Tag Archives: cupcakes

She’s the First Premieres Magho: A Documentary about Maheshwari

Last month, She’s the First had the distinct opportunity to premiere its FIRST EVER documentary, “Magho.” The documentary follows Maheshwari, a Shanti Bhavan senior, as she welcomes us into her home. The premiere event was held at the Centre for Social Innovation in New York City on March 21, 2013, to a standing-room-only crowd, and was followed by an extremely informative and inspiring Q&A with Christen Brandt and Kate Lord (the co-directors of the film) and Ajit George (Director of US Operations for Shanti Bhavan).

Maheshwari standing outside her family's home

As the film started rolling, we were greeted with an exceptional and moving original score, penned for this movie by Tom Richards. Through the film, we get a great peek into what Maheshwari’s life would have been had she not attended Shanti Bhavan starting at the age of four. We were introduced to her mother, who we see is in the process of making the most delicious meal ever, according to Christen. What’s particularly interesting about this documentary is that you can see just how different Maheshwari is from her mother as a result of her education. For one, Maheshwari is telling her story in English, a language she is fluent in, while her mother speaks in Tamil (a language Maheshwari also knows, making her bilingual!). Furthermore, in one of the more humorous moments, you see that mother and daughter have very different plans for Maheshwari’s future in regards to a husband! Meanwhile, Maheshwari speaks of her dreams of going to college, becoming a Cardiologist, and choosing her own husband when she is done with her education.

The film culminates in a very poignant and moving scene, in which you see Maheshwari donning a sari, slipping bangles over her henna-covered hands, and placing a bindi on her forehead. It’s a scene akin to one you would see in a wedding video, of the bride getting ready. Yet because of all the opportunity afforded to her through Shanti Bhavan, this 18-year-old is not getting married like the rest of the girls her age in her village. Instead, we see Maheshwari proudly walking across the stage as her name is called to collect her high school diploma; making her the first in her family to graduate.

The lovely producers, Kate Lord (left) and Christen Brandt (right), answering questions during the Q&A panel

If after reading this, you’re thinking to yourself “I wish I could have seen this, Maheshwari’s story is so inspiring!”, you’re in luck! She’s the First wants to share Magho with you! You can host your own screening and share Magho with your friends and community. Contact christen@shesthefirst.org for more details on how you can make this happen. All the proceeds from the documentary screenings will go towards Maheshwari’s college fund. At the premiere itself, we raised over $1,000, putting Maheshwari well on her way to realizing her dreams.

And of course, no She's the First event is complete without cupcakes! These are henna cupcakes made especially for this event.

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She’s the First Tie-Dye Cupcake Necklace

 

CLICK TO BUY ON ETSY

Ashley Osgood (@TheAshTree), who owns an Etsy store called Ash Tree Creations, started creating cupcake necklaces after she read about our Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off in the Boston edition of Metro! She explains the story on her blog. This handmade magenta-and-teal special edition cupcake necklace ($20) donates 75% back to She’s the First!

Photo by Kate Lord; design by Kelsey Thorn

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What Can a Cupcake Do? Let Us Tell You!

Fun with Footprints at the Kibera School for Girls

Fun with footprints at the Kibera School for Girls!

This week, the famous She’s the First cupcakes will be tasted ‘round the nation. As many of us, myself included (!) prepared for a week of colorful cupcakes, maybe you found yourself being asked by your peers, “Why cupcakes? Why girls’ education?” As a researcher for She’s the First, I hope to show you just how much your cupcakes can do by sharing with you some updates from our partner schools.

At the Selamta Family Project in Ethiopia, the ten girls that started a small business have closed up shop temporarily for the school year. However, they had a booming hair braiding business throughout the summer and plan on reopening during summer break! The students began the school year by celebrating the Ethiopian New Year and are now in the full swing of school. A week ago, She’s the First*{Pitt} hosted a fashion show and raised enough to sponsor a girl at Selamta. Congrats Pitt!

