summer.

On Tuesday, I will be officially done with sophomore year in high school. I cannot believe that at all, as I feel like only yesterday I was a freshman, walking into the gym on the very first day of school. I was terrified that day, as I had no clue what Ursuline High School would be like. I didn't know if I would fit in, make any friends, be able to handle the classes, like the teachers, etc. After a rocky first semester, I found that Ursuline High School was everything that I could have ever hoped for in a high school. The teachers are amazingly supportive; they always try to make sure that every student succeeds in what she wants to do, providing guidance at every step of the way. Many teachers and faculty members have gone out of their way to help me with Threads for Teens. I would like to give a huge thank you to Ms. Greaney, the CBSL Ursuline girls coordinator. She has been helping me with Threads for Teens since the very, very beginning, giving me advice on what to do whenever I have been stuck. Ms. Carver, the principal of UHS, is another person that I would like to give a huge thank you. She has been extremely supportive. Ms. Hardy, I also would like to thank you for helping me out with all of the tax forms. Those forms have contributed hugely to the success of Threads for Teens. Other people at my school that I would like to thank are as follows: Ms. Martin, Mr. Kamplain, Ms. Bailey, Ms. Niendorf, Ms. Paul, Ms. Barry, Ms. Kelly, and Ms. Ormond. THANK YOU!

Ms. Carver, Me, Ms. Greaney

The girls at my school are caring, compassionate, and kind. My class has so many wonderful, bright girls that are always willing to help. I know this to be true, as more than 32% (25 girls) of the girls in my class have helped Threads for Teens in some form or another. So, from to all of those volunteers, THANK YOU! I know that I will never be short on volunteers because of these wonderful girls from my school. At the shop, my friends have helped me out with many different tasks including: fixing a table, making motivational signs, finding ingenious ways to organize items, giving fashion advice to girls that have come into the shop, and really doing any task that I find needs to be done, without complaint. Here are some pictures of what girls from my school have done to help the shop:

Now this table took a lot of time to do (many hours)! It started with cutting out clippings from magazines, placing them, the modge-podging them onto the table. Many girls helped with this project.

Yes, this is a fridge. I never knew what to do with it until several girls had the idea to put merchandise in it!

Here are many of my friends that have helped Threads for Teens. :)

Without the help of volunteers, many of these things would never have been done!

Now, you may or may not know this, but on tuesday at 12:00pm PST, Ursuline High School will be closing its doors to private, all-girls, Catholic education indefinitely. This saddens me immensely to know that I will not be seeing many of the familiar faces next year when I will be at Cardinal Newman High School. I will miss so many teachers, administration, and staff next year. I did not mention all the names of people that have helped me personally in this blog post, but I want you (the reader) to know that there are many other incredible people that are a part of Ursuline that have helped me personally, and many other students in so many different ways. Speaking for fellow students and myself, THANK YOU.

Back to Threads for Teens news, I would like to thank Buckle for sending a box of assorted clothing items! Thank you, all of it was needed very much. I know that girls will be insanely excited to see the new items that you have sent. :)

One of my favorite things about the physical location of the boutique is the fitting room. When the shop was being set-up, creativity had to be used to figure out where girls would try on clothes. The space that Threads for Teens is in right now used to be a deli. In the deli was a large fridge. This fridge is now the dressing room. Don't worry, we don't keep it too cold ;)!

I need to get back to studying for finals :/, but I will be doing a lot of Threads for Teens stuff this summer, including an open house. I know I said by this time I would have information on it, but we are still in the final stages of planning it. I promise that information will come soon.

Lots of Love!

Allyson Ahlstrom

Soroptimist International Founder Region Conference Brunch

Hi everyone! I hope all is well.

Yesterday, I had the honor of being able to attend the the Soroptimist International Founder Region Conference Brunch at the Doubletree Inn in Rohnert Park. It was a fabulous time and I would like to thank everyone involved in Soroptimist for being so kind and accommodating.

Now, the reason I was there was because several weeks ago I attended a luncheon for winning the Violet Richardson Award from the Soroptimist International of Santa Rosa. I talk about it in THIS post. For a refresher, below is a description of the award from the website.

