of 8-9 year old girls say they like the way they look, by age 12-13 only 56% like their appearance.
I am having a really, really hard time putting into words how meaningful the experience was for me, and how much I believe in the work they’re doing. But let me tell you this – when I had a chance to meet Dove’s Global Self-Esteem Ambassador Jess Weiner last Saturday afternoon? I couldn’t speak – my emotions got the best of me. But it was ok, because Jess got it, she knew what I was communicating even though I couldn’t say a word.
In any case, I encourage all of you to visit Dove’s Girls Unstoppable website and take a look at all the resources they’ve made available. One of the most helpful things I found on there is the self-esteem activity guide for mothers and daughters – it’s full of conversation starters and activities to get our daughters talking with us. I cannot wait to go through it with Kate! You can download a version for girls 8-11 or one for 11-16 year olds.
You might learn a thing or two about your own self-esteem while you’re at it.
UPDATE: The class reached their goal around 8 pm tonight! I know about $70 for sure came from our readers! And I bet some of the anonymous donors were probably you guys, too. THANK YOU!!!! You rock!! There is joy in 3rd grade tonight!!
This is Lucy. She is a totally cool, crazy 3rd grader. She’s also my life-long friend Lori’s daughter (if you ever read the comments here you will know Lori as a faithful commenter. You should also check out her new blog. You should also know tht I don’t remember life without her being in it AND she got married in Vegas at a drive-thru, with a coupon. And I didn’t even know she had a boyfriend. Awesome!)
So not only is Lucy cool, she also has a very cool 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Shaw, who has inspired his students to raise money to buy iPad minis, cases, and accessories to be used in small learning groups in their classroom. These kiddos and their teacher have raised $4,357.00 in just TWO months!! They’ve been using an online fundraising tool as well as collecting offline donations and raising money themselves through bakes sales, doing extra chores, and all sorts of other 3rd-grade entrepreneurial techniques. The kiddos are workin’ it – not just going door to door asking for cash.
But today is their deadline! And they are $643 measly bucks short of their goal.
I would really like to help them get there, and so Emily and I have already donated. Now I am looking to resurrect some of my $5 friends!! You guys helped out by raising over $2,000 in ONE DAY when my friend E was battling cancer, because you’re amaaazing! And if you have $5 today, I’d love for you to help a bunch of 3rd graders see that hard work coupled with human kindness can make dreams come true and open new doors to learning.
You guys know how I feel about iPads for learning. I believe they are amazing classroom tools, particularly in special ed and therapy, but in small learning groups in a regular classroom, their power can be phenomenal! Kids learn in different ways. Having an iPad mini in the classroom will certainly level the playing field for some children who don’t learn as easily in traditional ways.
And there are SO many FREE educational apps and books available! To reach this goal would be amazing for this class.
So, if you have two minutes, and 5 bucks, click here and do something that will have an impact not only on these third graders but on all those third graders to follow them for years to come. I already feel that this effort is epic – let’s help complete this legacy that Lucy’s class will be leaving for the other students at their school, not just for themselves.
I’m a girl (duh). In general, those of my persuasion LOVE shoes. I don’t even want to think about how many pair I own. And I don’t even like heels. I’m just talking about everyday shoes and boots. Shockingly, I’m not the only one with such an affinity for footwear! Pinterest is chock-full of quotes about shoes. Like this one:
and this one:
and my favorite:
I think they’re all true – especially that last one – and that’s never been more apparent to me than in the last few weeks, when I’ve been working with a local non-profit here in Dayton called Shoes 4 the Shoeless. Maybe I liked shoes before, but now I am absolutely passionate about them. Specifically about putting them on the feet of kids who need them.
“Shoes” as I like to call it, was started about three years ago by some members of my church, or rather some members of a house church within my church. It is 100% volunteer-driven.
Their mission is, quite simply, to provide new, properly fitting gym shoes and socks to local children in need. Even though it is simple, it is a mission with so much weight and importance. There is a great need for this in our city, where about 41% of kids live in poverty.