Between a morning adventure to Kahkre Vihar, visits from Maggie’s uncle and cousin, birthday parties for Birendra and Madan, and of course lots of studies and learning, Kopila Valley Children’s Home in Nepal is also buzzing with activity! Other exciting news is that there is 99% chance Kopila Valley will soon have its very own well. For more information on this phenomenal story, read on here. To continue the good news, Kopila Valley is featured on the new documentary Opening Our Eyes: The Movie. More congratulations are in order! Watch the trailer here.

And now on to the Kibera School for Girls – also a burst of sunshine in my updates. A new microfinance group, comprised of KSG mothers, is flourishing. If you’re interested in the budding businesses, read on here. The girls have also been immersed in a “My Body” science class and are having lots of fun learning about footprints. The Kibera School was also featured in the New York Times last month in Nicholas Kristof’s article “Just Look at What You Did!” This article is a must-read!

So, can we use these little cupcake treats to make a world of difference? Of course! Our directory schools are doing absolutely incredible things; one cupcake at a time, we can spread the sweetness!

Posted in AfricAid's Kisa Project, Kibera School for Girls, Kopila Valley Children's Home and School | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Contest: Design Cupcake T-Shirts to Help Sponsor Girls!

At school, t-shirts are so much more than work-out clothes – they are billboards for the organizations you belong to, and occasionally, they brag about epic achievements like finishing a marathon or winning the state championship. But t-shirts can also represent causes you care about, unify a team, and their purchase can make a priceless difference in a girl’s life. The She’s the First Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off t-shirts will do all this…and you will be involved in creating them!

one of the shirt templates you can design!

HerCampus.com and She’s the First are hosting a t-shirt design contest for the cutest, coolest cupcake illustrations…download the templates from HerCampus.com (starting Wednesday, August 24) and design in full-color on the front of the shirt. You have two weeks to doodle (Illustrator/Photoshop files preferred) and upload your entry as a JPG to www.hercampus.com/cupcakes-contest. Her Campus readers and She’s the First fans will vote on their favorites, and the top 7 will be printed on t-shirts to be sold online, leading up to the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off on Nov. 1-8! Best part: 100% of the profits from these shirts will go to the sponsorship fund, sending girls to school who otherwise could not afford their chance in the classroom.

"Change the World" pillow from PBTeen, which the 7 winning illustrators get!

You’ll also win a “Change the World” pillow from PB Teen — because that’s exactly what you’re doing! Winning entries will be determined by popular vote and by judging of Her Campus’s Creative Director and Co-Founder Annie Wang and, all the way from India, 12th grader Jancy, whom She’s the First sponsored in 2010 at the Shanti Bhavan school—she’s the top art student!

Ready? Set…go!!!

p.s. Why tie-dye? Read this inspiring story about the cupcake that started it all!

p.p.s. UBER IMPORTANT!! Is your school having a Tie-Dye Cupcake bake sale? Sign up!!

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STF*{Hofstra} Girls Rock at Music Fest with Tie-Dye Cupcakes

She's the First*{Hofstra} super stars Chelsea Tirrell, Gennifer Delman and Kaitlin Cubria.

by Kaitlin Cubria

This semester, STF*{Hofstra} members made several collaborative efforts to create awareness and buzz about She’s the First on the Hofstra campus. Between residential housing programs and social media marketing, giveaways and BIG plans for next semester, STF*{Hofstra} became easily recognizable to other on-campus organizations and was able to recruit new members into the STF family.

To end the year with a bang, STF*{Hofstra} Founding President Gennifer Delman, Vice President Kaitlin Cubria, Publicist Chelsea Tirrell, and new e-board member Shea Molloy (who’s also She’s the First’s Summer Creative Associate!) decided to utilize the ingenuity of She’s the First signature tie-dye cupcakes at two music events at their college.

The cupcakes were a hit among everyone!

Hofstra’s Annual Music Fest features acts from well-known musicians, as well as established on-campus music groups, carnival-style rides and activities, hot dogs and hamburgers – free of charge! Naturally, this event generates a great deal of attendance. For such a fun-filled event, it made perfect sense to premiere the tie-dye cupcakes for fundraising.

