STAR Foundation is an organization that's necessary and very helpful in educating our young women about appreciating their bodies and making sure that they make responsible, well informed decisions regarding having sex at a young age. Jennifer Payne works tirelessly to ensure they young women know the types of diseases there are out there and how to make sure they don't end up being a statistic of bad sexual choices. The STAR Foundation uses celebrity influences with real, straight to the point material to get the message out there. I'd say that this is definitely an organization that's needed. With the right amount of funding the STAR Foundation could leave a life long impact on young women across the world.
I worked with the STAR Foundation for a couple of events before joining the board of directors. The first event was hosted by Westchester High School where over 100 students received a candid dialogue with celebrities and speakers, including alumnus Nia Long, about HIV/AIDS awareness and their personal life experiences in valuing themselves and others. The students made pledges to abstain and/or be safe when engaging in sexual activities. The second event drew a larger crowd of ladies after the excitement of the first event was announced. A new line up of speakers shared their stories and discussed topics relating to the media and its influence on sex. The girls were very fortunate to have alumnus Regina King speak giving the students something they could relate to in their own lives. The students were extremely excited and cherished the memorable moments. STAR began working with a small group of middle school students at Marina Del Rey with mentoring and having discussions about preparing for high school. I work with STAR in finding school locations that can utilize the services for building self-esteem and awareness for our female students.