Key Note Speaker 4th Year in a Row

I was so happy to be asked back to be the key note speaker for the 4th year in a row at the Annual ‘Girls Night In’ which raises money for the Because I am a Girl campaign. This event is hosted by the Ottawa Jewish Community Centre for all the girls and their moms in grades 4-6. When I see how much compaction and drive these young girls have to raise money and awareness for girls in developing countries it blows my mind. I really think that every school should host one of these nights. Together we could all make such a huge difference – and have a blast doing it. The girls look forward to this event every year and graduating girls still want to come back to help out.

colouring — There are crafts for everyone to participate in that all send positive messages

food — Pink lemonade sales are a huge part of fundraising for the Because I am a Girl. At this event they always sell lemonade and have lots of goodies for the girls to eat.

Everyone loves decorating their cupcakes with icing and sprinkles.

page — The photo booth is always a hit with both the teachers and the girls.

selfie 1 — And yes, even I had fun with the photo booth along with my ‘Believe Crew’

zumba — One of the highlights of the night for everyone is the Zumba class. Two amazing instructors from GoodLife come to lead the session and there is a battle between the girls and the moms (and guests) – yes the girls won!

Then it was my time to end the night. I always like to try new things with this group since it’s a lot of the same girls every year. My favourite part is when the girls (and the moms) are anxious to tell me about the successes they had during the year. Some brought me videos that they wanted to show me, others brought me their goal sheets from last year and the moms were beaming as much as they were. I LOVE that part.

I talked to them about finding a passion and trying new things. I love their enthusiasm.

I explained that its through all the lessons, up and downs while doing their passion that they gain the confidence since they’ve learned how to deal with success and failures and even hardships in life.

be you - Copy — When you have confidence you have the freedom to be yourself.

circle - Copy — Just to make sure they all understood and will remember what we talked about we did some physical activities to reinforce everything.

When I set the goal to be a World Champion in Taekwon-do, I never imagined how much it would be an impact on my life. It started as a goal for myself, but I realized that I could share the lessons I learned along the journey to hopefully inspire others to pursue their interests and dreams.

At the end of the evening the teachers announced that the girls had raised enough money to end 1 girl to school for the year PLUS all the books for everyone in the class. How amazing is that!!!!

raffles — I raffled off one of my Believe hoodies and also three pairs of my Believe socks. I was so thankful for my Believe Crew. There is no way I could have taken care of everything my self. It gave me a chance to spend more time talking to everyone and answer questions.

15 hoodies were sold! — 15 more hoodies were sold!

the crew — Best crew ever. Thank Kirby and Angela for helping with all the display set up, help passing things out during the presentation and then working the sales. Thanks mom for taking all the pictures. Love you girls!

I decided to donate $5 for every purchase. Guess what ?……Thanks to everyone who bought a hoodie, I was able to donate enough money to buy a goat! What team work!!!!!

Goats have a huge impact on a family’s health and income is profound. They provide milk, which means essential protein for growing children, and the sale of offspring means an income to pay for housing, health, food and schooling.