"The Violet Richardson Award honors young women between the ages of 14 and 17 for volunteer action such as fighting drugs, crime and violence, cleaning up the environment and working to end discrimination and poverty."

The award process begins on the local level. I applied for the local award way back in december and won. My local club is the santa rosa. Now this award has the potential to go all the way to the national level. Since I won the local award, I was submitted to win the district award. All of the local winners were submitted to the district. In my district, (district IV), there are ten clubs. A couple of weeks ago, right before I was to go the the luncheon for being the local winner, I received a letter in the mail saying that I was the district winner as well! I was very shocked and honored. Because I won district, I was invited to go to the Awards brunch at the Doubletree in Rohnert Park, yesterday (May 1st).

The next level up from the district level is the regional level. There are six districts in the region that Santa Rosa is a part of. Therefore, there were five other AMAZING girls that had also won the Violet Richardson Award at the district level in attendance at the brunch. All six of us were asked to speak for two minutes on what we had done. Below is a picture of me speaking at the brunch.

After each of us had talked in front of the four hundred people in attendance, we were each handed a very nice gift-bag full of fun little goodies, and a $250 check! I totally had no idea about that, which was amazing!!! Anyway, after each of us had spoken, they announced that of the six of us district winners, one would be winning $2000 more, $1000 for the charity of our choice, and the other $1000 for the winner personally. This girl would win at the regional level and be eligible to compete for the national award.

I was already ecstatic to be attending the breakfast, and honestly did not think that I would win. All of the other girls had told their stories, all so incredibly diverse and amazing. Then, the winner was being announced. "The winner of the $2000 is district.......................4, ALLYSON AHLSTROM!" My jaw literally dropped. I had no clue that I was going to win! I am shocked, honored, and so thankful to Soroptimist for giving me this opportunity. Threads for Teens will benefit immensely from this wonderful donation. THANK YOU!

Here are several pictures from the event.

With my certificate!

By the lovely flag

My nana!

My daddy!

Now, last years regional winner was a girl named Sarah Williams from Pleasanton, CA. She started a blanket project called "A Blanket of Their Own". She collects handmade "tie" blankets and donates them to foster children. Her project will soon be in all fifty states and is already in several different countries. What she has accomplished is incredible. HERE is a news article and video explaining what she does/has done. This is a great cause that anyone can participate in and make a huge difference in a young foster child's life. Below is a picture of Sarah and me at the awards brunch.

I am so blessed to have been able to attend this event and meet so many amazing women. Once again, thank you Soroptimist International! I truly appreciate everything that you have done for Threads for Teens.

Lastly, some updates about what is going on with Threads for Teens itself. I am currently working on setting up a scholarship fund sponsored by Threads for Teens. This has been very exciting. A part of Threads for Teens mission statements says that it wants to focus on education, this is bringing in a huge part of that mission!

Another new element that is being planned are educational seminars that will take place in the fall and winter of this year, and the spring of next year. Topics will vary. Some include panels on Drug & Alcohol Abuse, and Human Trafficking. There were will also be lighter topics that relate to personal grooming, college, and cooking. This is also something that I am thrilled to be starting. It has always been my personal goal to help educate teens, tweens, children, and really anyone who will listen on current problems, and other fun things. Please watch out for an official announcement about this.

The number one question that I am asked about Threads for Teens is, "When can I come visit the boutique?" Well, Hours are by appointment only. However, I would love to have as many people as possible come into the shop and really get a feel for what it is all about. Therefore, an open house is being planned to bring people in to see what Threads for Teens is like. There will be appetizers, a presentation, and a q&a session. This event will be a lot of fun! The date is not set yet, however it will definitely be sometime in June. When I have all of the details finalized, they will be posted here on the blog, the Facebook, and the Twitter. This will be no later than friday the 13th.

***Make sure to LIKE us on Facebook and FOLLOW us on Twitter!

One last thing, I am looking for donations from local hair and nail salons of gift certificates for girls that come into the shop. All donations will be tax deductible. Please send me an email if you or someone you know is interested! Thank you. allysonahlstrom@gmail.com

Now, I apologize for this EXTREMELY long post. Thank you for reading!

I will update very soon!

