Girls Inc. Launches First-ever Car Parade to Honor our Graduates

“Oh my gosh, they’re here!”

Would you be excited to have a Car Parade show up at your house? Our graduating seniors certainly were! This spring, 25 Girls Inc. girls in our College Access Now! (CAN!) program are graduating from high school and heading to post-secondary education in the Fall. Congratulations to our graduates!

Every year, in celebration of their achievement, we shower our seniors with the essentials they need for college. The majority of our girls are the first in their families to attend college, and the support they receive from Girls Inc. goes a long way to ease the transition. This year, due to shelter-in-place guidelines, we were not able to have our traditional College Shower celebration so we launched the first-ever College Shower Car Parade!

Over two days this month, a caravan of 10 decorated cars arrived at each girl’s home to the sound of car horns, claps, snaps, and even the traditional Graduation March. Staff members presented the girls with a backpack containing a laptop computer, school supplies, self-care items, sunglasses, and a gift card to purchase other college essentials – all donated by generous Girls Inc. of Alameda County supporters and investors. They were also given a handwritten card offering words of wisdom from an individual in our network of supportive adults to create the community of support they deserve.

Over their years at Girls Inc. of Alameda County, our girls have grown in confidence, nurtured dreams for the future, built lifelong networks, and made an impact on the world around them. In the CAN! program, these 25 students researched colleges, chose majors, wrote scholarship and application essays, navigated financial aid and applied to post-secondary education. Our seniors will be attending colleges throughout the country, including University of California Berkeley, University of Southern California, University of California Merced, California State University East Bay, and Spelman College among others.

Close bonds with and emotional support from the staff have contributed to the girls’ success. The Car Parade marked the girls’ achievement in a warm and celebratory way, while aiming to offset some of challenges presented by current shelter-in-place restrictions.

Thank you to our sponsors for making the College Shower Car Parade a huge success: Salesforce, Clif Bar and Company, Benefit Cosmetics, DPR Construction, Walmart, Verizon, Bluescape, and QuayAustralia!

Watch the Car Parade Video Here!