At this time of year, the spirit of the season moves many families to donate time, money, and talent to their favorite causes. In this issue, learn how American Girl and its employees bring joy to others during the holidays—and all year long.
The Season of Giving
For any parent, one of the sweetest joys of the holidays is seeing the delight in a child’s eyes as she unwraps a special gift. Here at American Girl, we take tremendous pride and satisfaction in knowing that our dolls, books, and accessories bring such magical moments to thousands of families each holiday season.
American Girl is not just focused on creating products that delight children and parents, however. From its beginning in 1986, our company has been committed to sharing its success with programs that benefit children. Here’s a peek at some of the ways that American Girl gives back to children and families:
American Girl Fashion Shows
The American Girl Fashion Show® offers nonprofit organizations a comprehensive fund-raising event to raise money for children’s charities. Since 1992, American Girl Fashion Shows, featuring historical and contemporary fashions for both girls and dolls, have helped raise more than $21 million for children’s charities nationwide.
Special Olympics
Both American Girl and our parent company, Mattel, support Special Olympics. Last October, three American Girl employees joined 55 others from Mattel at the 2007 International Special Olympics in Shanghai, China. There, they cheered on the athletes, presented awards, and hosted special events for participants. The volunteers brought energy, heart, and a human face to Mattel’s corporate sponsorship and came away with a deeper understanding of the challenges and abilities of disabled children.
Here at home, several brave souls from American Girl made a very different contribution to Special Olympics. By donning bathing suits on a frigid February day and jumping into Madison, Wisconsin's frozen Lake Mendota, the 11 members of American Girl’s Polar Plunge team raised $3,000 to benefit Special Olympics Wisconsin. The hardy team already hopes to raise even more money next year.
Fund for Children
American Girl’s Fund for Children has provided more than $7 million in grants to benefit children’s education in the arts and environment near our headquarters in Middleton, Wisconsin. For example:
The Aldo Leopold Nature Center specializes in connecting children, their families, and teachers to the outdoors. At nature sites throughout southern Wisconsin, naturalists offer lively, hands-on environmental education for elementary school children. Through field trips, summer camps, and school programs, their goal is to “teach the student to see the land, understand what she sees, and enjoy what she understands.”
The brand-new Middleton Splash Pad is a fabulous space for kids of all ages and abilities to experience summertime fun. The park offers zero water depth, a non-slip surface, total accessibility, colorful whirligigs and spouts, giant water-spraying leaves, and other interactive features.
Overture OnStage: A Performing Arts Series for Students offers access to a wide range of performing arts for all grade levels. At Madison’s Overture Center for the Arts, OnStage presents performances by professional artists from the United States as well as from around the world. For each performance, Overture OnStage provides resource guides for classroom teachers.
Annual Benefit Sale
American Girl donates returned and irregular merchandise to the Madison Children’s Museum, whose volunteers refurbish the products for their Annual Benefit Sale. Since 1988, the sale has attracted more than 140,000 shoppers from around the country and raised more than $18 million. Most of the proceeds benefit the museum, which offers exhibits and hands-on experiences for children of all ages. A share of the proceeds also goes goes to American Girl’s Fund for Children to benefit other nonprofit programs.
Sharing our gifts with groups like these is one more way we help celebrate girls. So when your daughter opens up a package from American Girl, you can feel good knowing that it comes from a company with heart and a true commitment to kids.
Question:
How do I request a product donation from American Girl for my charitable cause?
Answer:
American Girl assists nonprofit organizations only in their fund-raising efforts, and is pleased to contribute product packages featuring dolls, books, and gift certificates for nonprofit auctions and raffles. You can choose a package for your group by completing a donation request form after assuring you meet these requirements:
• Your organization is a registered 501 c-3 non-profit organization.
• Your fund-raising auction or raffle plans to benefit groups of children who can be up to 12 years old (no individuals or individual families).
Completed request forms should be accompanied by your organization’s letterhead and must be received by American Girl at least six weeks before the fund-raising event. Because we try to help as many groups as possible, if your organization has received a donation from American Girl since January 2006, you are not eligible to apply. We look forward to all requests and hope we can help your worthy cause achieve its fund-raising goals.
Do you have a question for American Girl? E-mail it today, and you could see the answer in a future issue!*
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