Clouds and drizzle threatened the success of the program, but the colorful desserts managed to shine through the semi-darkened event. Students and faculty continued to show their support and generosity throughout the day – the cupcakes  were a hit! In fact, because the two hosts for Music Fest were so impressed by the organization, they encouraged the Hofstra community to go to the STF*{Hofstra} table for more information on She’s the First’s mission.

Cupcakes in demand!

The next day, the Hofstra chapter brought more tie-dye cupcakes to the final show of the semester for one of Hostra’s all-girl a’cappella groups, Makin’ Treble. In an attempt to sell more, the founding members were just about to decrease the asking  price of the tie-dye treats. Surprisingly, not one person in attendance was willing to pay less – actually, some members of the audience donated more without taking additional cupcakes, just to applaud She’s the First’s efforts.

It was incredible to experience such heartfelt contributions from the Hofstra community. If this is what could happen in one weekend, then the possibilities for STF*{Hofstra}’s future seem endless.

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Tie-Dye Cupcakes are a Hit on YouTube!

Have your cupcakes and sell them too!

I’m constantly amazed by the creative ways that She’s the First followers show their support for girls’ education.  From poetry writing to party throwing, they always dream up incredible ways to get involved.  For further proof of this, look no further than Katy Bellote, aka hellokatyxo, a teen with a tremendous YouTube following.  Katy’s videos just may take the cake for creativity . . . or cupcake, that is.

Last week, Katy and her friends Grace and Ashley created a how-to video for baking the famous She’s the First tie-dye cupcakes.  Inspired by the sweet success of Notre Dame’s tie-dye cupcake sale in December 2010, Katy created a video so viewers could learn how to create these tasty works of culinary art and host their own cupcake sale to benefit She’s the First.  To date, her two videos have generated more than 7,600 views and last Sunday, they drove 500+ hits to shesthefirst.org!  Fueled by a passion for girls’ education, baking, and a healthy dose of upbeat music, her videos are sure to get you off your computer and into the kitchen.

Want to make your own tie-dye cupcakes to support a girl’s education? Here’s what to do:

1. Check out Katy’s how-to video below, and get baking!

2. Choose a place to sell your cupcakes.

3. Pick a sponsorship program to support in the She’s the First directory with your profits.

4. Then, donate here.

5. Don’t forget to show off your own colorful creations and upload pics to the She’s the First Facebook page!

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Poker Night Fundraiser Sponsors 6 Girls in Tanzania!

Ale made her own tie-dyed cupcakes, inspired by those Lindsay Brown created at the University of Notre Dame.

Last night, She’s the First Ambassador Ale Foresto hosted a poker night for a small group of friends — and raised enough money to send three girls to school in Tanzania. Since an anonymous donor is matching all She’s the First sponsorships to Village Schools International, that means she really sent six girls to school, with just some poker chips and cupcakes!

Ale baked the same tie-dyed cupcakes used to raise $900 dollars at a University of Notre Dame fundraiser. They’re becoming a huge hit! Plus, Ale was able to score donated gifts for the top four places in the poker game: A Victoria’s Secret bag of goodies worth $150, a stack of books, chocolate-covered Godiva pretzels, and a scented candle kit.

If you want to turn your next get together into a fundraiser for girls’ education, try securing a few prizes and collecting a few dollars from everyone in your group (Ale charged $15 per person to play, plus $10 to rebuy chips). It’s a fun way to turn your average Friday-night hangout into a cool fundraiser for girls’ ed!

Neil Foresto was a great dealer!

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Save the Date, Los Angeles!

It’s the first fundraiser for She’s the First on the West Coast! Please share with anyone you know in Los Angeles…stay tuned for upcoming blog posts with more info from the LA team. Follow them on Twitter @STF_LosAngeles!

 

Event organized by Brianne Burrowes, Jill Irvin, Jeff Boodie in Los Angeles; flyer by Katie Riley

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The Famous Tie-Dyed Cupcakes That Fundraised $900!

