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Winner of the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund - August 12, 2008
Debi Pack Honored with $5,000 Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund Award
August 12, 2008

Marshall, Minnesota Resident Wins Cash Award To Provide Self Esteem Building Art Program For First Grade Girls


(New York, NY, August 12, 2008) - Marshall, Minnesota resident Debi Pack, 51, is one step closer to fulfilling her dream of creating a better tomorrow for her community. Debi 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. She is the first recipient of a Hello Tomorrow Fund award in Minnesota and was selected by a newly expanded panel of judges that now includes Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York and actress Phylicia Rashad. Debi will use her award to create the “Hello, it’s Me” program which will employ creative writing and art as well as community activities as a means to raise self-awareness and build self-esteem in first-grade girls.

The first year of elementary school is often when children begin to develop their sense of self as an individual, and at the same time, develop the strong desire to fit in with their peers. Individuality is seldom viewed as a positive trait at this vulnerable age. This need to fit in often results in children succumbing to peer pressure which, in turn, can create low self-esteem. In a recent study conducted by the NYU Child Study Center, 59 percent of 5–12th grade girls were dissatisfied with their body shape and 20–40 percent of girls began dieting at age 10. By age 15, girls are twice as likely to become depressed than boys. Debi, a first grade teacher, has seen firsthand these issues begin to surface. Her goal is to teach young girls how to love who they are and respect differences in other people before more serious problems can occur.

Debi has been a teacher for 19 years, starting her career working with special needs students. Nine years ago, she began teaching standard first grade classes and saw that low self-esteem and lack of self-knowledge is a problem that exists among five and six year old girls. As a teacher who incorporates art and creative writing into her curriculum regularly, Debi sees the many benefits of giving children the opportunity to express themselves without boundaries. She has always yearned to have an after school program dedicated to creating a positive self-image for her young female students. Unfortunately, like so many other schools in the country, funding for a program such as this is not possible. That is where the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund can help.

Debi will use the Hello Tomorrow Fund to launch “Hello, It’s Me,” a bi-weekly after school program that will combine extra curricular activities such as bowling, hiking and games, with personal journaling, creative writing, photography and art, which will allow students to form a supportive community outside the classroom setting. Debi will create “Hello, it’s Me” briefcases for each student filled with items to create a personal journal that chronicles their first grade school year. The bi-weekly workshops will encompass field trips, creative writing and art, and will also serve as a stage for the girls to share and present their work to each other. With the help of art students from South Minnesota State University they will also create art projects and photography to reinforce to the young girls the importance of individuality. At the end of the year, the students will have the opportunity to present their work to their peers and families in an evening showcase. Debi is confident that by teaching first grade girls their own self worth, she will help create strong young women who will become healthy, balanced individuals who will give back to the community.

Debi’s winning application to the Avon Hello Tomorrow Fund met the criteria of clearly presenting 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 personal finance expert, Suze Orman, actress Phylicia Rashad and Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. “Allowing first grade girls to be who they are by forming, ‘Hello, it’s me’ sounds like a wonderful idea,” noted judge Lynn Stekas of Debi’s proposal. “The fact that the peer pressure starts that early is staggering and this program sounds like the perfect anecdote.”

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