We have a lot of refugee families in Dayton. Although Shoes 4 the Shoeless does most of their work in schools, they also provide & deliver shoes to the homes of children in refugee families.
You read that right. 41% of the children in my city live in poverty.
I’ve been wanting to volunteer with Shoes 4 the Shoeless for a couple of years, but when I first heard about it, I was giantly pregnant with Jonah and dealing with my developmentally delayed Sophie. I knew the time wasn’t right, but I kept Shoes in my mind and my heart until I could volunteer. This fall, with two of my kids in school all day and no preschool pickup ruling my schedule, I knew it was time! So far, I’ve gone with Shoes 4 the Shoeless three times to deliver and fit shoes on local school kids who need them.
I was hooked the first time. You guys,these kids have needs. They don’t have shoes that fit or are in any kind of decent shape. Many of them I saw this week were wearing clothes that were not appropriate for this cold weather we are having. I was glad to know that now at least their feet would be warm.
Last week I pulled a size 9 shoe off of a boy who needed a size 11. I PRIED it off, would be a more accurate way to say it. Every day he had to walk around in shoes that were two sizes too small! Can you imagine how much that would hurt? Then this week I took shoes off a girl that were size 9.5. Do you know what size she needed? A twelve. Her shoes were 2.5 sizes too small. That would be like trying to cram my size 7.5 foot into a 5. Every. Single. Day.
Kids can’t learn at school unless they have their basic needs met. How can they learn when their feet are killing them, or they’re so tired because they couldn’t sleep last night because they were cold or hungry? Schools can provide lunch and often breakfast, but they have to look to the community to help meet these other basic needs that their parents cannot or will not meet. (And let me tell you. There are many of these children whose parents will not meet their children’s needs. Are we “helping” an irresponsible parent by giving their child new shoes? Maybe. But you know what? That child’s situation is not his or her fault. That child has done nothing wrong. They get new shoes if they need new shoes.) Shoes 4 the Shoeless provides new shoes, socks, and underwear for these kiddos. (The underwear is distributed more discreetly, usually via the school nurse.)
You guys. They don’t even have underwear.
Volunteering for Shoes is heartbreaking but joyous. One little preschool guy I fitted last week did a dance of joy when he got his Avengers light-up shoes. It’s awesome to see kids soooo happy about their new shoes. It’s painful to watch them tell you “yes, they feel good, they feel fine” and nod their heads vigorously up and down, because they are so afraid of NOT getting a new pair. It’s disturbing to hear a school principal talk about how he, through the local food bank, sends 50 bags of food home with his kids each Friday because otherwise he cannot be sure that they will eat over the weekend.
Despite the hard things, I have left every school where I’ve volunteered grinning from ear to ear. It’s just been so amazing.
If you are local to Dayton I hope you will volunteer for Shoes 4 the Shoeless. Come with me one time and you’ll be hooked! Come with me one time and you won’t be able to stay away! Come change a child’s life just by fitting him or her for a new pair of shoes, by talking to them and by caring about them. I hope you will.
Volunteers rock!
There are other ways to help, though. Do you work at a large company? Attend a local church? Organize a shoe drive for us! Collect NEW shoes, socks and/or underwear for us and we’ll come get ’em and distribute them in our local school districts to kids that the school officials have identified as needing them. Are you on Facebook? Like Shoes 4 the Shoeless and share their status updates to help spread awareness! There are thousands of kids who need new shoes every year. Because as you know, kids grow out of shoes, and shoes wear out. There is ALWAYS a need.
Don’t want to do any of those things? Consider Shoes for your holiday charitable giving. All donations are tax-deductible and you can donate online.
I would LOVE for any and all of you to join me in this mission. Let’s make a difference in Dayton. Let’s take care of our kids. Let’s just DO it.
Got shoes? Count your blessings! And think about blessing someone who needs them.