When we blogged about the cupcake fundraiser at Notre Dame, you wanted to see with your own eyes the tie-dyed cupcakes that raised $900 for She’s the First, sponsoring three girls at Maggie Doyne’s Kopila Valley Children’s Home in Nepal. Well, here they are! Post these beauties to your Facebook wall/Twitter to spread the word about how creative and colorful fundraising for girls’ sponsorships can be. Kudos to the Women’s Soccer Team at ND for inventing this magic recipe for making a difference. As you read in our blog post, they are the newly crowned champs of the NCAA…and certainly honorable champs of She’s the First as well. We look forward to reporting back in 2011 about the girls in Nepal whose lives they’ve forever sweetened with an education.

photo by Lindsay Brown

photo by Lindsay Brown

 

 

Posted in Kopila Valley Children's Home and School, Notre Dame | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

NCAA Champs Send 3 Girls to School in Nepal with Tie-Dyed Cupcakes!

These aren't only NCAA Champs from the University of Notre Dame -- they are also sponsors of three girls in Nepal through She's the First!

Tie-dyed cupcake sales spread through the dormitories of the University of Notre Dame campus this past semester. The purpose? To fundraise for She’s the First by sponsoring a girl at Maggie Doyne’s Kopila Valley Children’s Home & School, the Nepal partner in our directory.

The passion & creativity? The idea came from the women’s soccer team, at the same time that they were on a quest for the gold at the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship. (They won on Sunday! )

The result? Nearly one thousand dollars were raised, each $2 cupcake at a time, to sponsor three girls! Maggie, who was recently featured on the cover of the New York Times Magazine for her work educating children in Nepal, has blogged about the impact the ND team had on her school here.

Notre Dame's cupcakes for a cause

We’d like to recognize the catalyst for these cause-filled cupcakes, sophomore Lindsay Brown, originally from Newport Beach, California, who simply wrote into shesthefirst.org earlier this year and asked how she could help. We encouraged her to have a fundraiser on campus, and she ran with the idea — running, after all, comes naturally to a NCAA star.

Lindsay hosted the first tie-dyed cupcake sale in her dorm, and when it was an easy success, her teammates followed the example and set up in their dorm. Sophomore Maddie Fox of San Jose CA hosted the second sale and continues to be Lindsay’s right-hand woman in hosting additional events. The rest is history…Notre Dame is now pending approval from their Office of Campus Activities to become an official She’s the First*{Campus} chapter!

If you are interested in forming a chapter of She’s the First at school, to host fundraisers and activities supporting girls’ education, apply here, or email info@shesthefirst.org.

Posted in Kopila Valley Children's Home and School, Notre Dame | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Back-to-School Fundraiser at Northeastern U Raises $570 + Counting!

Sarah and Lauren, in grand She's the First style!

I couldn’t have been more excited and proud to hear that Lauren Horn and Sarah Matthews, seniors from Northeastern University, decided to throw a Back-to-School fundraiser on Sept. 18! Just a few weeks ago here on Aspire, we kicked off a new monthly series of She’s the First’s fundraising campaigns — each month, I’ll blog with creative fundraising ideas with a special theme.

 

Best friends Lauren and Sarah did most of their party shopping at Trader Joe’s, spending only $60 total on hangout necessities like hummus, popcorn, and pasta salad. They even made cupcakes in She’s the First colors. Yum!

how adorable are these STF-themed cupcakes?

My favorite thing about Lauren and Sarah’s fundraiser was the adorable She’s the First step and repeat (photo backdrop) they made together. Just by enlarging the She’s the First logo and creating a checkerboard pattern on their living room wall, they created a fun photo opp for all of their friends.

Lauren and Sarah said they had their fingers crossed to raise $100 by the end of the night, but they raised a whopping $570 and counting!! (They’re still waiting to collect more promised donations)! They chose to sponsor girls in Haiti, benefiting our partner the Haiti Outreach Program.

guys came with the girls too -- and notice the little STF stickers on their shirts!

