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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - April 1, 2008
Mary Alice Thompson Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
April 1, 2008

Spring Grove, Pennsylvania Resident Wins Cash Award To Support Program Assisting Refugee Mothers Gain Important Job Training Skills


(New York, NY, April 1, 2008) Carlsbad, California resident Mary Alice Thompson, 57, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Mary 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. Mary’s award will support Project EARN (Educate and Achieve Results Now), a program through First Things First at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) San Diego that provides refugee mothers with English lessons along with simulated job and retail experience.

The International Rescue Committee was formed in 1933, headed by Albert Einstein as a means to assist Germans suffering from the policies of the Hitler regime. The IRC is now at work in 25 countries and helps refugees who are unable to return home to rebuild their lives. According to a recent survey in 2006 by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, there are 13.9 million refugees in the US. First Things First was established in 1995 through the IRC San Diego with the goal to actively engage refugee women in their new communities and prepare young children to enter the American school system.

Mary, a retired operations manager, created Project EARN, initially called the Free Happiness Store, after volunteering for nearly two years for the First Things First program. She wanted to bring a sense of reality into the classroom, teaching English while providing mothers and children with hands-on practical training to one day transition into paid employment. Mary created Project EARN to introduce English lessons in a simulated retail environment so refugee mothers learn valuable skills such as currency counting, merchandising and interacting with customers. As the mothers are working in the store and performing classroom jobs, they are also earning “Project EARN Dollars” that allow them to “purchase” donated items such as food, clothing and books, further enhancing their self esteem and empowerment.

For the majority of students, Project EARN is their first experience working in America and, sadly, for many it is their first chance to attend school since approximately 50% of the IRC students grew up in refugee camps. Mary recalls a Somali student who proclaimed, “When I moved here, I didn’t think I could get a job. Now I know I can be a cashier.” It is stories like these that give Mary much joy and satisfaction in the work she is doing with First Things First.

To further the practical curriculum at Project EARN, Mary had hoped to add computer training to the program since computers are vital in virtually every aspect of business. Thanks to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund, she has the money to purchase two computers, a printer and supplies. These resources will provide students with the opportunity to learn computer skills, develop a resume, conduct job searches on the Internet and keep records of time cards, sales transactions and trends. With the help of her Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund award, Mary can bring her vision to fruition and provide refugee mothers and their families practical job skills so they can go onto becoming productive, self-sufficient members of society.

Mary’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. Another judge, Lynn Stekas noted, “Teaching women employable skills is always critical to self-sufficiency, but even more so for immigrant women who have to learn so much about their new home and the expectations of America.”

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