The 2013 Cool Girls Become Cool Women Hot Pink Party was a fantastic success thanks to all of our corporate and individual sponsors! THANK YOU!  Our guests enjoyed the evening as we honored four outstanding women: Samantha Thomas, Lisa Tolliver, Jasmine Guy, and Barbarella Diaz.  We truly appreciate your support of our deserving Atlanta girls. 

To view the photos from our fabulous hot pink evening, click on the following weblink: https://picasaweb.google.com/115833334169308000814/HotPinkParty2013?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCP_P3_PLlq-fbQ&feat=directlink

~ $15,000+ ~ EDUCATE LEVEL

UPS

~ $10,000 ~ MENTOR LEVEL

CB Richard Ellis – Delta Air Lines – The Coca Cola Company – Perennial Properties – Angel and Aaron Goldman

~ $5,000 ~ MOTIVATE LEVEL

AGL Resources – Anonymous – BB&T Bank – CGI – Mercer Thompson LLC – MillerCoors – Wells Fargo

~ $2,500 ~ HOST COMMITTEE ~ INSPIRE LEVEL

Cornerstone Bank – Credit Suisse – ING -Midtown Bowl – Lauren and Tim Schrager – Publix Super Markets Charities – Ridgeworth Investments -Chanda and Kwame Allen-Baffoe – Rhonda Bettis – Bank of America – Sonnet and Chris Edmonds – Jennifer Hilliard -Sarah and Donald Hutton -Beth Machamer -Mary and John Mercer – Michele and Jim Reiner – Joan Rohs

~ $1,000 ~  EMPOWER LEVEL

Anonymous – Cornerstone Investments -Diaz Foods – Federal Home Loan Bank – Georgia Power – Jacobs Engineering – Kutak Rock LLC – Jones Lang LaSalle Capital Markets – Marriott – North Highland – Scout Marketing – Women’s Energy Network of Greater Atlanta – Andrea Albritten – Drs. Laura and Mark Beaty, M.D. – Nancy and John Beane – Denise and Eric Billups – Latasha Brinson – Derrick Brown – Julz Burgess – Andrea Criste – Felecia L. Dawson, M.D. – September and Larry Gray – Ellen Koebler – Nicole and Nathan Lewis – Dennis McKinnie – Angela and Michael Nagy – Angie Raub – Denise Reese – Chris and Susan Reynolds – Arlane and Ray Robinson – Evelyn and Lee Rhyant – Ann Savage – Cynthia Tucker – Sandy and Cliff Welfare

Cool Girls Dine Out at Agave

Monday, June 3, 2013

5pm-10pm

Agave Restaurant 242 Boulevard SE  Atlanta, GA 30312

Cool Girls Dine Out at Radial Cafe

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

6pm-8pm

Radial Cafe – 1530 DeKalb Ave NE  Atlanta, GA 30307

Back to School Shopping

Saturday, July 27, 2013  -  10am

Episcopal Church of St. Peter and St. Paul

 5th Annual Pink Pin Bowl

Sunday, August 25, 2013  -  1pm

Midtown Bowl

Don’t miss the opportunity to raise funds for Cool Girls next Thursday, January 10th at California Pizza Kitchen! Eat great food and a portion of your check will go towards our cause ensuring that more girls in Atlanta are able to follow their dreams.

All you have to do is print out a flyer (click here to view and print) or mention Cool Girls and 20% of your check will go directly to our organization.
This offer will be valid at ALL CPK locations (Atlantic Station, Lenox Square, Perimeter Terraces, Pine Straw, Forum at Peachtree).

On Saturday, December 8th, more than 190 Cool Girls ages 7-14 attended our Annual Holiday Shopping Extravaganza – a day designed to reward participants for their attendance and positive behavior in Cool Girls Club. The girls had the opportunity to “shop” in more than 10 different “stores” including Cool Boutique and Bath and Body. Besides shopping, the attendants enjoyed a performance from the Hope-Hill Elementary Cool Girls, dance lessons, arts and crafts, a photo booth, lunch and raffle prizes.

It was definitely a wonderful and unforgettable day and a great way to celebrate the Holiday season.

