Naperville Girls Make Change with Change

Erin Collard joined Girls For Change at the group's inception about a year and half ago.

When she joined the grassroots organization she thought it was a neat idea to help empower women and girls around the world. Yet not until the group started receiving donations and began hearing back from a few of the women they helped, did Collard realize the significance of what she was doing.

“We donated to this charity called Women for Women. They sent us a packet of information, and the woman we are supporting wrote to us and that was so incredible,” the 17-year-old Collard said. “It makes me feel good that I can be of use.”

Girls For Change is a charitable organization started by a group of swimmers. The girls raise money to support projects in developing countries, which benefit women and girls.

Next week, in time for Mother’s Day, Girls for Change will hold a bake sale outside of Anderson’s Bookshop. The event will be May 7, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or until the baked goods sell out. The bake sale is a continuation of the group’s efforts to use its fund-raising to help women and girls around the world.

Collard will be baking dog bones for the sale, along with mini-cheese cakes and cake balls.

When the girls first started fund-raising, they placed jars around seeking change, which they later donated, Collard said. That was how the name for the group came about. Through the donation of pocket change, the girls were helping make change.

In that initial effort the girls raised about $600 to $700, said Julie Culver. A mom of one of the members, Culver helped the girls get the charitable group going.

As students, the girls are encouraged to perform community service that they can reference on college applications.

Culver said her daughter was volunteering at the local food pantry where she might spend a few hours each week. But she felt that if the girls took on a project of their own, they would learn more.

“I thought this would be a richer experience for them than just clocking in and out and really owning the work,” she said. “I think that is what got them fired up; it’s a part of something bigger, being a part of something bigger.”

The project has a practical side but Culver said it offers an opportunity for the teens to learn life skills, including how to set up an organization and work together as a team. They are also becoming empowered as they work to empower girls and women around the world.

Collard, the group's treasurer and spokeswoman, said that although there is a lot to do, the work doesn’t seem overwhelming because the girls take it on as a team.

What has been overwhelming for Collard is the response the group has received from the community, she said. The girls' second fund-raiser involved hosting a dinner where they purchased food and cooked for a group of diners.

They asked the attendees to donate as much as they might spend on a meal at a nice restaurant. Instead, the group received checks for hundreds of dollars, Collard said.

"We learned people are more willing to give than we think they are and if they believe in a cause … they are willing to help,” she said.

Girls For Change has raised about $5,000 and is in the process of getting its 501(c)3 nonprofit status.

The girls recently met with a lawyer who is helping guide them through the process of becoming a nonprofit, Culver said.

“What is just so overwhelming to me is just how committed they are to this and how excited they get,” Culver said. “After the dinner event—opening the donation box they are just screaming and excited by what everyone gave them, and it’s not for them. … They really get excited.”

Collard said she isn’t concerned about the group taking on large projects, adding that it makes sense to keep things on a scale where more money can go to the causes rather than to overhead.

Next year many of the members will go off to college. Some of the girls plan to continue the program on their campuses. The hope is that they pass the program down to younger girls who will continue to keep it going locally.

At the start, Collard never imagined the amount of money the girls would raise--and she never imagined how much she would learn. She has realized her strengths and weaknesses and learned how a group can work together to set and achieve a goal.

“When we get letters back, it makes you feel that we’ve accomplished our goal and we’ve connected to these women,” Collard said. “It makes us really feel we are connected to the woman. It’s personal.”

The Girls For Change bake sale will take place May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at .