Day 281: Celebrate Your Inner Beauty

This week Eastern is starting something new, Inner Beauty Week. All week several ladies are running  events that are celebrating how beautiful women are inside and out. Today, girls gathered in the Pence Union Building to recognize how lovely they are by taking pictures with a sign with a saying similar to, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

                                         

In addition, the ladies in charge of the event asked that everyone who took a picture also do something nice for a women that has empowered them. For me, I have so many phenomenal women in my life that it was hard to choose just one. However, there is one women that I may have just met recently that is so supportive and is just a superstar. Her name is Michelle Helmerick and she was my advisor for my Habitat For Humanity trip in Maui. While our trip was incredible, we also ran into some unforeseeable trouble. Michelle was such a trooper and made every student on the trip feel safe, loved and important. i don't think that any other person could have handled the situation better than she did. I am so blessed to have her in my life, still encouraging me to dream bigger.

P.S. Thursday evening at 7pm Stacy Nadeau, a Dove model, will be speaking about her experience in Showalter 109. If you didn't know Dove runs a campaign with real women to promote inner beauty. Hope to see you there!

God bless,

Kailee

Day 226: Shared $25

This morning, I was going through my email and found one from DoSomething.org. Their new campaign is called, "25,000 Women." Their mission with this campaign is to have people sign up to donate $25 to a women in need. The kicker? The $25 donation doesn't actually come out of your pocket. DoSomething was awarded enough money thanks to Kiva.org to help 25,000 women across the world. How does it work? Click here to be taken to the website. Then fill out the information and "donate $25." On the attached page are even bios of all the women receiving the money. 

Since this is free, simple and life changing, there is really no reason for you not to take part in this one! Go ahead. Go click, type and change the world.

God bless,

Kailee

Day 158: Bracelets For Nepal

Well, with two finals down and only one more next week, I decided today I could use some retail therapy. I was just browsing, of course. Or, that was the case until I found the bracelets below. These colorful beauties can be found at Apricot Lane. These bracelets are handmade from women in Nepal by a foundation that is called Fair Trades Fashion Designs. With your purchase of one of the bracelets, you will help "empower women and sponsor poor children and educate young minds and to help them live a joyous life."

Fair Trade Fashion Designs began in 2010, by humanitarian Michael Wilcox. This foundation creates opportunities for women to work in Nepal. With the women at work, we are alleviating the chances of sex trafficking and help to heal those who have dealt with sex trafficking. You can learn more and watch a bracelet be made by clicking here.

Day 95: Explored YWCA

After this weekend, the Miss Washington class of 2013 will be complete! The final four titleholders will be crowned Sunday afternoon. Over the next few days, the last few Miss Washington sisters will be featured before they say farewell.

Meet Ramya Ramanathan, Miss Evergreen 2012

What is the title of your platform?
RR: Embracing Diversity and Empowering Women

How can others get involved with your platform?
RR: I did a lot of work with underprivileged minorities through the YWCA...You could like the YWCA page and perhaps educate or encourage others on what it is, that would be awesome!

Why did you choose this particular platform?
RR: I chose my platform because I'm passionate about empowering women and cultural awareness. I found that education was the best venue to practice this in. Being a mentor at the multicultural student let me build a lot of close relationships with at risk minorities and put them on the right track through various access programs that help first time college graduates.

After talking to Ramya, I Facebook searched and found the YWCA page. Once I 'liked' the page, I did a little more exploring. According to their page, "YWCA is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all." The YWCA has over 2 million participants and over 1,300 locations in the United States. Also, I found it interesting that they are one of the oldest and largest organizations for women and serves in over 125 countries. This is a phenomenal organization and I encourage you to do a little investigating yourself and 'like' the Facebook page.

God bless,

Kailee

Day 10-MAO Week: Donated Used Purses

Another contestant that I was so fortunate to meet during Miss Washington was Miss Idaho 2012, Whitney Wood. Whitney's platform is really unique and very easy to support. Her platform is titled Handbags of Hope; Giving women confidence they can carry. Basically, the organization accepts gently used purse donations, which they then fill with 15 essential items that women need. Then they take the filled purses "to women and teens living in transitional housing. [They] support local shelters such as Domestic Violence Intervention Center and referrals."(Handbags of Hope Facebook)

Now, it seems that there is one category of accessories that each women goes crazy for. In my case, I am a purse lover! So, naturally my mom and I had a few nice purses lying around that we would never use again. We sent our purses to:

Handbag of Hope Idaho

290 Plantation Circle

Idaho Falls, Idaho 83404

You can send your gently used purses there, or discover more about Handbags of Hope by checking out their Facebook page!

Miss Idaho 2012, Whitney Wood

Watch Miss America live from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino, Saturday January 12th! 

Have a random act of kindness you would like me to try? Comment below.

God bless, 

Kailee

Day 2: Donated Clothing To A Women's Shelter

Out with the old and in with the new! Because I was so fortunate to receive an abundance of new goodies for Christmas, a clean sweep needed to be done. I have too many clothes as it is and  I figured that someone else could use some of my gently used clothing more than I could.

Instead of trying to sell my clothes to a consignment shop (for way less than I think it is worth), I donated my clothes to a local women's shelter. Each year thousands of women who are beaten, raped and abused find comfort in shelters. According to National Coalition for the Homeless 63% of homeless women have experienced domestic violence and are left without a home. The shelter I donated to was Domestic Violence Center of Benton & Franklin Counties. According to their latest annual report, in 2010 338 clients were served and 185 families were housed.

If you too would like to donate clothing you can drop off your donations at New Beginnings Thrift Shop, 1016 Lee Blvd Richland. If you are not in the Tri-Cities, I highly recommend finding the nearest womens shelter or gospel mission to donate your gently used clothing items. For more information on DVS, please click on the logo.

Have a random act of kindness you would like me to try? Comment below.

God bless, 

Kailee