“Our plan was to sponsor girls directly,” says Lauren. “It only costs

$100 to sponsor a girl’s primary education, and I love the idea of being able to see who exactly we’re helping.” The girls and their guests will be able to follow the progress of the students they support here on the She’s the First blog, as our new team of researchers begins to keep a close eye on them via the Internet and report back.

Stay tuned for the next round of She’s the First campaign ideas, which will go online Oct. 1!

Posted in Haiti Outreach Program, Independent Fundraisers, She's the First*{Campus} | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Susila Sunar

Susila Sunar is in the fourth grade at Kopila Valley. She’s also one of the three girls sponsored by the original tie-dye cupcake sale at Notre Dame!

Susila is 13 years old and lives with her aunt, uncle, and grandmother. Her favorite colors are green and blue, and she wants to learn English and become a teacher when she grows up. Susila is also the goal keeper on the Kopila Valley Girls Soccer Team!

 

If you want to leave Susila a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

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Hima Tamata

Hima is in the second grade at Kopila Valley. She’s one of the three girls sponsored by the original tie-dye cupcake sale at Notre Dame!

Hima is 12 years old and lives with her mom and brothers. Her favorite subject is English and she plays on the soccer team at Kopila. Hima dreams of one day running a school like Kopila Valley, just like Maggie. She sends hello’s to Lindsey and the girls from Notre Dame!

If you want to leave Hima a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

Hima in 2011

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Sapana Thapa

Sapana is eight years old and in the first grade. Sapana’s favorite color is red, and her favorite subject is math. She has 4 sisters and lives with her uncle. When she grows up she wants to be a teacher. And she has a special message for you: She says, “Thank you for being my friend.” Isn’t that cute?

If you want to leave Spana a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

Posted in Kopila Valley Children's Home and School | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Swastika Sunar

Swastika Sunar

Swastika Sunar is seven and in kindergarten at Kopila Valley. (There are two girls with the same name at Kopila — this is the older one!) Her favorite school subject is English, and her favorite color is yellow. In school she likes to jump rope on the playground, and she loves eating oranges!

Swastika was sponsored in 2011 by the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-off and is currently being sponsored in 2012 by the STF*{Hofstra} Dance-A-Thon.

If you want to leave Swastika a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

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Parbati Singh

Parbati Singh

Parbati Singh is six years old and in the nursery class at Kopila Valley. She lives with her sister-in-law and has four brothers and sisters.
She likes the Nepali song Simple Simple, and her favorite subject is math. When she grows up, she wants to be a teacher.

If you want to leave Parbati a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

 

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Saraswati Singh

Saraswati Singh is four years old and in the nursery class at Kopila Valley. She has 5 sisters in her family. Saraswati likes drawing and playing football (American soccer), and her favorite food is grapes!

If you want to leave Saraswati a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

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Jayanti Shahi

Jayanti ShahiJayanti Shahi is six years old and in kindergarten at Kopila Valley. She has 7 sisters! Her favorite color is blue, and she loves to sing and dance.
Her favorite subject in school is Math.

If you want to leave Jayanti a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

Posted in Kopila Valley Children's Home and School, Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-Off | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sita Shahi

Sita ShahiSita Shahi is 9 years old and in the first grade at Kopila Valley.  She lives with her Auntie and loves to sing. Her favorite food is apples, and her favorite subject is social studies. When she grows up, she wants to be a scientist. Doesn’t she look spunky?

Sita was sponsored in 2011 by the Tie-Dye Cupcake Bake-off and is currently being sponsored in 2012 by the STF*{Hofstra} Dance-A-Thon.

If you want to leave Sita a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

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Swastika Sunar

Swastika Sunar

Swastika Sunar is five-years-old and in the nursery class at Kopila Valley (not to be confused with the Swastika Sunar in kindergarten, who you also sponsored through the cupcake campaign!)

She is one of only a handful of students at Kopila who knows her birthday — It’s April 25th! She likes the color red and lives with her mom. When she grows up she wants to be a teacher.

If you want to leave Swastika a message, you can comment below. We’ll collect them and send them to her, and update here when she writes back.

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