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Celebrate What You’re Thankful for by Giving Back!

November 23, 2011 By

How do you volunteer your time, money or talents to others? The holiday season is a wonderful time to remember what you are thankful for. It is also a wonderful time to give back to those who are less fortunate. Everyone has something they can contribute, and no time or talent is too small to make a difference!

Lily, 12, California painted faces at a children's festival where she volunteered to do community service!

December 5 is International Volunteer Day, a day created to recognize organizations that work toward creating a better world for everyone. Do you volunteer for a cause such as ending world hunger or fighting AIDS. Maybe you volunteer for a different cause? Would you like to?

New Moon Girls give back to others in many ways:

Posie Rose, 13, Maryland volunteered to bring Goofy for a walk, a dog at the local Humane Society animal shelter!

If you would like to volunteer your time, money or talents but don’t know how, check out some very helpful message boards that are all about giving back! WHO LOVES TO VOLUNTEER? is for those who love to give back, or want ideas on what they could do. Are you looking for, or have great ideas for service projects? Join the discussion on the Service Projects message board. Or, check out Lila, 12, Hong Kong’s message board about her friend’s charity called Orphan’s Heroes!

Do you like to volunteer? How do you share your time, money and talents to help others? How would you like to give back? Tell us in your comments below!

Emily
New Moon Intern

Filed Under: Changing the World, New Moon Girls News

A Gift Today – Girls’ Futures Tomorrow

November 17, 2011 By

HUGE thanks to our 65 donors on  Give to the Max Day 11-16.  You donated $3,763! Our match from an anonymous donor brings the total to $7526!  I’m thrilled with your outpouring of support.  Especially as we only started the campaign on Nov 14.

Because of your generosity we will offer 251 MORE scholarships to New Moon Girls for low-income girls.  With most of the scholarships going to organizations, libraries and schools where 50 or more girls benefit from each membership, that conservatively means that 12,801 more girls will be reached in the next year. Your gift means we won’t have to leave girls, schools and libraries starving for healthy media.

A very special thanks to the Rider family who will receive a beautiful Celebrate Girls poster by artist Farah Aria.

Thank You for giving girls the lasting gift of empowering media.

 

Filed Under: New Moon Girls News

Toy Advertisements Limiting Girls’ And Boys’ Creativity?

November 16, 2011 By

Did you know that girls see over 40,000 advertisements for toys every year on TV and in magazines? Most of those ads play during the holiday season, when toy makers and stores try to make kids feel like they “need” these toys and products.

 

Now that it is the season for holiday shopping, girls are bombarded with these toy ads, and these ads are telling girls and boys what gifts they should want. Most toy makers know how to sell their toys successfully to girls and boys by using colors and language that appeals to each gender differently.

 

Have you seen any recent toy ads that you thought displayed gender stereotypes? (Gender stereotypes are qualities that are assigned to someone just because they are a boy or a girl. For example, thinking that only boys can play with trucks, or only girls can play with dolls is gender stereotyping.) If you have seen an ad that had a message like this, we want you to Girl-Catch it!

 

According to research done by The Achilles Effect (a blog similar to Luna’s, but focused on issues that boys deal with) Toy ads for boys usually involve words like power, hero and action and they show toys like Nerf guns, action figures and cars. Do you know which words are most commonly used in toy ads for girls?

  • style
  • love
  • totally
  • nails
  • fashion
  • cute
  • glam
  • friends

 

There are many other words that toy makers consider “girl words” that are used in ads for toys like Barbies, baby dolls and makeup sets. What do you think of this list?  What other words have you heard used in toy ads for girls? What about for boys? How does it make you feel when a toy ad says that since you are a girl, you have to like certain toys? Or, when an ad says boys have to like certain toys?

 

New Moon Girls have a lot to say about toy companies telling them what they should like. A lot of New Moon Girls like to play with “girl” toys, and what toy companies consider to be “boy” toys. If you have something to say about it, check out “That’s So Sexist!” message board in How Aggravating. Or, join the discussion at the Commercials+boy/girl=BAD! or the definition of girls. message boards!

