December 2014
Dear friends,
This is an exciting time to be part of the Girls Inc. of Long Island family. We have seen tremendous growth this past year and it is only the beginning! Some highlights include:
* “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day”– Girls Inc. participated in this inaugural event on February 20th at New York Institute of Technology (NYIT), where we were featured for a second time in Newsday!
Plus our girls got to fly their own drones!
* Our 1st annual ‘Spring Into Strong, Smart, and Bold’ Empowerment Conference on April 30th included a Bristle-bot (toothbrush robot!) STEAM activity taught by NYIT Society of Women Engineers, a variety of career panelists, budgeting workshops led by Bethpage Federal Credit Union staff, and an inspiring key-note speaker from Cisco Systems!
* With supportive funds from the Pall Corporation, National Grid, and USTA-Long Island, Girls Inc. of Long Island headed back to Brookhaven National Lab for SCIENCE ADVENTURE CAMP and Central Islip High School for TENNIS AND WELLNESS CAMP for the 2nd year in a row!
At BNL, middle school girls spent 2 weeks designing mini cars on a 3-D printer, experimenting with electromagnetism, designing and testing their own solar hot water heaters and made their own biofuel! They also toured BNL’s facilities and met with researchers.
At Tennis & Wellness Camp in July, high school girls spent a fun-filled week playing tennis, learning about team-work, nutrition, and stress-relief, writing in journals, and learning about college preparation!
* Through our partnership with Google’s Made With Code, we were part of a national initiative to get girls interested and excited about coding! We offered free coding parties to girls ages 12-18 to our partners, Middle Country Library, Levittown Library, Merrick Library, Jericho Library, STRONG Youth, I-TRI, and Central Islip and Freeport School Districts! The girls designed GIFs, kaleidoscopes, as well as their own beats! Check it out below:
| Elf dancing to music coded by Girls Inc. Girls! |
* Through our Leadership and Community Action model, Girls Inc. of Long Island continues to empower girls to give back to their communities. Some of the projects from this year include collecting peanut butter to donate to needy neighbors, planted a weeping cherry blossom tree to beautify their school, and writing holiday cards to send to patients at Cohen’s Children Hospital.
* Thanks to our generous funders, National Grid, Knapp Swezey Foundation, Long Island Community Foundation, Patrina Foundation, Pall Corporation, Doreen Downs Miller Foundation, Claire Friedlander Family Foundation, TD Bank, Capital One, USTA-Long Island, and Just Energy Foundation, we have seen tremendous growth, expanding from 8 programs each week to 15 programs at 11 sites each week! Thanks to your support, interest and belief in our mission, we have served over 400 girls during 2014.
When you invest in girls and Girls Inc.,
you are investing in your entire community.
Looking Ahead…
2015 is going to be filled with even more exciting events!
– Girls will be visiting the National Grid Power Plant in Northport
– Our 2nd Annual Spring Empowerment Conference will feature even more exciting workshops!
– A weekly Girls Inc. Coding Club is forming at Central Islip High School, thanks to a generous grant from PSEG Foundation!
(Plus a new Coding Camp will be coming this Summer!)
– Girls will be participating in a Lego Robotics program, thanks to a grant from the Society of Women Engineers!
– All new ‘Girls Breaking Barriers’ Media and Leadership Action 6-Week Series is starting this Spring at Levittown Library and Middle Country Library thanks to supportive funding from Best Buy Foundation!
Thanks, as always, to our partners at Stonybrook WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) and SWE (Society of Women Engineers) at NYIT!
Thank you for the part you play in inspiring girls in our community to be strong, smart, and bold. Thank you for being #inhercorner.
Wishing you a beautiful and inspired start to the new year! We look forward to sharing more updates and stories with you!
Sincerely,
Neela M. Lockel, LMSW-MPA
Executive Director
P.S. Still looking for the perfect holiday gift? Make your gift in honor of a friend or family member today!