Lunapads Blog

The Girls Rock Camp Alliance is a volunteer-run, non-profit organization where girls 8 to 18 can learn an instrument, form a band, write music, and rock out with other girls. If that’s not rad enough for you, it’s also a place where girls attend self defense, body image, zine making, screen printing, and other self-esteem building workshops led by female mentors.

The very first ever Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls took place in Portland in 2001 — since then, camps have sprung up all over the world, and now more than 700 girls are mentored every year. This year, we’re sending gift certificates and Teen Booklets to the Girls Rock Camp Vancouver campers, and gift packs for the volunteers and organizers, too.

My own experience of being so profoundly influenced by the riot grrrl movement as a teenager makes it easy for me to wax poetic about how heartening and inspiring this all is.. but I’ll let the girls speak for themselves:

If you’re as stoked as we are about the important work that GRCA is doing, there are a number of different ways you can show your support. Here are just a few:

1. Make a tax deductible donation at girlsrockcampvancouver.ca or girlsrockcamp.org. Your donation will help fund the camp’s financial aid program, so that camp is accessible to everyone, regardless of economic barriers.

2. Donate gear! If you’ve got a guitar, bass, drum kit, keyboard, or mic sitting around collecting dust, wouldn’t it be better off in the hands of a kickass girl rockstar? Contact gear@girlsrockcampvancouver.ca to arrange a pickup or drop-off.

3. Donate your girl-positive zines, comics, records, patches, stickers & so on for the campers’ swag bags.

4. Organize a fundraiser and donate the benefits directly to the Girls Rock Camp Alliance organization of your choice.

5. If you’re in Vancouver, go to the final showcase on August 7th at the Rio Theatre, or check out the GRCV bands at Under the Volcano on the 8th. Not in Vancouver? Check out the Girls Rock Camp Alliance to see if there’s a camp in your city, and get involved in GRCA’s 50 Shows in 50 States campaign.

As empowering as it is to learn an instrument and make music with other girls, I think this quote from 15 year old Girls Rock Camp attendee Laura illustrates that camp is about a lot more than that, too.

“I’ve been waiting for so long to finally admit to myself that I’m amazing, and I really am. Everyone is beautiful in their own way, and they get even better when they decide to be powerful, and they decide to rock. So, I rock, I’m powerful, I sing — I’m incredible.”

This entry was posted on Monday, July 19th, 2010 at 10:07 pm by Lisa and is filed under Activism & Politics, Feminism, Girls and Teens. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.