Among all of the college supplies 18-year-old Michelle Loredo received at the Girls Inc. of Tarrant County College Shower, one item stands out in her mind.
“It’s going to sound crazy, but my favorite thing was my Snoopy umbrella because I love Snoopy,” she said with a laugh.
Loredo was one of 28 girls who received gifts as part of the July event held to celebrate the young women’s success and provide them with items they will need for college.
Girls Inc., a nonprofit in the United States and Canada, offers programs and mentorship to support girls’ empowerment and self-actualization. Loredo became involved in the Tarrant County chapter during her senior year of high school after hearing about the organization from a friend who was a participant.
Community sponsors donated the school and dorm supplies. Every girl also received a laptop from Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages, a regional bottling company.
Loredo, a graduate of Fort Worth ISD’s Eastern Hills High School, will attend Tarrant County College in the fall to study accounting. She plans to eventually transfer to Texas Christian University to earn a bachelor’s degree.
BNSF Railway sponsored Loredo. JennieAnn Blair, audit director for BNSF, said she coordinates the railway’s participation in the shower. BNSF first became involved with Girls Inc. in 2016.
Blair attended the shower and met Lordeo and her parents.
“That’s probably my favorite part, not just the students but their parents, seeing the excitement and joy on their faces of kind of going through the celebration with these recently graduated seniors,” Blair said.
Valerie Salter, director of donor engagement for Girls Inc., said sponsors choose their recipients from biographies given to them about the participating girls at a kickoff event. Some choose a recipient because of a connection to the school the girl will attend or her chosen field of study.
Loredo stood out to Blair because of her interest in the accounting field, the audit director said.
“For me, being an (auditor), that’s always really exciting,” Blair said. “I really love to see especially women going into those harder accounting financial roles.”
Girls Inc. helps shower participants write a wishlist before the event, including first-generation students who may not be familiar with what a college student needs, Salter said. She added that sponsors sometimes even go beyond the list.
“They just go overboard many times in making sure that the girls are just equipped, and we refer to it as leveling the playing field so our girls arrive on campus prepared with all the dorm essentials and school supplies if they are living local,” Salter said. “All they have to do is just focus on their studies.”
Mackenzie Shores, 18, will be attending Texas Christian University in the fall to study nursing. She received a rug, cleaning supplies, bedding, clothes hangers, school supplies and a clear bag to take to sporting events from the school as her sponsor.
“It was a really amazing event,” Shores said. “It was really nice to see all the people, all the support.”
Loredo echoed this sentiment.
“I’m the first generation going to college, so I think that really helped me, and that would probably have helped other girls, being able to be part of College Shower and being able to go to college,” she said.
Tarrant County College enrolled 8,381 first-generation students last fall, according to data provided by the school. Salter said many of the girls who participated in the shower will be the first in their families to attend college.
Both Loredo and Shores are excited for the fall. Loredo said she is looking forward to diving into academics the most.
“I’m mostly excited just to attend classes, do my homework, being able to say that I will be graduating from college soon and being able to have a bachelor’s degree soon, too,” she said.
Shores is most excited about getting involved in campus life.
“TCU is really known for their school spirit, so I’m really excited for games and just all the activities that they have,” she said.
McKinnon Rice is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at mckinnon.rice@fortworthreport.org.
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