We would like to thank everyone who made this event possible, especially the volunteers and all of our cool sponsors: T.J. Maxx, Kutak Rock, DoubleTree Hotel-Buckhed, Delta Sigma Theta, Honda Financial Services, SunTrust Bank, CDC, the Welfare Family, OMG Booth, McKenna Long & Alridge, AVON Cosmetics, Bank of America, For the Kid in All of Us, Ashley Timmons, American Roadhouse, Positive Adventures, Junior League and Banana Republic.

Every holiday season, we offer our participants the opportunity to “shop” using points they receive in Cool Girls Club and other programs at our annual Shopping Day! This year, over 200 girls ages 7-14 will be attending. We need YOUR help to make this holiday party an event that the girls will never forget. In addition to coats and winter accessories that they will need to stay warm, Cool Girls needs jewelry, purses and any GIFTS you consider GREAT for our girls! To donate gifts, please call us at 404-4204362 or e-mail Danielle Boyd at d.boyd@thecoolgirls.org. Every donation will make a world of a difference.

During the International Day of the Girl, Cool Girls was highlighted on Café CNN. Laura, Cool Girls’ staff, spoke about the challenges that girls face worldwide, the goals of this new day and of course, the importance of Cool Girls’ programs in Atlanta. Miriam, 14, and Laura, 18, spoke about their experiences as Cool Girls and shared what they like best about our programs. Click here to watch the 5-minute interview.

On Thursday, October 11th, we celebrated the first ever International Day of the Girl, a day that will work to better girls’ lives all over the world. The event took place at one of our partner schools, Hope-Hill Elementary. Atlanta city councilman, Kwanza Hall, visited the school and read the Day of the Girl Proclamation to the 40 girls who were present. Participants also learned about gender equality and discussed the challenges girls face in the our city. To end the celebration, our girls created their own “empowerment” tote bags with positive messages about being a confident girl. “I learned that I can do the same things that boys can do,” said fourth-grader Akiri.

We are so excited to introduce you to our new Volunteer Manager, Ebony Gamble.  Ebony has been a site coordinator for Cool Girls Club for over two years and looks forward to her new position recruiting and training volunteers for Girls Club, Cool Sisters and special events.

Ebony earned her bachelors of science in Human Development and Family Studies at Kent State University and has worked for the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Atlanta (UUCA) and at Hope-Hill Elementary with students who were struggling academically and managing the schools partnerships and volunteers.

Welcome Ebony!

During the week of September 10th, Cool Girls Club kicked off for the new program year! Lots of new second graders joined Cool Girls for their first time and past Cool Girls showed up excited for the new year. During their first day, our site coordinators and volunteers shared with the girls that they are unique and talented in their own way. The girls also had the opportunity to introduce themselves, talk about their favorite things and learn about what it’s like to be EMPOWERED. During this fall, all of our participants will learn about self-esteem and self-confidence as well as continue their Cool Tech and Cool Fitness programs. Cool Girls looks forward to a wonderful year!

Cool Girls from grades 4th-8th had the wonderful opportunity to experience Cool Girls’ annual technology camp: Camp Pink. Daily workshops included robotics,  videos on augmented reality , binary coding and an introduction to the interactive software,  Scratch. The girls also enjoyed recreational activities such as bowling and swimming.

Thank you to Georgia Tech and Midtown Bowl for allowing our girls to enjoy this enriching experience.  To view photos from the camp click here!

Attend the September 9th Atlanta Dream Game and a portion of your discounted ticket ($15 for lower level) will go directly to our organization! Cool Girls will also be performing their ‘Pink Mob’ during half time! To purchase tickets please click here.

Cool Girls at the National Campaign to Prevent Unplanned Teen Pregnancy

During the week of June 11^th, eight of our Cool Futures participants and two Cool Girls alumnae traveled to Washington, D.C. for an enriching and fun trip. For most of the participants, it was their first time traveling outside of Georgia and riding an airplane. The girls got the opportunity to visit the White House and different universities, as well as have dinner with Ms. Wendy Lesko, President of The Youth Activism Project.  They also presented their PSA to the National Campaign Prevent Unplanned Teen Pregnancy.  “Words cannot accurately describe how thankful I am to be given an opportunity to not only invited to a free trip to Washington, D.C., but to also go on a number of fun and educational activities. This trip is definitely an experience that I will NEVER forget,” said Samantha Thomas.

