Where would you be today without your education? Would you know how to read or write? Would you be able to support yourself? Melbourne’s June grant was awarded to One Girl, an organization that’s made it their mission to educate girls from the poorest rural communities of Sierra Leone, West Africa. One Girl was founded in 2009 by Chantelle Baxter and David Dixon and has given 100 girls the opportunity for an education and a better life. Their upcoming campaign Do It in a Dress will raise $25,000 to send another 50 girls to school by 2012. The difference an education in Sierra Leone can make is astounding.  See what these girls are up against:
– 1 in 6 chance of attending high school.
– 62% chance they’ll be married before their 18^th birthday.
– 50% chance they’ll be sexually abused before they turn 18 and it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll experience some kind of sexual violence in their lifetime.

Do It in a Dress plans on raising the $25,000 by recruiting 100 “rock star” bloggers from around the world to set a personal challenge for themselves like run 5K, go to a yoga class, bungee jump or just go to work, but the catch is they have to do it in a girl’s school uniform and have photos and videos to prove it. Each blogger will have a fundraising page for their family, friends and readers to donate to see them do their challenge in a school dress.

The $1,000 will be used to get the website up and running in the next month for the Do It in a Dress campaign scheduled for October 2 – 9, 2011 and ultimately get the girls of Sierra Leone in school!

We felt this project was especially awesome, because of its HUGE impact it goes far beyond Melbourne and reaches communities over 10,000 miles away. The $1,000 will be grown 2,500% and people from all over the world will have the opportunity to help send the girls of Sierra Leone to school and changes their lifes forever. It is a selfless project that uses the crowd sourcing method we love so much to give everyone an opportunity to make a small contribution to make a big difference.