Dear Friends,
This is one of the most exciting seasons in the GLI year. This is the moment when we gather the support necessary to make the GLI Summer Camp experience available to all motivated girls. We have over fifty families who’ve applied to participate in our transformational summer camp but don’t have the ability to pay tuition. We don’t want to leave a single one of those fifty girls behind, and in order to provide for these scholarship applicants we need to raise $70,000. Please consider joining hundreds of others to support the GLI Summer Camp scholarship fund.
Your donation will help cover the costs of living at Bryn Mawr College, where our campers experience thriving on a college campus; it will go towards exceptional staff who bring years of teaching experience; and it will go to outdoor experiences where campers put their GLI skills into practice.
Read below to learn about what the GLI experience is like for our diverse community of campers. Thank you for believing in our mission, our work, and, most importantly, our girls.
All our best,
Simone Marean & Rachel Simmons
Donate now to give a girl the summer that will last a lifetime.
- $40 gives a girl a day outdoors at a high ropes course
- $100 lets a girl participate in Arts Fest, a three day intensive led by professional artists
- $275 covers room and board at Bryn Mawr College for a week
- $500 can close the gap for a family needed just a little extra helps
- $1000 helps us partner with foundations to offer full scholarships to girls like Nikya (read her story below)
Nikya M., Four-Year Full Scholarship Recipient
My name is Nikya, and I have been attending GLI since the summer of 2008. Being able to attend GLI was a privilege; due to my family’s limited income, attending GLI without help would’ve been impossible. GLI is not only responsible for my development of healthy relationships and a higher self-esteem but is also responsible for the person I am today. Attending GLI has shaped my life tremendously. Before GLI, I was a shy, insecure girl who kept to herself; after being a camper and attending the workshops I was able to transform into a different person. I now walk with my head held high and my back straight up. I honor that I received the opportunity to go because I couldn’t imagine the person I would be without the four summers I’ve spent at GLI.
Heidi L; Girls Leadership Institute: The Summer That Changed Me
I did not want to go, for no other reason then I felt lazy and the idea of an all-girls camp seemed silly to me. I’m a feminist, but I feel no need to seek out sisterhood. Reluctantly, I packed my bags and arrived at Smith College. Every day and every night, something happens at GLI. I can’t think of a single moment I was bored there. Between the projects, the impromptu Bananagrams, and legitimate adventures like rope climbing, there isn’t enough time for boredom.
Another daily part of GLI is workshop. Workshop is the “school” of GLI, if school taught with skits and bubble paints and handed out life lessons instead of trig problems. I was not the most open person to the idea of sharing feelings. I’ve always been closed off from my emotional side. GLI taught me when and how to use my feelings. Very rarely do we get the chance to genuinely discuss how we really feel and what that means, but GLI teaches you those rare things. Like most rare things, its value is immeasurable.
There are several projects and intensives each year at GLI, and I took a theatre class and a poetry and movement class. I’ve always loved writing, and this gave me a chance to experiment and learn from truly amazing teachers. This was the first place I preformed my pieces in public. The amount of confidence that comes from sharing the words you love with people you love is incomparable. Sharing my writing has become part of my life and my relationships, creating some deep bonds.
The teachers, by the way, are the most amazing women in the world. Seriously, I think I talked to all of them at least once, and I felt comfortable with all of them. My fellow campers were equally impressive. The pure love could be felt every step of the way. My grandmother died while I was at camp, and the support was unparalleled. I will never forget that. I still keep in touch with the counselors and campers. Always, the support remains. We talk about our latest projects and remember our adventures and the spirit lives on. I know that as long as I can find my way to the GLI group, I can find my way to amazing, interesting, inspiring, fierce, fabulous females.
I haven’t mentioned everything. I wouldn’t dare to try to do that. It’s better to find out on your own. GLI has something for everyone, from the freaky artist to the infamous good girl. If you have a goal, this is the place to realize it. A-woo, GLI, that is my heart’s desire! A-woo, GLI, I love it, I love it, I love it!
Dominique F., Three-Year Full Scholarship Recipient
As I always say, I found my smile at GLI, but I’ve also found something better: knowledge and friendship.My time at GLI has been some of the greatest times I’ve had. I’ve made friends that I talk to all the time. I’ve gained women in my life that are like my mothers; I know that they will be with me no matter what. I’ve not only made friends, but I’ve learned a lot of things that will help me in my life to come. I’ve learned how to confront all my life problems.
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