Since 2009, Kelly Fair has been the fearless founder and leader of Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program. She is bringing us to new heights with the launch of They’re All The Same Girl. She continues to mentor and serve our young ladies. It is to these young pebbles that Kelly writes this message:
Ladies, you’ve trusted me and let me come into your classrooms and your neighborhoods after school was done. You listened to me, and you worked with our team of mentors. And you did all this when you could have been outside hanging with your friends, or eating flaming hots, or watching TV. This is the same stuff I used to like to do when I was your age. But, unlike you, I was too afraid and reluctant to get involved in afterschool activities. I figured I wouldn’t know anybody, and I let my shyness hold me back. But you ladies decided to have faith in me and all of the Polished Pebbles mentors. Thank God you gave us a chance, and made a commitment to grow and learn new things to make your future brighter.
In order to really grow, live our dreams, and have the lifestyles we want, it’s important for us to learn to trust other people. We must break down the perceptions and barriers that we all throw up. Trust me, even grownups put up barriers, and block themselves off from getting to know new people! Keeping people out of our lives is like the stuff we sometimes think in our heads, but don’t always say out loud. For instance, we think things like, “Who does she think she is?” or “This might be boring,” or “If my friends don’t come to this program, then I’m not going,” or “I don’t know what I want to do when I get older, so maybe I won’t fit in with that group.” But, like champions, so many of you didn’t block us out, and you gave Polished Pebbles mentors a chance to share what we knew with you. What you may not know is that we were often learning right along with you.
–They’re All The Same Girl by Kelly Fair, pg. 94-95
Ladies, we want you to take this message to heart. Don’t be afraid to be involved, to be curious, and to be forming friendships. It is these relationships that will carry you through life with happiness and success. To read the rest of Kelly’s message to the young ladies she serves, be sure to check out the Polished Pebbles book, They’re All The Same Girl.
With They’re All The Same Girl Kelly Fair delivers turn-key tactics and shares insight on successfully garnering support from volunteers, schools, civic and corporate partners. The book offers personal testimonies from volunteers, program staff and candid community conversations that will prepare aspiring social entrepreneurs, and your organization, to build a generation of girls on the path to personal and professional success!
Interested in purchasing They’re All the Same Girl? Click here…
