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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - March 4, 2008
Melissa Dobar Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
March 4, 2008

Lake Havasu, Arizona Resident Wins Cash Award To Support Life Skills Education Program For At-Risk Young Women


(New York, NY, March 4, 2008) Lake Havasu City, Arizona resident Melissa Dobar, 42, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Melissa was named this week’s winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, a weekly $5,000 cash award program from Avon Products, Inc. to support individuals in their work to empower women. Melissa’s award will support “You Go Girl!” – a workshop focused on teaching young women leadership and life skills, as well as STD prevention education and community connectivity.

Lake Havasu City is a resort town frequented by many as a “spring break” location, attracting events such as “Girls Gone Wild” that have a negative and disempowering effect on teens and girls. While this vacation spot has a glossy appeal, most of its permanent residents work in low-paying service positions. Over 50% of the community’s youth live at or below the poverty level and other risk factors such as drug and alcohol abuse, violence and teen pregnancy run high. As a small city in a big county, this community finds it is often at a disadvantage to receive extra funding for community groups and prevention programs.

As a long time non-profit director for various agencies, Melissa’s 13 years of experience working with young people has given her the insight to create programming targeted to at-risk young women. Her own experience as an at-risk teenager, having been involved at an early age with drugs and alcohol due to the lack of support by adults around her, drives Melissa’s belief that young girls must be helped to develop the vital skills needed to resist poor life choices and feel empowered to succeed. Previously, Melissa created “For Girls Only,” a program that brought young inner-city girls together to explore opportunities and meet female leaders from a variety of professional sectors. Upon moving to Lake Havasu City, Melissa was shocked by the level at which young women were engaging in dangerous behaviors such as drug use and sexual activity.

With the help of other women in the community, and a local youth initiative called LEARN (Leadership, Education, Advancement, Responsibility, Now), Melissa created “You Go Girl!” to provide full-day workshops for up to 80 girls in 6th – 8th grades. Melissa emphasizes the importance of unity, an important concept she brings to life in a simple way. She explains, “All the girls wear matching headbands to solidify the message of unity for the day. The idea is to level the playing field and create solidarity among the girls.” Each workshop consists of an accomplished woman speaking about her success, as well as self-image building exercises, and discussions with rape and domestic violence counselors, a police officer and a physician’s assistant, who addresses physical health and hygiene. To overcome self consciousness, the girls are able to write anonymous questions to be read by a facilitator and answered for the benefit of all the girls.

Thanks to her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Melissa will be able to educate an estimated 160 at-risk young women in her community through these one-day workshops. The award money will be applied towards venue fees, guest speakers, curriculum, materials and a dynamic program director. “You Go Girl!” offers the young women of Lake Havasu City the opportunity to acquire positive decision-making tools and the strength to avoid engaging in dangerous behavior, and connects them with community leaders so that they may go on to lead successful lives.

Melissa’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund fell under the category of “Community Service.” Her proposal met the criteria to clearly present unique and achievable objectives to empower women or girls and ultimately improve society. It was selected from a pool of strong contenders by an expert panel of judges, including Suze Orman, America’s most recognized expert on personal finance. “Offering leadership training and life skills building to middle school girls is the perfect time to try to encourage healthy attitudes and behavior,” noted judge Lynn Stekas of Melissa’s proposal.

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