mallorys army charitable foundation

Want to join me in making a difference with my fellow HOME power yoga teacher trainee class? For our community outreach project, we are raising money to benefit Mallory's army charitable foundation, and any donation will help make an impact. Mallory’s Army aims to fight bullying by promoting kindness. Thanks in advance for your contribution to this cause that means so much to each of us. 

Our donation based community class will be held on Saturday, September 12th at 3pm at Theodore Roosevelt Park, 5 Pacific Street, Cranford, NJ. https://www.homepoweryoganj.com/ All proceeds from the class will also be donated to Mallory’s Army charitable foundation. 

More information about Mallory's army charitable foundation: After months of online and offline bullying, Mallory Rose Grossman took her own life. Shortly afterwards her family created a non profit called Mallory's Army Charitable Foundation. Their purpose is to promote kindness by empowering children, educating parents and enriching school programs so this does not happen to another family.  https://mallorysarmy.org

Thanks in advance for your generosity! 

Sincerely,
2020 Teacher Trainees HOME power yoga 

Barbara Evanchik, Jennifer Masella, Cherise Mazur, Geri Stewart, Lindsay Mascali, Benee Meade, Christine Rappa, Sandra Zaki, Cheryl DePinho, Janine Standish, Sara Emil, Kathleen Ryan, Colleen Power, Dana Bartone, Sabrina Vosbikian, Juliana Meddick, Aimee Leibowitz, Sabina Diner, and Josie Cruzalegui. 

"Research from Princeton, Rutgers, and Yale Universities show that when students are the ones to take a stand against bullying- as opposed to adults performing assemblies- it's significantly more impactful. Bullying is an epidemic. It occurs in communities, in schools, even in homes. Over 160,000 kids refuse to go to school each day for fear of being bullied.  1 in 3 students in the U.S. have been bullied in school and most bullying happens in Middle School. The behavior of a bully is often aggressive and includes a difference in power, such as popularity, as well as a repeating act over time." 

In middle school, I have seen this behavior time and time again, especially at lunch.

I always try to be a person who makes everyone feel welcome. While at McGinn Elementary School, I created a Buddy Bench on the playground so kids had a place to go when they felt alone or needed a friend. 

As I was thinking about my Mitzvah Project, I knew I wanted to do something to raise more awareness for this bullying epidemic.

I was inspired by a speech by Dianne Grossman, whose daughter Mallory sadly and tragically took her own life in June 2017 at the age of 12.  Mallory and I were very similar. She was from an NJ suburb, attended a good school, had close friends, was a lover of arts, participated in cheerleading, and was a thoughtful and kind person.

"Over the course of the 2012-2013 school year, 56 New Jersey middle schools that armed their most influential students with social media training and various bullying awareness gear, like bright-colored wristbands, saw a 30 percent reduction in student conflict reports."

For my Mitzvah Project, I worked with my friends to create a Bullying Awareness and Prevention video.  You can view it by clicking above

I hope you'll join Mallory's Army and live a bracelet kind of life: where you wear a bracelet on your wrist to remind you to be an upstander and not a bystander.  Please click "Donate Now" and buy some bracelets to proudly wear and share a reminder to be kind.  For a gift of $10, you will receive 3 bracelets: one for you and two to share and pass on others. If you don't want/need bracelets and would just like to make a donation to Mallory's Army, you can click "Donate Now" and do that too!

I want to thank All Saints' Church for using their space to shoot the video.  I want to thank my mom, dad, sister, friends, and extended family in supporting me in my efforts to blue out bullying.  Special thanks to my friends who helped with this project: Katie Echols, Mackenzie Crimmins, Abby Noriega, Jane Harrison, Kourtney Most, Charlotte Middleton, Ashley Sekiya, Maddie Beauregard, Grace Sweeney, Olvia Gomez, and David Gomez.  Last but not least, thank you to Mallory and Dianne for inspiring me to fight. I love you all!

Love,
Kayla
xoxo