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Greetings!, With less than one week of summer camp left, you can bet there are some big smiles on the faces of my staff! We have had the most successful summer season in our history with over 500 girls attending one of our five camps in Nashua, Concord, Manchester, Rochester, NH and Portland ME. Each camp was filled to capacity each and every week and in spite of the fact that so many of our families (45%) were out of work this summer, we were able to give their girls an exciting summer filled with fun activities because of the generosity of so many of you! Collectively, we gave away over $150,000in camp scholarships.
By far, the most popular week with the girls was "Project Runway." The girls were given "credit cards" and sent to the Girls Inc. fashion supply closet to select their materials and accessories to design their own outfits. They walked the runway, where they were judged on creativity, functionality, and overall design. The winner in Concord was a hat that served as a net to catch bugs as well as a radio with an mp3 player!
During "Lights, Camera, Action" week the winning production in Manchester was performed by the youngest girls,(age 5 to 8) who did a rousing enactment of Green Eggs and Ham!"
During "Cents and Sensibility" week the Rochester girls decided to put a whole new twist on the housing market and built their own 'Fairy Houses" out of twigs, stones, sand and anything else they could find in nature.
Nashua girls enjoyed "Amazing Race" week because they each prepared and ATE the food from their own country. Five countries were represented.
The best way to share all of this fun with you is to show you the smiling faces of the girls.
The Administrative team had a very busy summer traveling to Florida, California and Indiana to be trained in national curriculum and special projects or to serve as presenters for other affiliates. All travel expenses were covered through grant awards. As a component of one of these awards a the marketing team from Girls Inc. national New York headquarters came to film Café Lauren, Build IT and our sports program.
Of course the New York trip was the highlight of the summer and after viewing photos of the trip, many more girls are hopeful that they will be chosen as the Girl of the Year next year and be the one to win this trip!
The best part of my job is being able to share with all of you the real stories of the girls who participate in all of these great activities. Their stories provide a powerful testimony to the personal successes they achieve. I am sure when you read about Faith and Victoria you will agree.
Faith and her mother relocated to New Hampshire from New York City shortly after her father was killed in the Twin Towers during 9/11. She came to us in early June after being referred to us for the scholarship program by her school counselor. Her mother said Faith had always watched the other girls at her school leave on the Girls Inc. bus each day to attend our program and wished she could come. Faith begged her mother to let her come to our summer camp, but had to tell her she could not afford it - she had no idea we would let her come for free. When we gave her the full summer for free Faith was so happy! She is up bright and early waiting at the door every day to come to camp. She is often one of the first to arrive and the last to leave. Her mom said she went from being very quiet and shy to a little girl with a big smile who cannot wait to join her friends at Girls Inc. each day.
Victoria is an amazing 12 year old girl who has been coming to Girls Inc since last fall. Victoria learned sign language before she could talk because she is raised by her single mother who is deaf. It is amazing to see her communicate for her mother and be so protective of her. She says she loves Girls Inc because no one teases her about her situation and the girls here "think she is cool" because she knows sign language. When Victoria needs to communicate with her mother during the day she uses a Girls Inc. computer to email her since she cannot call her. Victoria is very happy at Girls Inc. and says her mom is happy too because we are very accommodating to her situation.
Sincerely,
Catherine Duffy Cullity, CEO |
