Kudos to the “I Am Awesome (And I Know It!)” self-esteem and empowerment retreat for young women for making the semi-final round of the Aviva Community Fund competition—the lone idea to advance between Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.
It took two tries but thanks to the support of district residents, the local project finished first in its division (small budget) during the preliminary round of the online voting earlier this fall.
Residents now are being called on again to help propel “I Am Awesome” to a top-10 finish and a berth in the final round, where it will be eligible to win up to $50,000 in funding—money that would provide a big boost to help ensure the program’s viability while keeping it affordable to participants.
The inaugural four-day retreat—held back in September at Hanson’s Hideaway Lodge in Nestor Falls—drew 19 girls aged 10-14 from across the region and was deemed a success by organizer Renée Martin-Brown, who has put plenty of heart and soul into bringing her dream to fruition.
The retreat offers an excellent venue for young women to build their self-esteem and realization of self-worth in a supportive setting, which, in the wake of tragic teen suicides making headlines of late, is so important given all the peer pressure and myriad of issues facing so many today.
Semi-final voting runs until next Wednesday (Dec. 11) at 11 a.m. Visit www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf17336 each day to support this worthy venture.
We rallied to bring the Kraft Celebration Tour here this summer. Let’s do so again to help “I Am Awesome” achieve its goal.
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