Allyson Ahlstrom

Red Cross Real Hero Breakfest

This past Wednesday, I attended the Red Cross Real Heroes breakfast at the Doubletree in Rohnert Park. I was honored, along with ten other extraordinary people, in the Good Samaritan - Youth category. The experience was tremendous. I am honored to have been a part of the experience.

I would like to give special thanks to Emily Buller for making everything extremely efficient and easy. I would also like to thank everyone else at the Red Cross that helped to put on this wonderful time. Also, congratulations to all of the other winners. Click HERE to read an article from the Press Democrat.

Besides this award, many exciting things have been happening with Threads for Teens. Recently, American Eagle Outfitters, Buckle, BellaDawn.com, Claire's, and Torrid have sent amazing donations. Thank you so much!

***If you know a girl that would be a good candidate to come into the boutique, please check out www.threadsforteens.com for information on how to nominate a deserving girl.

I will update later with pictures from the event!

xoxo

Allyson Ahlstrom

Thank you Soroptimist International of Santa Rosa!

Last thursday, I went to an award luncheon put on by Soroptimist International of Santa Rosa, honoring females with several different awards. The three awards are as follows:

Ruby Award

HONORING

Donna Zapata

Latina-Connection Consulting

Women’s Opportunity Award

HONORING

Melanie Sypnicki

Santa Rosa Junior College

Violet Richardson Award

HONORING

Allyson Ahlstrom

Threads for Teens - Ursuline High School

I won the Violet Richardson Award. I am extremely thankful and honored to have won. Thank you Soroptimist International of Santa Rosa!

I will now be attending the district level award ceremony in May which will be very exciting.

Here are some pictures:

My dad, me, my mom

My grandpa Gus, me, my Auntie Abbie, my nana

My principal Ms. Carver, me, my teacher Ms. Greaney

Me, Malia Anderson (President of Soroptimist International Santa Rosa), Donna Zapata (Winner of the Ruby Award), Melanie Sypnicki (Winner of Women's Opportunity Award).

Allyson Ahlstrom

.

Yesterday, my friends Katie and Kelsey accompanied me to the boutique to do some inventory! It was a lot of fun, but there is still so much work to do. Claire's, Torrid, & American Eagle all sent a bunch of items to be put in the shop. Currently, I am looking for more girls to come into the shop, so if you know someone that works in social services, please refer them to the website. www.threadsforteens.com. Here are some pictures from yesterday!

See ya soon!

Allyson Ahlstrom

New donations are rolling in....

Here is a picture of boxes received filled with clothing, accessories, shoes, etc. to go to the shop tomorrow! Super exciting! The boxes are from Torrid, Claire's and Miss Me! Stay tuned for more updates.

Allyson Ahlstrom

Terrible.

I'm absolutely terrible at blogging. I've had many blogs before this one, and they always end up the same. Slowly, posting slips and slips until it is essentially non-existent. Fortunately, those blogs really didn't have readers, so I never felt bad about not posting. However, with this blog, I do feel terrible as I know that I definitely have readers that want to know what's going on with Threads for Teens. One of my New Years Resolutions is to update this blog more. I will do it!

First off, I hope everybody has been well since the last time I updated. Second off, a lot of CRAZY things have been happening. I cannot wait to announce them officially on the blog. I promise, readers, you guys will be the first to know. In general news, lately I have been sending out a ton a letters in hopes of getting new donors for Threads for Teens. As of today, I know that the batch of about 50 I sent was successful. I'm pretty sure that Threads has a new donor! This place is great. I will give more news on that as more comes available to me.

Secondly, I entered en essay contest called "The Santa Rosa Violet Richardson Soroptimist Award" and won! I just got the letter in the mail. What this consists of is a $250 donation to Threads and I get to go to a luncheon in march. Also, my entry will be forwarded on to the regional level. That really made my day, along with a couple of other Threads for Teens related happenings. Definitely, this new year has brought in a lot of good.

Lastly, I have been reading a really good book lately called "Goals" by Brian Tracy. It has really helped me to put pin-point what I want to accomplish with my life and how to achieve those goals. The main thing that I have learned is to write down your goals! If you do that, you are much more likely to achieve them.

Well, I will blog soon!
www.twitter.com/threadsforteens

-Allyson Ahlstrom :)