Why EVERYONE Should Be Donating To True Star Magazine

My loyalty to True Star runs deep. Simply because without them, where would I be? At 15 years old, I was a troubled young teen on the verge of destruction in desperate need of a creative outlet. I always knew I loved to write, but my high school didn't have a newspaper or creative writing workshops I could get into.

One day, a friend of mine brought up True Star Magazine, something I had seen lots of kids at school reading from time to time. The friend plugged me with someone who plugged me with Na-Tae Thompson, the co-founder of the organization.

The email she sent me was so warm hearted, and I was excited to try something new.

So that day after school, I hopped on the train and made my way downtown, and the rest as they say is history.....

From the moment I walked into that office, I felt at home. There was an office full of kids and young adults, all working, all creating.

Through True Star, I've met some life long friends, instructors, mentors, and I also developed a passion behind everything I do now. I learned how to be a journalist, how to market, how to promote, how to interview, how to edit, how to network, and how to discover myself, ALL through this great program.

As a young black girl, it is truly inspiring to see two black, college educated women, who are also wives and mothers put so much into an organization. For the last 10 years, DeAnna McLeary-Sherman and Na-Tae Thompson have motivated the city of Chicago in ways that can't even be put into words.

These are two women who truly embody the spirit of giving, they give great advice, they give fantastic support AND their work ethic is untouchable!

I'm not sure about ya'll, but I want to be just like them when I grow up. And hopefully even greater.

So, you ask... why should you help True Star raise $20,000?

The answer is simple:

• They provide realistic and meaningful employment opportunities to youth who normally wouldn't get the chance to do the things we do, unless they went to college and graduated.
• It keeps us out out of TROUBLE! Throughout the years, I've seen the most troubled folks make miraculous changes about themselves as soon as they entered a True Star program
• Not only does True Star help the youth, but they also help the schools, and overall communities around them.

'Tis the season to give.... But when is it ever not?

Click this link to learn more about how you can contribute! http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/on-the-job-training-apprenticeship-programs-for-at-risk-youth and even if you can't contribute monetarily, share this opportunity to give with any and everyone you know.

Happy holidays everyone, and bless you all if you decide to contribute! xoxoxo

-Kween K