{"id":36728,"date":"2025-08-21T15:13:37","date_gmt":"2025-08-21T19:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=36728"},"modified":"2025-08-21T15:13:45","modified_gmt":"2025-08-21T19:13:45","slug":"girls-empowerment-hits-the-road-with-help-from-the-province","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/girls-empowerment-hits-the-road-with-help-from-the-province\/","title":{"rendered":"Girls\u2019 empowerment hits the road with help from the Province"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Girls Inc. of York Region is driven to empower young women in our community \u2013 and now they\u2019re able to do so quite literally thanks to a financial infusion from the Ontario Government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Aurora-based organization celebrated the receipt of a $75,600 grant from the Provincial government on August 13 with Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy at Newmarket\u2019s Poplar Bank Public School.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The non-profit has used the grant to secure a 15-person van, painted in the vivid red that has become Girls Inc.\u2019s trademark, which will help them connect even more teens with opportunities in the community and Greater Toronto Area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI want to start by recognizing the exceptional leadership of Barb Wallace and the entire team at Girls Inc. of York Region. Your unwavering dedication to empowering young girls is shaping brighter futures across our Region,\u201d said MPP Gallagher Murphy. \u201cThe Ontario Government has awarded Girls Inc. of York Region a capital grant of $75,600 through the Ontario Trillium Foundation. We knew the funding was going to support the purchase of a large 15-passenger van as well as tablets and laptops \u2013 vital tools that will help enhance the delivery of year-round programs and help Girls Inc. reach and connect with more girls across York Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPrograms like Sporting Chance, Project Bold, Operation Smart, and the Mental Health Support Program do more than just teach skills. They create spaces where girls can thrive, explore their potential, and prepare for meaningful futures\u2026. I want to thank everyone at Girls Inc. of York Region for their dedication and their unwavering commitment to the rights [and] the well-being of girls in our community. This funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation will strengthen your ability to reach more young women, expand your programs, and continue empowering girls to reach their full potential. Together, we can build a future where every girl has the confidence, skills, and support to shape their own path and make a positive impact in our society.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Executive Director Wallace said the new vehicle will help get their teens to activities and programs they otherwise wouldn\u2019t be able to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One past example she cited was receiving a call from a benefactor offering Girls Inc. 15 tickets to a Jonas Brothers concert. It was a great offer, but the logistics in making it happen were something of a challenge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHaving the van, we can put a call out and say, \u2018Come with your parent\u2019 and off we go, or be able to take a smaller group down to one of our corporate partners for a visit,\u201d she told The Auroran. \u201cWe work closely with Benefit Cosmetics at their offices in Toronto and to be able to put some teens on the van, get down there, and have some time to do some mentoring and learn about the cosmetics industry\u2026 we have worked with American Express in Markham, the local York Regional Police department, and some really great businesses, and this is our chance to be able to get the girls there and back in a safe way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another benefit of the vehicle is helping pick up donations received during the holiday season \u2013 including the generosity of CHUM Christmas Wish \u2013 and to distribute them as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are so honoured and excited to accept this grant to get this incredible van that we’re going to be already talking to the girls, planning some activities, being able to take them to the beach, to go rock climbing, to go to Toronto, take small groups of girls to visit businesses and learn about what they do to inspire them to stay in school, study those hard subjects, and be strong, smart, and bold,\u201d said Wallace, addressing MPP Gallagher Murphy. \u201cAnd we couldn’t have done it without the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, with Dawn herself being in our corner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Added the MPP: \u201cSeeing this van and seeing these beautiful young ladies and what they’re going to be able to do and how they’ll be able to get around in style, it’s amazing. I wish the girls an amazing time with Girls Inc. You will definitely flourish, I know. Thank you, Barb, once again for everything that you do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Girls Inc. of York Region is driven to empower young women in our community \u2013 and now they\u2019re able to do so quite literally thanks to a financial infusion from the Ontario Government. The Aurora-based organization celebrated the receipt of a $75,600 grant from the Provincial government on August 13 with Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":36729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/2025-08-21-06.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-9yo","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-04 04:19:02","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36730,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36728\/revisions\/36730"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}