Our 11th annual Beards and Braids for Busy Season (BBFBS) campaign has begun!
For more than a decade, our annual BBFBS campaign has successfully raised over $41,000 for various nonprofit organizations, including AdoptAClassroom.org, Canines for Disabled Kids, International Rescue Committee, Move For Hunger, and No Kid Hungry. What initially started as a way to add some fun to the tax busy season, our BBFBS campaign has evolved into a significant annual event that offers crucial support to nonprofit organizations around the world.
This year, GTN is partnering with Malala Fund and contributing to their essential mission: working for a world where every girl can learn and lead. The Malala Fund was founded in 2013 by Malala and Ziauddin Yousafzai to champion every girl’s right to 12 years of free, safe, quality education.
Today, nearly 120 million girls are out of school for various reasons such as poverty, education quality, early marriage, gender-based violence, and/or conflict. Malala Fund invests in local educators and advocates in regions where the most girls are missing out on secondary school. Completing secondary school opens opportunities for girls to make their own life choices, allowing them to reach their fullest potential.
Why invest in girls’ education?
According to Malala Fund, here are the essential reasons everyone should invest in girls’ education.
It's a right. Every child has a right to education. All girls—regardless of income level, social status, race, or cultural background—have a right to learn on equal terms with boys including access to quality teachers, curriculums, and learning materials.
It promotes gender equality. Quality education challenges gender beliefs and discrimination and increases a girl’s ability to choose their own future. When they can fully participate in society, politics, and the economy, educated girls and women reshape gender roles and advocate for their own rights.
It strengthens economies. Educated women provide vital skills and knowledge to the workforce, driving economic growth and innovation. Women with secondary education earn almost twice as much as women with no education. When women earn more, they uplift their families and contribute to national economies.
It supports climate action. Education equips girls with the know-how to help communities adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. In countries that invest in girls’ education, significantly less people die from droughts, floods, and other catastrophic environmental disasters than in countries with lower levels of educated girls.
It builds healthier communities. When girls are educated, communities are healthier and experience less maternal and child deaths. Women with secondary education make better health care decisions for themselves and their families. They are more likely to identify needed improvements to public services in their communities.
How you can help champion every girl’s right to education
With your help, we can make tangible progress towards ensuring every girl has access to 12 years of free, safe, quality education. Your donation to Malala Fund through GTN's BBFBS campaign will directly support efforts to invest in local educators and advocates working in regions where the most girls are being denied their right to secondary schooling.
Donate to Malala Fund today. 100% of the funds raised through GTN’s 11th annual BBFBS campaign goes to Malala Fund and the global communities they serve.
The 2024 BBFBS campaign will run through April 15, 2024, to coincide with the Internal Revenue Service’s tax filing deadline in the United States. All GTN employees, families, and friends are encouraged to participate by growing their beards, braiding their hair, and raising awareness and funds for girls’ education.
Thank you to those who have supported our BBFBS campaigns in the past. With your continued generosity, we can do even more!
