Girls changing the world; one rafiki and pantry pack at a time...
By Elizabeth Russell
We were excited to interview Carrie Steedly, a facilitator of the group known as Girl Power. Girl Power is a part of the WE organization which started over 20 years ago with two Canadian brothers wanting to empower local youth and encourage them to make a difference in their community and abroad.
The WE Girl Power group consists of a few parent leaders, however, the girls do the vast majority of the work. They started out as a girl scout troop which then grew into Girl Power, consisting of 10 middle school students and one high school student. These WE service groups are given the opportunity to support a cause at a local and global level. For their global cause, they sell Rafikis which are beaded bracelets created by women in Kenya known as “mamas." These Rafikis are sold for $10 where $5 goes to the “mamas” to benefit their families and livelihood, and the second $5 (chosen by the group) goes to support education in India.
As for the local cause, the girls chose a program very close to home...
“Pantry Packs, we realized...it was just something that they already cared about,” Carrie said, “like I say to these girls, it’s just good to help in an area that you already have passion for.”
For their local cause, they felt it to be a no-brainer to support Pantry Packs as the girls had a lot of history with the program. Carrie added, “Picking an area to serve that you already have a heart for - that’s something you already care about, it just makes it easier… that service just comes easy. It’s fun because you care about the program so much.” Pantry Packs has a lot of its history at Wilder Elementary when the cause operated on a much smaller scale. These girls all attended Wilder and have been active in support of the program ever since. It was also a rather tangible way for them to help right here in their own community.
Eighth grader, Girl Power member said, “Pantry Packs was my first exposure to service, and has really impacted how I️ live and view my life. Pantry Packs planted a seed in my mind at a young age, that there are always ways we can help even if it is packing one bag full of food. Pantry Packs helps to raise awareness about social issues for students at a young age, which is key to creating an adult that is aware and accepting of those around them.”
Girl Power would put on their own all-day food drives where the girls would take shifts, gathering around 1,000 pounds of food. Yet their day didn’t stop there as when they got home, they’d assemble the packs of food by organizing what food items go where. They would learn what’s missing from some of the packs and either apply cash donations for the missing food items or inform the Pantry Packs team of what’s needed to complete the bag. These girls truly grasp the meaning behind Pantry Packs.
Another 8th grader member said, “I think this program is needed in our community because young kids need nutrition and food to be able to have enough energy and motivation to get through the school day. It also provides a huge stress relief from the parents who have to work everyday and these packs probably help them feed their child and family a lot easier.”
After doing their own food drives, the next step for these girls was to see Pantry Packs on a much bigger scale by attending a “packing party” where the Pantry Packs leadership team and the many volunteers gather to put hundreds of packs together.
Carrie figured this was a huge stepping stone, saying, “it really got the girls talking…and it’s been really awesome to see the girls put themselves in the shoes of the organizers of Pantry Packs to think like, how do you do that? How do they handle that in a huge scale?”
After all, Pantry Packs is indeed a volunteer-led organization, primarily ran by three ladies. The group of girls were able to pack 300 bags from their own food drives but Pantry Packs issues about 850 packs a week!
Recently, an 8th grader group member collected food for a holiday party. She said, “My friends and I have food drives, with the help of some adults, we collect a lot of food. I knew that Pantry Packs needs a lot of food every week and I want to collect as much food as possible. I thought that I could collect even more food by collecting some at my holiday party.”
After all of their hard work, these girls get to celebrate by going to a celebratory event called WE Day, and the only way to get in is by committing to one local and one global cause. It’s a day of celebration where thousands of youth gather to see the value of their work. At WE Day, you get to hear from inspirational speakers and international music stars like Macklemore!
But really, the stars are these incredible youth service groups.
Carrie looks forward to these girls branching out when they reach high school where they can form their own groups and be their own leaders, continuing to follow their passion of making a difference one way or another. Even Carrie’s own daughter operates her own service group at her high school where she’s the point person to contact.
Carrie said, “what we want the girls to do is to take on these charities, and these causes to their own heart and really just make it a part of their lives.”
Another Girl Power member added, “I️ want to thank Pantry Packs for kick-starting my love for service.”
