Enriching young women with positive formative experiences that replace obstacles with opportunities.
What We Do
Experience
Opportunities to explore new things help girls to develop a sense of self as well as discover their gifts and talents.
Enrich
Structured routine, regular academic assistance, and a trusted advocate create a path to personal fulfillment.
Empower
Developing responsibility and life skills create confidence, which leads to better choices and a brighter future.
Donate
Donors and supporters help foster young women by enabling GirlUp GVL to provide after-school programs, academic support, transportation, field trips, and other programs
Volunteer
The support of our volunteers inspires the girls to discover their gifts, explore their talents and learn new skills, all while surrounded by love and encouragement.
GirlUp GVL on Instagram
“I didn’t even know that was a career option.” Our girls have taken what they learned about themselves through their personality assessments and researched some careers they may be good at. She discovered being a social worker is an area of interest. We love seeing the girls find ways to discover more of who they are, learn more about the world around them, and dream about the possibilities of the future 💕
Some snapshots from this morning! We’re so proud of these girls spending their day off volunteering with @unitedway and @palmettopridekscb at the MLK Service day! There is so much that could be said about this holiday, but we are so thankful these girls see the value of serving and improving their community, a value held near by the late Martin Luther King Jr. While picking up litter is not the most glamorous job, the girls worked graciously and had fun along the way! #endlitteringhere #mlkdayofservice
“Make smart decisions and be yourself.” “I learned how to respect others.” “How to make decisions for myself.” “How to do public speeches.”
These are a few of the things some of our middle school crew said they learned last semester at #GirlUpGVL. These girls SHOW UP and we are excited for the new year with them 💕
Our crew is back together and getting ready for the new year! We can’t wait for students to join us next week 💕
This photo was taken @pmacgvl birthday party! Along with finalizing all the many details and planning that goes into programming, we will also have another opportunity to collaborate with them in training this week! We are so thankful to be able to share resources and work together for our greater common mission with like organizations such as these!
Also - not pictured, RIA!!
We are so grateful for this year - all the learning, growing, connecting, experiences. It’s been a full year - the good, sad, hard, joyful, and all the in between. So many of YOU have been a part of our year and encouraged us along the way. THANK YOU! We may be biased - but we have the pleasure of working with THE BEST girls and we are honored to do life with them. Looking forward to all the next year brings.
Get ready for an extra sweet (😉) community partner shoutout! We know everyone was thrilled when @jenisicecreams came to Greenville, but we may have to claim the title for most excited! Since even before their shop opened they have been intentional about their partnership with us. They have supported us in a very wrap around way, allowing students to come in for job shadowing, coming into our space to help teach students interviewing skills, facilitating fundraising events, and (one of our favorite ways) providing ice cream for some of our events! 🍦@jenisicecreams is the easiest business to support because not only do they make DELICIOUS ice cream, they also make an impact on their community. So consider this your sign to treat yourself to some yummy Jeni’s Ice Cream today! 💕
MERRY CHRISTMAS ❤️
Got as close to a whole-group photo as we could at our annual Christmas party. The evening was filled with love and laughter as we played Christmas charades, exchanged secret Santa gifts (thank you to @aubnana for making this possible!) and of course dressed in our matching Christmas pajamas (another GirlUp GVL tradition). We hope that for everyone who celebrates this day is full of the love of friends and family! ❤️
Going through the list of our community partners has truly reminded us just how blessed we are to have so many wonderful people coming alongside us and supporting our mission. One partner that has been consistent the last two years is @clemsonpanhellenic 💕 They have supported us through providing meals, fundraising, volunteering to help students with homework, facilitating activities for our parties, and truly helping filling in any gaps we may have. This year they also created an opportunity for one of our students to judge the Clemson Panhellenic Dance Battle, where the proceeds were going to GirlUp GVL. This was such a fun and unique experience for this student, and we also we’re able to bring other students to watch. We’re definitely big Tiger 🐯 fans over here and we’re looking forward to future years of partnership! 💕
One partner we have added this year that we are so thankful for is @communitiesinschools 💕 This semester we have been meeting with students @bereahighschool for a GrowU Leadership Group. We have been working through the CASEL framework and talking about our identity, values, and self-management. Last Friday we had a Christmas Party to rap up the first semester of our group and recap all we have learned. This group has been such a joy and these girls continually blow us away with their energy, insight, and eagerness to connect with each other. We are so thankful to Communities in Schools for making this group possible, and we are looking forward to getting back to it next semester! 💕
In the incredible list of community partners we want to highlight this holiday season the next partner we are so excited to shout out is @marleylilly 💕 This photo is from the Fashion Week they hosted last spring where they created the opportunity for the girls to spend a whole week coming into their facility and learn about all the different aspects of fashion design, merchandising, and advertising and culminated this week in a Fashion Show! While this event was INCREDIBLE, their support has extended far beyond this event. They have partnered with us by hosting an intern last summer as a part of our GrowU Summer Program, and committing to hosting future interns, and also supporting our Craft Store and other endeavors. As you are doing your Christmas we would urge you to think about shopping at businesses like @marleylilly who are intentional about supporting their communities!