[Imc-newsroom] GirlZone closing up shop letter to read, share, and act on. (fwd)

[Zachary C. Miller]

Aimee Rickman wrote:
> From: Aimee Rickman <arickman at prairienet.org>
> To: wolfgang at wolfgang.groogroo.com
> Subject: GirlZone closing up shop letter to read, share, and act on.  
> 
> 
> We've done as much as we can do with what we've got.
> It's been such a good run.
> 
> After more than 1000 girl participants, 400 workshops, three festivals,
> and endless hours of far-reaching, unsuccessful, simply heartbreaking
> efforts to secure local funding to support our extensive volunteer-run
> operations, GirlZone is throwing in the hat.  The close of GrrrlFest III,
> September 14, 2003, marks the end of an amazing eight year stint within
> Champaign-Urbana for GirlZone.  During this time, GirlZone was voted C-U's
> 'Best Workshop' and 'Best Non-Profit,' received acclaim from local media,
> as well as from national sources such as The Chicago Tribune, Rockrgrl
> Magazine, Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion, and NPR, and was given
> 'Trailblazer' honors by the Illinois State Treasurer, as well as an
> honorary 'GirlZone Day' by the cities of Champaign and Urbana.
> 
> We are immensely proud of the work we have done in our community
> mobilizing resources to encourage girls and young women to explore,
> challenge, and celebrate their individual abilities and interests. We are
> proud of the economic policies we created for our programs to be
> accessible to all girls in our community, and of our decision to direct
> our efforts elsewhere so as not to perpetuate the damaging notion that
> women who work hard and do important work in the market should do so
> without concern for just compensation.  We are proud of the thoughtfully
> inspiring organization that we have built, and of what we have all become
> while we were focusing in on our passions.
> 
> We are so very inspired by some of the product of our efforts seen in the
> abundance of GirlZone folk out there doing it, be it our girls on their
> way to the skatepark, heading up veggie restaurants and school newspapers,
> going off to Yale, knitting on park benches, booking and starting up bands
> and running sound, getting their voices out as organizers and leaders in
> all kinds of spaces, fixing bikes and computers, supporting each other,
> and our women learning to tap dance at 30, starting their own businesses,
> showing up at open stages for the first time, changing jobs and majors,
> trusting their thoughts and putting them into zines and letters to
> editors, skipping out early to head to the batting cages, self-reflecting
> and self-directing, being gentle to themselves and letting themselves
> marvel at other females' strengths.  
> 
> We greatly appreciate all of the wonderful support given to us by our
> girls, our parents, local business leaders, and community members over
> the years.  We are excited about the great things that will continue
> to come from our many, many GirlZone girls and volunteers, and look 
> forward to a wealth of projects, agencies, efforts, and actions following
> in our proud, joyful footsteps.
> 
> Aimee Rickman
> GirlZone & GrrrlFest Founder/Director
> www.prairienet.org/girlzone
> www.grrrlfest.com
> CHALLENGE GIRLS TO CHALLENGE THEMSELVES!
> THROW LIKE A GIRL!
> 
> ***************************************************************************
> **> Please note:**********************************************************
> This Sunday, September 14th during GrrrlFest, GirlZone will host its final
> workshop: 'What a Girl Wants.' In stepping out of the action, GirlZone
> offers this springboard session to bring together people interested in
> getting involved in new or existing female-supportive initiatives, with
> the goal of helping to catalyze more girl-centric action within our
> community. 
> 
> PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come to this session if you:
> 
> 1. WORK WITH AN AGENCY OR PROJECT THAT CAN OR DOES WORK FOR AND WITH
> GIRLS,
> 2. IF YOU HAVE IDEAS FOR BUILDING SOMETHING NEW THAT YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE
> WITH INTERESTED OTHERS,
> 3. IF YOU WANT TO SOMEHOW GET INVOLVED IN SOMETHING SUPPORTING THE DIVERSE
> ABILITIES AND INTERESTS OF LOCAL GIRLS,
> or
> 4. IF YOU JUST ARE CURIOUS ABOUT FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT WHAT MIGHT BE
> A-BREWING!
> 
> More information on GrrrlFest: www.grrrlfest.com
> 
> Feel free to sign our guestbook if you can't be here for the events.  We
> look forward to seeing some of you at this session, and really hope to
> have all of you with us sometime this weekend during GrrrlFest as we
> celebrate our many accomplishments, and say goodbye.  
> 
> Thanks for everything. 
> Keep up all the good stuff.
> 
> aimee
> 

-- 
Zachary C. Miller - @= - http://wolfgang.groogroo.com/
IMSA 1995 - UIUC 2000 - Just Another Leftist Muppet - Ya Basta!
 Social Justice, Community, Nonviolence, Decentralization, Feminism,
 Sustainability, Responsibility, Diversity, Democracy, Ecology