close girlfriends
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CHANGE AGENT PLAN (Sample submission#1)
I would like to hold a campus-wide campaign here to get females on campus to donate their gently-worn (like new) prom dresses to be re-distributed to graduating Senior Girls at XXX High School. My friend is a counselor at the school, and through him my understanding is that many of these girls come from poor families and that without some help they will not be able to afford to get dresses so they can attend their Senior Prom.
My budget/ necessary resources: My only expense would be the printing of a flier to be distributed here on campus and also at my church where many college age girls attend. Our youth group fund would pay for the printing of 500 fliers. In the event that any of the dresses that get donated need to be dry cleaned, my local dry cleaners (the owner goes to my church too) would provide this free of charge for a limited number of dresses if necessary. Hopefully most of the donated dresses would already be clean.
Logistics: I have 3 close girlfriends who also attend school here, and we all have different classes and belong to different organizations on campus. We would each give out fliers within our own friendship and classmate networks, and distribute them all around campus, including department and faculty mailboxes. We would each also send out the electronic version of the flier to everybody on our email lists. My church, which has done somewhat similar activities in the past, would agree to accept the donations for me so there would be a neutral, centrally located drop-off point, and I am still attempting to figure out if there is anyplace on campus we could also use as a drop-off, like maybe outside of the Women’s Studies Department office? I’m thinking my apartment manager would not be pleases if I had a parade of people dropping dresses outside my door, so I had to think of other places to collect the dresses. I thought of XXX High School as a drop off place, but decided against that because I felt the girls shouldn’t see the dresses until they are all collected and ready for them…otherwise it might cause problems.
Timeline: The prom is in May. Ideally I could have the fliers circulating by March 25, with a deadline for donated dresses in mid-April, delivery to the school to distribute them by the 3rd week in April.
Remarks: I think it is important for women and girls to be able to help each other and I think my plan shows how one little person, without money, can really make a difference in other women’s/girls lives, just by giving a little thought, time, planning and good intentions. I approached my girlfriends, church friends, and the school by saying “What if I was trying to…?” but I also explained to them that this was a school assignment and it might or might not actually happen (I didn’t want anyone to be disappointed.) I know that it is already difficult to be almost any teenaged girl, but it saddens me to think of girls who won’t have a prom night memory just because their parents are too poor to buy a prom dress, and what that could do to a young girl’s self-esteem in the middle of all the other issues associated with adolescence like body image and peer pressure. Another relevant course concept is how we as women are judged and how we judge ourselves by our appearance. When we got this assignment, I was a little skeptical and worried about how I could realistically plan to help anybody because I’m living off student loans and part time work and I’m a full time student who is always broke, always struggling to get everything done in a very full schedule. It is empowering to me to know that I really could make a difference, and I’m thinking I might actually do this.
Change Agent Assignment (Sample submission#2)
According to the National Eating Disorders Association “In the United States, as many as 10 million females and 1 million males are fighting a life and death battle with an eating disorder such as anorexia or bulimia.” Unfortunately, for my family, these numbers became more than just statistics.
When my youngest sister was only 11 years old, what started with the special k diet turned into my mom getting a call from one of my sister’s friend’s parents, telling my mom that she thought my sister might have an eating disorder and suggested a psychologist. My enthusiastic, easygoing was eventually diagnosed with anorexia, regularly seeing a dietician, psychologist, and general practitioner. It wasn’t helping – she was rushed to the hospital. We were told she was lucky to be alive. I remember walking into the room and seeing my sister with no energy to move or talk. I was mad – mad that I couldn’t prevent this, that this is what society had done to my sister, mad that this had happened to her.
She was transferred to a residential treatment center for months. Our insurance didn’t pay for her to do in-patient treatment so she went to the hospital two more times. Eventually, after over a year, she finally recovered. My action plan is as follows. It would take me until the last weekend of the semester to implement this.
Who: 20 Girls in grades 6-7 (11-14 years old)
What: Weekend sleepover / retreat
Where: XXXXXX YMCA
Why: To educate and inform young girls about eating disorders. To provide them with the knowledge and resources needed to help themselves and others prevent and overcome eating disorders.
The girls will gather for a two-day, one-night, life-changing event. They will be educated on eating disorders, and the devastating consequences. They will be given tools and resources to help prevent and overcome eating disorders, taught how to recognize signs of eating disorders and steps to take if someone they love might be suffering from an eating disorder. Videos will show the seriousness of eating disorders. Previous sufferers of eating disorders, including my sister, will provide insight into a variety of topics, including their recovery and experiences.
We will discuss how the girls can help themselves and others overcome the culture of thinness. There is a lot of discrimination against women who are overweight, so we will help the girls see past this discrimination. We will also have a yoga/meditation session and teach the girls stress reducing techniques and games where they can win prizes. They will have free time to relax or talk.
I will work with NEDA, the National Eating Disorder Association, whose website is: http://www.nationaleatingdisorders.org/. I will have girls from local Middle Schools sign up on a first-come first-served basis. I will talk to the parents to inform them about the event.
Family members will be able to assist me in planning and coordinating, including the activities, food, and fundraising. My mom is a licensed nurse, she would be able to provide assistance. My middle sister is currently an event coordinator and will be able to help with the planning and running of the event. I have friends who could help set up for the event, lead the activities, and supervise meals. I could get a psychologist, or a student at a local university, to give presentations about eating disorders and lead discussion groups.
As for material resources, I will need fliers for the participating schools as well as fliers for the fundraisers. For the fliers I will need paper, tape, and thumbtacks, and I will use my parents’ printer that they will let me use free-of-charge. I will also need promo items, which are available on NEDA’s website, such as watches, pins, and pens. Food will come from Costco, Grocery Stores, and Catering. Restaurants such as Soup Plantation have a sponsorship program where you submit an application and, if approved, they will provide free food for the event. Costco has large pizzas which are relatively cheap, and Subway has large platters of subs. Other resources needed include videos and art supplies. My sister has a collection of DVDs on eating disorders. Art supplies can be purchased. There will be several ways I will gather the resources and money needed to run this event. The YMCA will be able to provide items such as chairs and tables so they will not have to be purchased
Local restaurants have fundraising programs where you print out a flyer and people bring it with them on a certain day and time to help contribute to the event. Specifically Soup Plantation and Pat & Oscars, as both offer 20% of pre-tax purchases related to the fundraiser. I would distribute the flyers for the fundraiser several ways. My sister will also be able to put them around her school and will be able to put an announcement with a link for parents to give a direct donation in the newsletter at school.
Overview Budget
Supplies
Paper 50
Art Supplies 100
Tape / Thumbtacks 10
NEDA Balloons/Decorations 30
Total Supplies 190
Food 1000 (but hopefully donated)
Promo Items
NEDA Water Bottles 100
NEDA Watches 120
Bookmarks 10
Total Promo Items 230
Presenters 500
Miscellaneous 180
Total 2100
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