Now that schools have closed for winter break, college mentors and girls are all looking forward to what Strong Women, Strong Girls has in store for them next- the spring Service Project. The Service Project is an opportunity SWSG provides to girls in order to utilize their leadership skills to work toward making a positive difference in their community. Girls engage in projects which speak to their interests, skills and everyday life, with the outcome of instilling a strong sense of civic responsibility and a rise in self-esteem and aspirations. Past Service Projects have covered the topics of going green, healthy lifestyles, healthy snacks, telling our story and painting a mural.
This year’s Service Projects will give girls the opportunity to cover one of the topics they didn’t get to last year, but they will also have the option of choosing brand new projects, like one about the toxicity in personal care products which overlap with hygiene, wellness and personal well-being. As part of her work with the Pittsburgh Schweitzer Fellow Program, Carnegie Mellon University mentor Jonelle Saunders has worked long and hard for months to make this new Service Project available to college chapters in all three cities. Jonelle says, “This project is unique in that the girls are able to raise awareness about toxicity in personal care products and promote natural products. They will choose a cause in their community to which they will donate the proceeds of their natural personal care product sale. Overall this project allows the girls to learn about advocacy, entrepreneurship, and most of all supporting a cause that is important to them. What is also exciting is that the girls are able to be part of a movement that is currently in Congress since the Safe Cosmetics Act was recently passed in the House of Representatives.”
These Service Projects epitomize everything SWSG’s mission stands for- supporting positive social change while working to create cycles of mutual empowerment for women and girls.