GEN's Voice

Issue 30
December 2003

In This Issue:

Full gift list this year? Make your family and friends happy, benefit GENaustin AND avoid the mall by purchasing your holiday gifts through these handy links.

For the teenage girl on your list, GENaustin has a limited number of Jaqua Girls beauty kits available for below retail cost, with proceeds going to GEN. Supplies are limited, so place your order soon at [email protected]

• The large "Beauty Café" contains 2.5 clay mud mask, 2 oz. apricot facial scrub, 2 oz. chamomile lotion, 2 oz. mint hand & food lotion, 4 oz. mint foot soak, nail files, and toe separators - all in a cute, decorative paint can-type of container. Retail:  $65, suggested GENaustin donation:  $40
• The "Pajama-Rama" contains 2.5 oz. mud mask, 2 oz. apricot facial scrub, 2 oz. mint foot lotion, shimmer nail polish, toe separators, & nail decals - all in a smaller, silver decorated paint can-type container. Retail:  $35, suggested GENaustin donation:  $20

Shop at the following Internet sites and a percentage of the amount you spend will be donated directly to GEN at absolutely no cost to you! Gifts from hundred of stores are available, many of which run special deals during the holidays.

• Purchase gifts at the 470 stores on iGive.com through this special link and up to 27% of the amount you spend will be donated to GENaustin. To sweeten the deal, iGive will donate an additional $5 for every new member signed up through December 31, 2003.
• Shop locally and benefit GEN when you buy any book online at Bookpeople using this special link. A percentage of your purchase will go to GENaustin.
• Shop online at hundreds of stores through Greatergood.com and up to 15% of your purchase will be donated to GENaustin.
• Randall's -- Use Code# 9033 with your Remarkable Card and a portion of your purchases will be donated to GENaustin.
• Mention GENaustin when you shop at Giada, a unique boutique and gift shop just west of downtown, and 2% of your sale will go directly to GENaustin. Giada is located at 704 West Sixth Street, a block west of Katz' Deli, 457-8881.

Today's flashy media images, social stresses, and peer pressures are having a dramatic effect on the self-esteem of pre-teen girls. A recent study indicates that one in four teenaged girls suffers from an eating disorder. Long considered a problem just for Caucasian girls, the rise in bulimia and anorexia is increasing astoundingly among African American, Asian and Latina girls. Low self-esteem in adolescent girls has also been directly linked to drug abuse, smoking, poor school performance, eating disorders, sexual acting out, and depression.

The New York Times, Good Morning America, Time Magazine for Kids, PBS, and the new book, Girl Wars:  12 Strategies That Will End Female Bullying have all prominently featured GENaustin as a program that works. This national recognition demonstrates the critical importance of our cause and underscores our success.

GENaustin continues to provide a wide range of programs that touch the lives of thousands of girls, parents, teachers and others:

• Speaker Series – adolescent girl-focused presentations on such topics as school success and career choices (with a particular emphasis on girls and math, science, and technology), friendship and dating issues, media and advertising messages, and family relationships;
• clubGEN After-School Program – designed for middle school girls, taught by high school mentors, reaching over 200 girls in Central Texas every week;
• Nationally-Acclaimed Speakers – including notable authors and experts;
• New Media – offering a lending library of girl-positive educational videotapes;
• oriGENal voice – a program designed to help girls understand the dangers and consequences of smoking, including the development of a large-scale community outreach campaign designed for teen girls by teen girls; and
• www.GENaustin.org – an award-winning interactive Web site for girls, their parents, and the global community, featuring an online therapist.

We want to continue to offer and expand upon these exciting and successful programs that touch thousands of lives, and hope we can count on you to meet the growing demand for our services. Please use this link, http://www.active.com/donate/genaustin2004,

to donate online quickly & securely.

Please forward this email to as many people as you can to encouraging them to donate as well!

Thinking of volunteering your time with GENaustin? If so please join us for a Volunteer Get-Together & Orientation on Monday, December 8th to learn more about the volunteer opportunities within GENaustin, meet the Board of Directors and staff, and get to know other volunteers. The fun starts at 5:30 p.m. at Momo's (above Katz's Deli located at 618 West 6th Street).  Complimentary snacks, soft drinks, and drink specials.

Mark your calendars for January 22, 2004, when GENaustin will host bestselling author Rachel Simmons. Simmons wrote the New York Times bestseller Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, the first book to explore the phenomenon of bullying between girls. Her brand new book out in December, Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write About Bullies, Cliques, Popularity, and Jealousy, delves further into the issue, but this time from girls’ perspectives. She will be GENaustin’s guest on a panel along with teen girls who will to give frank and honest advice as well as answer questions of girls and parents. The event will take place at the Dell Jewish Community Center at 6:00 p.m.  A donation of $15 to GENaustin is suggested.  Call 414-0472 or email [email protected] to reserve your space.

Simmons’ work has been profiled in media ranging from The Oprah Winfrey Show to The Washington Post. She is currently the director of The Girls’ Leadership Institute, a Sidwell Friends summer program and a consultant to schools all over the country.

The GENaustin web site team is comprised of five, tireless volunteers who constantly enhance the site so that you can find "everything you ever wanted to know about GENaustin". Jackie Colorado, Millicent Cooley, Carolyn Greene, Christina Hunter and Sherri Wyche have donated more than 150 hours in the past six months to bring you the latest information from GENaustin, including:

• the monthly GENaustin newsletter
• introductory information on clubGEN
• the Speaker Series planned at area schools through April 2004
• Special Events including the upcoming Rachel Simmons event on January 22 as well as LadyFest on May 27 - 30
• oriGENal voice events
• expert answers to girls and parents questions about relationships, our bodies and more
• info on how to get involved with GENaustin whether through volunteering, items of need, or even where you shop

GENaustin receives inquiries from around the world via our web site, and we are grateful to our quintet of world class web site developers. So check out the GENaustin web site, http://www.genaustin.org, and join us in saying "thanks" to Jackie, Millicent, Carolyn, Christina and Sherri when you do!

GENaustin's programs are made possible through the generous support of 3M, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundation, Austin Independent School District, Austin Wine Merchant, Austin Ventures, the Dell Foundation, the Favrot Foundation, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the Silverton Foundation, Milkshake Media, Shoes for Austin and the Webber Family Foundation.

GENaustin has been selected to take part in Buffalo Exchange’s Tokens for Bags Program. The program allows customers to choose to receive a token instead of a bag when making their purchase and the token represents a cash donation to a particular charity. So the next time you’re shopping at Buffalo Exchange (2904 Guadalupe), be sure to forego the bag and help out GENaustin by placing your token in our box. Our box is in the middle!

Now you can support GENaustin and its important programs simply by shopping online. Just go to http://www.genaustin.org/public/content/getinvolved/shop.asp and follow the links to more than 400 stores, including Barnes & Noble, Land's End, Ann Taylor, Linens-n-Things, Neiman Marcus, L.L. Bean, Dell, Amazon.com, JC Penney, Old Navy, Gap and many more!

Also, mention GENaustin when you shop at Giada, a unique boutique and gift shop just west of downtown, and 2% of your sale will go directly to GENaustin. GENaustin is excited to be a part of Giada's Community Investment Program. Giada is located at 704 W. 6th St., one block west of Katz' Deli. The phone number for Giada is (512) 457-8881.

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This site was last updated on 1/04/2005.

Copyright © GENaustin, Inc. 2001. All rights reserved. GEN, GENaustin, and GENaustin logos used and displayed herein are registered and unregistered trademarks of GENaustin, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and logos used herein are the property of their respective owners. Email us at office@genaustin.org.