 

Next time you see a toy or ad that is showing gender stereotypes, please submit it to Girl-Caught! If you see a positive toy or ad that doesn’t have gender stereotypes, we want to see that too! For more reading on gender stereotyping in the toy industry, check out this story posted by Luna! What kind of toy ads have you seen this holiday season? Share your experiences with us in the comments below!

 

Emily

New Moon Intern

Filed Under: New Moon Girls News

Help win $1000 – $10,000 for New Moon Girls scholarships – donate just $10

November 15, 2011 By

On Give to the Max Day, Wednesday Nov. 16, you can do just that! And all you need is $10 to make a big difference!

 

This special day for non-profits gives you the incredible opportunity to join with others and donate to Mind on the Media to support the New Moon Girls scholarship fund. Our goal is supporting hundreds of girls with the power of positive media that New Moon Girls gives them.

 

Why is it so important to give on this day?

 

We donate many memberships to low-income girls. But the need is greater than our small organization can meet on its own. Your donation means that we won’t have to leave girls, schools and libraries starving for healthy media.  And for just $10 per hour on Give to the Max Day, you’ll get us that much closer to this goal!

 

Your gift will go further on Give to the Max Day! 

 

Your gift won’t only benefit our girls’ futures but it can also help:

 

1.  Win a Golden Ticket! $1,000 will be given to a random donor’s charity every hour. You could be one of those 24 lucky donors!  At the end of the day one donor will be awarded a $10,000 Grand Prize Golden ticket donation for their charity - that could be YOU! Improve your odds of winning the Golden ticket in the following ways:

  • Give between 12am – 5am CST on November 16 (If you don’t live in a U.S. central time zone, enter your time zone here to see what time it will be where you live.)
  • Give multiple $10 donations at different hours throughout the day

2.  ​We have a matching grant of $5000 on Give to the Max Day – that means that if we earn this match, over 150 more scholarships for girls who otherwise would not be able to afford New Moon Girls. But we need your help to earn this match.

 

On Nov. 16, let’s give something back - positive media to inspire and empower girls just like you!  Let’s Give to the Max!

 

Thank You

 

Nancy Gruver, Founder

 

p.s. Win a Original Art Poster & Acclaim! If you inspire your friends to raise $500 as a group for NMG scholarships on Nov. 16, we will send you a beautiful Celebrate Girls poster with original artwork by Farah Aria. Plus we’ll feature a picture of you and your achievement in our e-news and on our web page! Click here now to set up your own campaign.
Filed Under: New Moon Girls News

November is Native American Heritage Month!

November 9, 2011 By

Did you know that the month of November is full of unique holidays? Among them are World Kindness Day ( 13th), Homemade Bread Day (17th), World Hello Day (21st) and  Square Dance Day (29th). The month of November is known as National Adoption Month and Novel Writing Month, as well as Native American Heritage Month!

November officially became Native American Heritage Month in 1990, and it is a month celebrating the ways in which Native Americans helped establish and grow the United States into the country it is today.

Did you know that there are over 2 million Native Americans in the United States and that they speak over 150 different Native languages? There are many Native American tribes in the United States, Canada and Central and South America! You can find this and many more cool facts on this kid-friendly Native American Information site!

Kira, 14, Virginia found this statue outside the Museum of the American Indian!

Native Americans play a large role in United States history. It is commonly thought that Native Americans came to North America from Asia over 20,000 years ago and were the first humans to live on this continent. When settlers began to come to North America from England, the Native Americans were helpful in teaching them about the land, plants and food that could be found there.

Have you heard the Thanksgiving Story, where the Pilgrims and Native Americans came together for a harvest time feast? Autumn, 13, Pennsylvania shares an awesome informational article about the first Thanksgiving.

Or, do you know the story of Pocahontas? Pocahontas was a Native American woman who helped the English settlers and saved the life of John Smith. Check out Molly, 13, Colorado’s Pocahontas article, or Jen, 13, New Jersey’s story of Pocahontas for more information on this woman’s courage and strength!

Will you be celebrating Native American Heritage Month? What will you do? Do you know any other stories about Native American history? Share with us in your comments below!

Emily
New Moon Intern

Filed Under: Arts & Culture
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