Vols for Women's Worth

   Group Member: Mary Ella Cook  Hello! My name is Mary Ella Cook and I am part of Vols Put a Hand Up for Women's Worth! I have truly enjoyed working with this group and the Hand Up for Women nonprofit. It has opened my eyes to how fortunate I am to have people that support me. It has been a great experience supporting women in need and making a difference in our community.  My Grade School Support System: When I was very young, my family and I moved from south Mississippi to Nashville, Tennessee. We moved about 8 hours away from all of my family and friends to a city that I did not know. It was hard at first to find my place but I had to surround myself with people that supported me and always had my back. Coming from a far place made it more difficult to make friends considering these people had been friends since they were in pre-k. I felt like I had a late start. I finally joined my cheer team and I knew I could lean on and grow with them. All throughout middle s...

Our Campaign is Coming to a Close Soon… With our campaign coming to a close in just a few days, we would like to reflect on this experience and thank everyone who contributed. We have enjoyed every second of raising funds for such a great cause and helping local women learn how to live a successful life. We would like to reflect on our campaign and this experience overall for our final blog post.   Touring the Hand Up for Women Property Before our campaign launched, we had the opportunity to tour the Hand Up for Women property. We met some of the wonderful women who work so closely with this program. We enjoyed getting to tour the property where all of the women in their program come together twice a week for their group classes. We also got to hear about their plans to expand and improve their property, so that women in the program can have the opportunity to live there. We are so thankful for the experience to tour the property and meet some of the women involved with their progr...

                                                                   Group Member: Zac Johnson     Hi, my name is Zac Johnson and I am a sophomore here at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. I, like Lauren, have lived in Knoxville my whole life and I am glad to be part of Vols for Women's Worth raising funds for Hand Up for Women. My hobbies include weightlifting, hiking, church, and reading - all of which have something in common - each have various communities that I am invested in that keep me enjoying those hobbies.       I n fact pictured above is me on top of Mount LeConte, with my friends cropped out, enjoying nature with company. I had a 6 hour shift later that day and given the hike is about 11 miles long without my friends I am not sure I could have made...

  Vols Put a Hand Up for Women: We Are Vols for Women’s Worth! Our Purpose We are “Vols for Women’s Worth,” a group of University of Tennessee students who are crowdfunding for Hand Up for Women. We are raising funds for the twelve women who are currently a part of Hand Up for Women’s program. This program gives women the opportunity to learn how to live life again, by teaching them basic life skills they may not know and connecting them with other women in similar situations to them. It costs $8000 for each woman to go through the program, and they pay nothing. We need your help raising money for these amazing twelve women! A Look Into Hand Up for Women’s Program Their program gives women the opportunity to press the restart button and learn how to live life again after difficult situations like abuse, addiction, homelessness, etc. They also each have a mentor that helps them throughout their time in the program. They answer any questions and encourage them along the way. The wome...

  Group Member: Lauren Turner Hello! My name is Lauren Turner and I am a part of Vols for Women’s Worth! I am a sophomore here at the University of Tennessee. I was born and raised here in Knoxville, so I have been a vol fan my whole life! I love being a part of this group because I know that I am helping so many women in my area get back on their feet and learn how to live life again. This is such a great opportunity!  My Middle School and High School-Small Group Experience Growing up, I have participated in several different small groups with other girls that are similar in age to me. Going to these groups has been a part of my weekly routine since I was eleven years old. I grew up attending and still go to Two Rivers Church, which is located in Lenoir City. Two Rivers has middle school and high school ministries that meet every week on Wednesday nights. At each weekly meeting, we would meet with our small groups for about 45 minutes at a time. This allowed me to connect wit...

  Order For a Cause! A percentage night that led to connections and strong bonds between women! Percentage Night and Raising Canes Overview Our group hosted our first percentage night at Raising Canes on October 29th! This was such a great opportunity for us to share about our campaign and meet so many people who were excited to help. Raising Canes is an on-campus restaurant that is very popular amongst many students. They are known for their delicious chicken tenders, fries and toast! We knew this would be a great place to host a percentage night because of the large number of students that go there each night. They are definitely one of the busiest dining options here.  How Did the Percentage Night Work? Our campaign received 15% of the cost from each order if Hand Up for Women was mentioned. We sat by the line of people waiting to order and passed out flyers for our campaign. These flyers said “Order for a Cause: Help local women get back on their feet and hit the restart...