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EMPOWERING GIRLS
STRENGTHING OUR COMMUNITY
22 days to the eventNov 07, 2026, 4:00 PM – 7:00 PM12472 Dedeaux Rd, Gulfport, MS 39503, Dedeaux Rd, Gulfport, MS 39503, USAA youth girls experience centered around sisterhood, confidence, mentorship, leadership, and purpose. She Has a Seat. She Has a Purpose.
SHE HAS A PURPOSE.
15 GIRLS. MULTIPLE WAYS TO SERVE. ONE PURPOSE.
A community service and leadership cohort designed to help girls discover the power of serving, mentoring, leading, and making a difference right where they are
SERVE • MENTOR • LEAD • IMPACT
We want our girls to understand that community service is more than collecting volunteer hours. It's learning why a need exists. It's developing compassion, giving your time, using your gifts, and showing up when you're needed.
GirlsGiving exposes girls to real needs, real people, and real opportunities to make a difference right now.
WHY GIRLSGIVING?
THE 2026 JOURNEY
FOUR EXPERIENCES.MULTIPLE WAYS TO SERVE.
Throughout October, our GirlsGiving cohort will move through a series of intentional experiences. Each experience introduces the girls to a different side of community service.
OCTOBER
07
MEET & GREET
Introduction to Service, Leadership & Community
Our GirlsGiving journey begins with connection. The cohort will meet one another, learn about GirlsGiving, review expectations, and begin exploring what it means to serve with purpose.
FEATURING
Sonya Williams Barnes
Theresa Wagner
FOCUS
Service • Leadership
Purpose • Sisterhood
Community
“Service begins with understanding that you have something valuable to give.”
OCTOBER
10
SHE SERVES
WITH PURPOSE
Meeting with Shanna Pegues + Service at Feed My Sheep
The cohort will meet with Shanna Pegues for an intentional conversation about food insecurity, food banks, community care, and her personal connection to food banks. Immediately following the meeting, we will serve at Feed My Sheep.
FEATURING
Shanna Pegues
FOCUS
Food Insecurity • Compassion
Community Care • Gratitude
Hands-On Service
“First we learn why. Then we go serve.”
OCTOBER
17
BABY GIRLSGIVING
Youth Girls Mentoring Service
Ash Carana will lead a conversation about why young girls should serve and how service develops compassion, character, and leadership. The cohort will then pour into younger girls through mentorship, encouragement, confidence-building, and service.
FEATURING
Ash Carana
FOCUS
Mentorship • Leadership
Encouragement • Sisterhood
Service
“Sometimes serving means pouring into the girl coming behind you.”
OCTOBER
31
TRUNK OR TREAT
Serving in All Spaces
Saraland Manor Retirement Apartments
The cohort will participate in a community Trunk or Treat at Saraland Manor Retirement Apartments, connecting with seniors, families, and children through joy and service. This experience reminds our girls that service can happen anywhere.
IN HONOR OF
MARILYN NORRIS
FOCUS
Service • Leadership
Purpose • Sisterhood
Community
“Wherever you have a presence, you have an opportunity to serve.”
SHE CREATES IMPACT
FROM LEARNING TO LEADING
Throughout the GirlsGiving experience, our girls will explore service, leadership, mentorship, and the needs within their communities. But we don’t want them to simply participate in service—we want them to learn how to create it.
At the end of the cohort, the girls will be divided into teams of five. Each team will work together to develop and carry out its own community service project, drawing from everything they have learned and experienced throughout the GirlsGiving journey.
With guidance from the GirlsGiving team, each group will identify a community need, brainstorm a solution, develop a project plan, divide responsibilities, and bring their idea to life.
This final project gives the girls the opportunity to practice the skills they’ve developed throughout the cohort—teamwork, leadership, problem-solving, communication, creativity, and community engagement.
Most importantly, they’ll leave knowing that service isn’t something they simply participate in. It’s something they can create.
ALL 150 BAGS WILL BENEFIT GULF COAST PERIOD PANTRY.
Throughout the cohort, participants will collect, organize, and prepare 150 hygiene care bags.
Our girls will learn about period poverty, hygiene insecurity, dignity, and why access to personal-care products matters.
This is more than a donation drive — it's education, awareness, and impact.
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