American Girl, the company known for the collection of popular dolls bearing the name, has kicked off the Shine On Now campaign, encouraging young girls to make a difference in their communities.
Girls can sign up online to participate by becoming 'American Girl Ambassadors' and download free toolkits with ideas of how they can get involved. The toolkits suggest activities that improve local communities, like organizing a park cleanup, volunteering at a children's hospital or selling cookies to raise money for charity. Girls are also encouraged to invite friends, family and neighbors to join the 'Shine On Now' campaign.
On July 13, girls across the country will log on and record their activities -- for each charitable endeavor, they receive a star. American Girl will be donating $1 for each star a girl earns -- up to $1 million worth of clothes, dolls, books and cash.
The donations will benefit four nonprofit organizations that help children and animals across the United States and around the world: National Wildlife Federation, Save the Children, Kids In Distressed Situations, National Association of Children's Hospitals and Related Institutions.