To learn more about the WE organization, visit www.we.org.
Thank you, Girl Power! Your service goes above and beyond. We hope that your group will inspire other youth to be just as giving as you are.
The WE Girl Power group consists of a few parent leaders, however, the girls do the vast majority of the work. They started out as a girl scout troop which then grew into Girl Power, consisting of 10 middle school students and one high school student. These WE service groups are given the opportunity to support a cause at a local and global level. For their global cause, they sell Rafikis which are beaded bracelets created by women in Kenya known as “mamas." These Rafikis are sold for $10 where $5 goes to the “mamas” to benefit their families and livelihood, and the second $5 (chosen by the group) goes to support education in India.
As for the local cause, the girls chose a program very close to home...
“Pantry Packs, we realized...it was just something that they already cared about,” Carrie said, “like I say to these girls, it’s just good to help in an area that you already have passion for.”
For their local cause, they felt it to be a no-brainer to support Pantry Packs as the girls had a lot of history with the program. Carrie added, “Picking an area to serve that you already have a heart for - that’s something you already care about, it just makes it easier… that service just comes easy. It’s fun because you care about the program so much.” Pantry Packs has a lot of its history at Wilder Elementary when the cause operated on a much smaller scale. These girls all attended Wilder and have been active in support of the program ever since. It was also a rather tangible way for them to help right here in their own community.
Eighth grader, Girl Power member said, “Pantry Packs was my first exposure to service, and has really impacted how I️ live and view my life. Pantry Packs planted a seed in my mind at a young age, that there are always ways we can help even if it is packing one bag full of food. Pantry Packs helps to raise awareness about social issues for students at a young age, which is key to creating an adult that is aware and accepting of those around them.”
Girl Power would put on their own all-day food drives where the girls would take shifts, gathering around 1,000 pounds of food. Yet their day didn’t stop there as when they got home, they’d assemble the packs of food by organizing what food items go where. They would learn what’s missing from some of the packs and either apply cash donations for the missing food items or inform the Pantry Packs team of what’s needed to complete the bag. These girls truly grasp the meaning behind Pantry Packs.
Another 8th grader member said, “I think this program is needed in our community because young kids need nutrition and food to be able to have enough energy and motivation to get through the school day. It also provides a huge stress relief from the parents who have to work everyday and these packs probably help them feed their child and family a lot easier.”
After doing their own food drives, the next step for these girls was to see Pantry Packs on a much bigger scale by attending a “packing party” where the Pantry Packs leadership team and the many volunteers gather to put hundreds of packs together.
Carrie figured this was a huge stepping stone, saying, “it really got the girls talking…and it’s been really awesome to see the girls put themselves in the shoes of the organizers of Pantry Packs to think like, how do you do that? How do they handle that in a huge scale?”
After all, Pantry Packs is indeed a volunteer-led organization, primarily ran by three ladies. The group of girls were able to pack 300 bags from their own food drives but Pantry Packs issues about 850 packs a week!
Recently, an 8th grader group member collected food for a holiday party. She said, “My friends and I have food drives, with the help of some adults, we collect a lot of food. I knew that Pantry Packs needs a lot of food every week and I want to collect as much food as possible. I thought that I could collect even more food by collecting some at my holiday party.”
After all of their hard work, these girls get to celebrate by going to a celebratory event called WE Day, and the only way to get in is by committing to one local and one global cause. It’s a day of celebration where thousands of youth gather to see the value of their work. At WE Day, you get to hear from inspirational speakers and international music stars like Macklemore!
But really, the stars are these incredible youth service groups.
Carrie looks forward to these girls branching out when they reach high school where they can form their own groups and be their own leaders, continuing to follow their passion of making a difference one way or another. Even Carrie’s own daughter operates her own service group at her high school where she’s the point person to contact.
Carrie said, “what we want the girls to do is to take on these charities, and these causes to their own heart and really just make it a part of their lives.”
Another Girl Power member added, “I️ want to thank Pantry Packs for kick-starting my love for service.”
To learn more about the WE organization, visit www.we.org.
Thank you, Girl Power! Your service goes above and beyond. We hope that your group will inspire other youth to be just as giving as you are.
