Votes needed

Dear editor:
The “I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!)” girls’ retreat has been entered in the Aviva Community Fund competition that awards $5,000-$50,000 in prize money to a deserving community-minded idea.
The retreat was entered in Round 1 of the competition and finished 17th out of more than 350 ideas for the “Small Budget” category!
Although that was an amazing result, only the top 10 ideas with the most votes in Round 1 were eligible to advance to the semi-finals.
We now are in Round 2 of voting [for a second crack at advancing to the semi-finals] and currently are ranked fourth in our category, but we really need daily votes in order to keep us in the top 10. New ideas from larger communities are coming in daily and could bump us out quite quickly.
We currently are the only submitted idea in all of Northwestern Ontario—and we need community support and votes to make it on to the semi-final round to show, once again, that our little community has a lot of heart!
“I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!)” is a weekend retreat that nurtures positive self-esteem and confidence in young women aged 10-14. Throughout the weekend, girls have the opportunity to explore areas such as positive body image, peer pressure, confidence-building, bullying, understanding emotions, media influences, and much more!
The girls will discover more about themselves while participating in various workshops throughout the weekend. These include drama, music, visual arts, yoga, creative writing, Internet safety, and healthy cooking.
I want every young woman to be confident, courageous, kind, strong, and compassionate. I think that each girl has a gift to share with the world, and that they can achieve anything if they have the confidence to reach for their dreams.
I am convinced the retreat will give each girl who attends the tools to make confident decisions, embrace their individuality, and the courage to follow their passions!
The retreat is a four-day event which allows the girls to network with other young women from across Northwestern Ontario, offering them the unique opportunity to really get to know each other and build life-long friendships.
The first-ever retreat—held Sept. 26-29 at Hanson’s Hideaway Lodge, located on beautiful Crow Lake in Nestor Falls—had 19 amazing young women participate. It was inspiring to see them all come together and share their successes, struggles, and fears with each other throughout the weekend.
They were there to offer support to one another, as well as to see that many young girls their age also are facing the same daily struggles, and to find comfort in knowing that they are not alone!
It was a weekend of learning, sharing, self-acceptance, friendship, laughter, and tears.
Winning a portion of the Aviva prize money will help to ensure this necessary program continues to happen in our community for many years. Funding would help to bring in qualified educators and presenters, as well as to help offset the cost of having a social worker on site for the whole weekend and not just one afternoon.
Funding also would help to offset the cost of the retreat so that it would be more affordable for parents—opening up more opportunities for girls in the district to participate.
I am passionate about instilling confidence and positive self-esteem, and I want every young woman to know that they are unique, valued, and worth the effort! Please help me to continue to make this retreat happen for many years.
For more information about the retreat and a link to vote, visit www.i-am-awesome.ca [the voting cut-off for Round 2 in Nov. 4].
Sincerely,
Renée Martin-Brown
Retreat director,
“I Am Awesome!”