DeShawn Snow Foundation teams with other “real wives”—leaders of Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta and Ivy Preparatory Academy—to host “bigger and better” gala at Twelve Hotel on August 20
July 13, 2009 (ATLANTA)—Millions tuned in as DeShawn Snow, reality TV star and wife of NBA veteran Eric Snow, planned her foundation’s first fundraising gala during Bravo TV’s Real Housewives of Atlanta debut season. And while Snow will not participate in the show’s second season that premieres on July 30, her passion for empowering girls has not wavered—she has incorporated lessons learned from the first event and is partnering with two prominent girl empowerment organizations to host the Second Annual “Night of A Thousand Stars Gala: Real Wives In The Lives of Girls” at Twelve Hotel in Atlanta on August 20, 2009.
This time, The DeShawn Snow Foundation is partnering with Vicki Millender-Morrow, president & CEO of Girls Inc. of Greater Atlanta, and Nina Gilbert, founder of Ivy Preparatory Academy to host a gala that underscores most urgent needs of young and teenage girls in America—self-esteem, physical empowerment, social development and education. These “real housewives” lead three organizations that serve more than 5,000 girls in Georgia combined, and the event will engage more than 400 celebrities, community leaders, donors and sponsors gathering to support comprehensive empowerment for girls.
Partnering with other organizations is one of several lessons DeShawn is incorporating into this year’s event—including hosting the gala at a public venue and requiring guests to donate upfront to attend the event.
“We are so excited about this second event, and we’re confident that it will shed a much-needed spotlight on the plight of girls today and the value of empowering them to be successful,” said Snow, founder, DeShawn Snow Foundation. “I am personally excited to plan an event that reflects the lessons I’ve learned and to partner with a new team of women leaders who share my passion for investing in real solutions for girls.”
The other “real wives” joining Snow in this effort may not have shared the reality TV stage, but they are certainly not new to the spotlight. Morrow has been president and CEO of Girls, Inc. of Greater Atlanta, a girl-serving organization that helps girls recognize their rights and reach their full potential, since 2008. She is renowned throughout metro Atlanta as a community activist, including years of outreach for the American Cancer Society, 100 Black Women of Metropolitan Atlanta and Charis Community Housing. Gilbert quickly made a name for herself when she opened Ivy Preparatory Academy. The academy has 310 students who represent at least 10 metro Atlanta districts. Gilbert has been recognized and profiled by Maybelline Cosmetics, CNN and Essence Magazine.
In addition to convening hundreds of high-profile supporters, the gala’s program will focus on highlighting grave statistics concerning girls in America, and reinforcing the value to communities when girls are empowered.
Some of the key issues to be profiled by the host organizations include:
- Family Support: Young girls are being confronted with difficult issues like dating and sex at increasingly earlier ages, but have found their family confidantes unwilling and unable to discuss such issues.[i]
- Physical Activity:Girls positive self-esteem is directly associated with more physical activity, but a much higher percentage of adolescent males participate in routine physical activity than do their female peers.[ii] For teen girls, both physical activity and teen sport participation is associated with lower sexual risk-taking.[iii] More high school females (72.2 percent) than their male counterparts (56.2 percent) didn’t meet recommended levels of physical activity.[iv]
- Sexual Assault & Violence: Female high school students were more than twice as likely as their male counterparts to report being physically forced to have intercourse (11 percent compared to 4 percent).[v] By the time they reach high school, one in ten females reports she has been raped in her lifetime, compared with one in 20 males. And, female teens ages 12 to 17 are more likely than males to be victims of physical abuse in the home. [vi]
- Substance Abuse: Approximately 41.6 percent of females ages 12 and older reported using an illicit drug at some point in their lives.[vii]iv One in four high school females reported being offered, sold or given an illicit drug on school property in 2006.[viii] Approximately 35.9 percent of female high school students used marijuana in their lifetime.
- Suicide:Female youth were nearly twice as likely as male youth to report seriously considering suicide (22 percent versus 12 percent) and attempting suicide (11percent versus 6 percent)[ix]
- Teen Pregnancy: Thirty-four percent of young women become pregnant at least once before they reach the age of 20—about 820,000 per year. Eight in ten of these teen pregnancies are unintended and 79 percent are to unmarried teens.[x]
Tickets to the Second Annual “Night of a Thousand Stars Gala: Real Wives in the Lives of Girls” are available at $500 per Individual ticket or $750 per VIP ticket, which includes access to the “Pink Carpet” and exclusive pre-gala reception. Tables (of 10) are available for $6,500; each table includes two VIP passes and a listing in the gala program. Half tables (five tickets) may also be purchased for $3,500, including one VIP pass and a listing in the gala program. Companies and individuals interested in table or individual ticket sales may visit http://www.deshawnsnowfoundation.org, or email burtonconsult@aol.com to request additional information.
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About The DeShawn Snow Foundation
The DeShawn Snow Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering teenage girls. The Foundation does this by working on a national level to develop and implement workshops, seminars, camps and other activities designed to build self-esteem and promote cultural, educational, health, physical fitness, social, professional development and volunteerism among youths of all socio-economic backgrounds that suffer from low self-esteem, lack of confidence, and peer pressure. The foundation’s primary focus is to work with underprivileged and disadvantaged teenage girls between the ages of 11 and 17.
[i] Girl Scout Research Institute, Teens Before Their Time Report (2000)
[ii] ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Physical Activity by Youth (2006)
[iii] Kulig, K., Brener, N. & McManus, T., Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine (2003)
[iv] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance—U.S. (2005)
[v] ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Adolescents Who Have Ever Been Raped (2005)
[vi] ChildTrends Databank, CrossCurrents: Violence in the Lives of Children (2003)
[vii] Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Survey on Drug Use and Health (2005)
[viii] Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Juvenile Victims and Offenders National Report (2006)
[ix] ChildTrends.org, Child and Youth Indicators Databank: Suicidal Teens (2006)
[x] The National Campaign To Prevent Teen Pregnancy