She’s the First Bakes Tie-Dye Cupcakes Nationwide and Sponsors Girls’ Education Around the Globe
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In the developing world, 1/4 of girls are unschooled, causing local economies to lose billions of dollars and only 1 in 5 girls gets to graduate high school. In the U.S., 18-25-yr-olds face the highest unemployment rates, challenging the future of philanthropy. How do we foster impact & empathy?
Held November 1-8, 2011, this international event raised over $22,000 and brought student groups at nearly 100 colleges, universities, and high schools together with an educational and fun competition that used social media and smart marketing to sell colorful cupcakes for a good cause.
“With the Bake-Off, everyone’s a winner,’ said She’s the First Founder & President Tammy Tibbetts. ‘We saw an incredible effort of camaraderie and teamwork: Students across the country shared ideas with each other via Facebook, recruited friends to join on Twitter, and built meaningful alliances with other campus groups to achieve the shared goal of paying it forward for girls around the world.”
100 percent of cupcake sale proceeds sponsored 48 girls in eight countries where STF has partnered with school sponsorship programs. The Bake-Off was first step in a yearlong program where US students have the opportunity to work with STF to help support the girls’
education. Bake sale participants and their classmates have the chance to be “digital penpals” with the sponsored girls on shesthefirst.org, leaving comments to motivate and encourage them, or questions asking them about their lives. See here.
“Sponsoring girls in the developing world has a tremendous ripple effect creating stronger families, communities, and economies,” said Christen Brandt, STF Director of International Operations. “And that’s only half of what STF achieved here. When young women, and guys, take action in the US, we’re changing their lives, too, nurturing a new generation of global leaders.”
The tie-dye cupcake craze started in the fall of 2010, when University of Notre Dame sophomore Lindsay Brown and her friend Maddie Fox led their dorms and soccer teammates in organizing a colorful bake sale. The treats were so popular that they sold out (all 200 of them) in 90 minutes, and Brown and her teammates (who would win gold in the NCAA national championship in December) wound up raising enough money to sponsor three young girls at the Kopila Valley Primary School in Surkhet, Nepal.
The following summer, Lindsay traveled to Nepal to meet the girls she sponsored at Kopila Valley Children’s Home and form the school’s first girls’ soccer team. In a culture where women are not often accepted as equals, Lindsay’s efforts gave these young girls unprecedented confidence.
Since Lindsay had shared her cupcake recipe with other She’s the First student supporters on shesthefirst.org, her fundraising idea went viral, multiplying the impact on both girls in the developing world and student leaders across the U.S.
‘Participating in the tie-dye cupcake bake sale really opened my eyes to the issues surrounding girls’ global education,’ said Becca Wertheim, 20. ‘I’m also really excited that I will be starting an official She’s the First campus chapter at UNC-Asheville! Because of my involvement, I plan on teaching at a school in the developing world when I graduate.’
More About This Charity
Region
Northeast
Category
Most Creative Fundraiser by a Charity
Name
She’s the First
Mission
Through social media and student leadership, She’s the First sponsors girls’ education in the developing world so they can be the first in their families to graduate from secondary school; in the process, we shape the next generation of global leaders in the U.S., too.
Impact
- This Achievement raised $22,800
- This charity raised $64,575 in the past year
- This Achievement sponsored 48 girls
- This charity sponsored 200+ girls in the past year
- $22,800 raised to sponsor 48 girls in 8 countries – in 8 days, with nearly 100 bake sale teams signed up!
Works In
United States; India, Nepal, Guatemala, South Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia
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Who’s Involved