To view pictures photos from the trip click here!

Samantha Thomas, a student at Agnes Scott, was one of our honorees.

On Tuesday, May 22,  we honored three Cool Girls alumnae at our annual Scholarship Reception. Congratulations Ayana Barry-Buchanan, Imon Freeman, and Samantha Thomas! Cool Girls is proud of all of their accomplishments during the years that you have been involved in our programs. All of these three young women are an example of what all Cool Girls should aspire to be. They represent the positive impact that our programs have on our girls, in building confident and empowered young women on the path to academic excellence. To view photos from the event, click here !

On Sunday, August 26^th we celebrated our Cool Sisters program at our annual Pink Pin Bowl. The afternoon was filled with great music, food, prizes and of course, the family favorite- bowling! We were able to reach our fundraising goal that will ensure that more girls in Atlanta are matched with great mentors. Cool Girls is thankful for everyone who came out to support us! We send a special thank you to board member Aaron Goldman, the staff at Midtown Bowl and all of our sponsors: Midtown Bowl, CB Richard Ellis, TJ Maxx, AGL Resources, BB&T, Enerecap, Kutak Rock, Perennial Properties, A Action Inc,, Cornerstone Bank, Kia Motors, Dr. Felecia L. Dawson, Cool Pink Ladies, Pink Divas, Candice Franklin, Sarah Hutton, Cool Pins, Dwight James and Angie Raub. To view photos from the event, click here!

Sandy Welfare with Cool Woman of the Year CeCe Winans and Sheryl Sellaway from Verizon Wireless

Cool Girls thanks all of our awardees, sponsors and guests for joining us for a fabulous evening this past Saturday, April, 28th 2012 at the Georgia Aquarium. Cool thanks to our following sponsors:  Verizon Wireless, Delta, Perennial Properties, UPS, Angel and Aaron Goldman Family Foundation, Lauren and Tim Schrager Family Foundation, Atlanta Dream, AGL, CGI, Coca-Cola, Federal Home Loan Bank, Mercer Thompson LLC, MillerCoors, PNC Bank and Michele and Jim Reiner.

To view pictures from the event click here!

On Thursday, March, 31st, Cool Girls was featured in the Fit Kids Fit Families segment    on CBS along with Divas in Defense. Please click here to watch the video Cool Girls in action. During our Cool Fitness program, which teaches and promotes physical activity and valuable hands-on nutritious cooking skills, the girls have been learning self-defense techniques from Divas in Defense.  Because Georgia has the second highest rate of childhood obesity in the country, it is crucial that our girls learn about healthy decisions.

Meet Ayana Barry-Buchanan. During our Hot Pink Party, this young woman was honored as our Cool Girl of the Year. We were excited to recognize Ayana for her incredible accomplishments as a Cool Girls alumnae. Ayana is currently studying Organizational Development at Vanderbilt University. She is confident, generous, and a wonderful role model and mentor for the next generation of Cool Girls. Ayana was recognized along with our Cool Woman of the Year, CeCe Winans, our Pink Empowerment Award Honoree, Keshia Knight Pulliam, and our Volunteer of the Year, Shelley D. Nelson.

“I think that Cool Girls taught me to believe in myself, to really know what I stand for, to become a better “me” and to understand that I can do anything I set my heart on,” said Ayana.

THANK YOU to everyone who made our event a huge success! Over 200 Cool Girls attended the event on Saturday, December 10th. Each one went home with a bag full of great gifts! Special thanks to all of our cool volunteers and wonderful sponsors: TJ Maxx, Target, Mercer Thompson LLC, Sarah Hutton & Brownie Troop, Clark Atlanta Campus Guides, Honda, Sandy & Cliff Welfare, St. Peter & St. Paul Episcopal Church, Kutak Rock LLP, AAUW, Bank of America- Atlanta League of Women, and the Cool Girls Board of Directors & Friends!