SPP: Why Pretty Preggie gives back

Featured Voices — 28 September 2011

I learned that life was not all about me at a very early age.

A Girl’s Gift finale banquet Mother-Daughter pledge. Our Girls dress in beautiful white gowns and dresses. Mother’s Day 2011 at the Ritz-Charles (Carmel, IN).

By Deshong Perry Smitherman, Secondhand Pretty Preggie

In the eyes of society, I became an adult at the tender age of 16 – when I gave birth to my first child. Though I was her mother, there were so many hands that rocked her cradle, changed her diapers and made sure she had something more than Kool-Aid and chicken nuggets in her belly each night (did I mention I was 16?).

Thanks to the hands in that supportive family unit, I finished high school on time, then went on to graduate from college and graduate school.

Because I had so many people in my corner, I have always felt the need to give back – specifically to young girls. However, the selfish part of me just wouldn’t consistently find the time. That is, until about three years ago when Ericka Gibson and I worked together to build a nonprofit called A Girl’s Gift Inc. It is an amazing organization that mentors Indy-area girls, teaches them how to embark on the road toward entrepreneurship, and exposes them to careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.