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Have you thought about joining Circle de Luz at some point this summer and just haven’t gotten to it yet? Do you wonder whether or not we really need you?
Starting today, we are beginning a 10 day campaign to find at least 20 more women to make the dreams of at least 5 girls possible, and we could use your support!
Circle de Luz is a circle of women, called M’ijas, who pool their resources over the course of a 6 year commitment to provide a minimum $5,000 scholarship for each of these Latinas to pursue the educational opportunity of her choosing upon her high school graduation. Because Latinos have the highest dropout rate of all racial and ethnic groups we support and inspire them through extensive mentoring and programming from seventh grade through graduation. This fall, we will select the Circle de Luz Class of 2015 from the seventh graders at Ranson Middle School in Charlotte, NC.
Our goal this year is to have 45 women enrolled as M’ijas in the Class of 2015 by August 24, yielding a minimum of 5 scholarships. As of today, we have just 25 women signed up to support 3 spots in the Class of 2015. Without the support of 20 more women, this year’s Circle de Luz class is in danger of not being created! In addition to offering young women a life changing opportunity, there is also an incredible reward for the M’ijas in being involved in this program. Here is what two Class of 2014 M’ijas had to say about their experience:
After watching our Hijas’ confidence level soar after a few months, I realized that with a small investment of my time and talent, I can truly make a difference. I am grateful beyond words for being given this opportunity. Harriet Kessler
Growing up in a Puerto Rican family, I had examples of hardworking women every day; however, no one in my family had gone to college and so I felt that it wasn’t an option for me. I didn’t know how I would pay for it or the steps to take in filling out applications for colleges or pursuing other means of financing an education. I joined Circle de Luz simply because I wanted to provide a young Latina a view of what opportunities there were out there and to guide her along the journey to getting there. Jocelyn Negron-Rios
We need your help in radically empowering these young women to live the lives they have imagined. M’ijas can have any background and can live anywhere. As a M’ija, you make a commitment to donate a minimum of $90 a year for six years (just $7.50 a month!) to the scholarship fund that will support the Class of 2015’s ‘Hijas’. All we need right now is your Letter of Commitment. We then ask that ½ of your year’s commitment be paid by September 15 and the other half by March 15, 2010 (don’t worry, we’ll send you a reminder when the time comes!). Learn more at www.circledeluz.org.
If you are moved to commit, please email us at circledeluz@gmail.com to let us know we are one M’ija closer to our goal of 20 M’ijas in 10 days.
Thank you for helping us radically empower the lives of girls!
