Support the Next Generation of Women Writers This Holiday Season

 GWN red logo       Maya and Tina with Michelle Obama_border

It was the journey of a lifetime for Brooklyn high-school senior Tina Gao: from the Chinese peninsula of Macau to a White House ceremony hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama. Thanks to Girls Write Now, it took her less than five years. On November 4, Tina joined founder and executive director Maya Nussbaum in accepting the 2009 Coming Up Taller Award from the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, distinguishing Girls Write Now as one of the top 15 after-school arts and humanities-based programs in the country.

Girls Write Now has achieved one of the highest honors possible for an after-school program. Yet without your support we simply cannot meet the growing—and now nationwide—demand for our services. Can you help us transform the lives of more students in need? 


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Tina's experience reflects the amazing growth that Girls Write Now spurs within our students. When she arrived in the U.S. with her Cantonese-speaking parents, Tina was so self-conscious about her English that she didn't like to speak aloud. Throughout the year that she worked with her mentor, Rollie Hochstein—a prize-winning author and 80-year-old grandmother—both Tina's command of language and her public persona blossomed. At the last Annual Girls Write Now reading, this once self-described "awkward and anxious" girl sang an original song before an audience of 300.
 
But each year, Girls Write Now is forced to turn away three times as many girls as we can accept into our program. During these tough economic times, we are depending on generous donors like you. We have set a goal to raise $50,000 this season, which will enable us to serve Tina and her peers throughout the year. We take heart from our girls, whose courage proves that there are no boundaries when it comes to writing. And now we look to you to make sure that they represent the next generation of women writers. Thank you for your continuing support.
 

Please make a tax-deductible contribution today.

 
 
 
Girls Write Now at a Glance:
  • Our students are recruited from public high schools in all five NYC boroughs, serving sizable low-income populations.
  • More than 90% of our students are girls of color; more than 40% are recent immigrants.
  • While almost half of NYC's youth fail to complete high school on time, 100% of Girls Write Now seniors graduate and go on to college.
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