Each month, we feature a different girl from Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area, a program of the Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center and an affiliate of Girls Incorporated®, a national research, education and direct advocacy organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold. This January we have a special feature of three girls from the program – Sarah, Eve and Miranda!

These three girls have been busy over the last few weeks fundraising for the upcoming 6th Annual Girls Rock Climb-A-Thon on February 8.

Eve and Miranda are 11 years old, and Sarah is 10 ½ years old. All three attend school in Ipswich, MA and have been in the Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area program for two years.

We asked the group a few questions about their goals and aspirations, experience with Girls Inc., and their fundraising work for the Climb-A-Thon:

What are you looking forward to most about the Girls Rock Climb-a-thon?

ALL: Having a good time with our friends and seeing the money we raised go to a good cause. We are also excited about the raffles!

How have you been fundraising for Girls Rock?

ALL: We did bake sales at the YMCA, the Post Office and the high school basketball game. It was very cold when we had the bake sale at the post office. We wore three layers of pants! We also went door to door in our neighborhoods, we made a video for our parents’ social media pages, and they shared the fundraising link and video we made on social media.

How much have you raised so far? What is your goal?

ALL: Our original goal was $1,500 but we met that. Then we raised it to $1,800, and we met that. Then we raised it to $2,000 and now our total is $2,058.20 so we are raising the goal again to $2,500!

What is one important thing you have learned from Girls Inc.?

S: Be careful on social media; however, social media has helped us with fundraising.

E: How to start my own business and how to persevere. I also learned that it is fun to help people for a good cause!

M: I learned to be strong, smart and bold!

Do you have any role models, or someone you look up to?

S: Tuukka Rask from the Bruins. I want to be a famous hockey player.

E: Megan Rapinoe and Kathrine Switzer. Kathrine was the first woman to run a marathon and even though people didn’t want her to, she worked hard and showed that girls can do anything!

M: Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe. They are both great soccer players, and I love soccer. It was so cool seeing them win the world cup!

What do you each hope you are doing 10 years from now?

S: I want to be finishing college and I hope that I have learned how to drive.

E: Graduating from college and living in a pet-friendly apartment with my friends. I want to be an artist or a graphic novelist so that’s what I want to go to college for.

M: I want to be on the Women’s US Soccer Team or playing college soccer.

Girls Inc. inspires all girls to be strong, smart, and bold, through programming and advocacy. We asked the girls how they feel they each encompass these three important qualities:

How are you strong?

S: I play soccer and hockey!

E: I am strong socially because I am a good friend and I like to help people. I am also athletic.

M: My life is balanced. I have learned to balance school, sports and my social life!

How are you smart?

S: I study and work hard in school.

E: I know/ I am learning about my rights and I know a lot about women’s history because it is important to me.

M: I work hard at everything.

How are you bold?

S: I stick up for my sister and other people.

E: I am not afraid to take risks and to try and take every step to reach my goals. Even though it is hard, you still have to try!

M: I am a leader!

Contribute to the Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area

Provide one year of healthy relationship programming to a school in our community – $5,000

Provide two weeks of summer vacation camp to 10 girls – $2,500

Provides 20 hours of media literacy programming – $500

Give one girl the opportunity to participate in Strong, Smart & Safe Camp during the summer – $250

Feed our students! These students need snacks at the end of a school day – $100

The Jeanne Geiger Crisis Center believes that girls are stronger, more confident and less likely to become victims of domestic violence when they are empowered through education. We currently offer Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area programs for girls in the following Massachusetts towns: Amesbury, Georgetown, Groveland, Ipswich, Merrimac, Newbury, Newburyport, Rowley, Salisbury and West Newbury.

Girls Inc. of the Seacoast area is an affiliate of Girls Incorporated®, a national research, education and direct advocacy organization that inspires girls to be strong, smart, and bold. The Girls Inc. national network includes research-based curricula delivered by trained professionals to equip girls to achieve academically; to lead healthy and physically active lives; to manage money; to navigate media messages; and to discover an interest in science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Thank you to the year-long sponsors of the Girls Inc. of the Seacoast Area: