Zoe’s Dolls was featured on the front of the front section of Faith & Family in The Miami Times Newspaper, October 7, 2015. Direct link to the article is here.
8-year-old Kicks Off Annual Doll Collection Drive
Zoe Terry is sponsoring, along with her mother, Nakia Bowling, a free community event, Sunday, Oct. 25th from 2-6 p.m. at the Betty T. Ferguson Amphitheater, located at 3000 NW 199th St. in Miami Gardens. The event will be the kick-off to Zoe’s annual doll collection drive.
Business started at 5
When she was just 5 years old, Zoe started her own business, which her mother turned into a nonprofit called Zoe’s Dolls. It all started on her birthday, Oct. 19 and since that year, the drive has started on her
birthday. The drive runs through Dec. 20. During that period, Zoe, who is now 8, asks family members, friends, classmates and the community, to donate new dolls of color.
Zoe’s school, Miami Country Day School, has signed on again, to help Zoe with her doll collection. Miami Country Day’s lower school division, under the leadership of Jenny Knight, will also begin its collection of dolls on Oct. 19, going through Dec. 19.
Those dolls are then distributed to little girls in need across Miami-Dade and Broward counties; Atlanta, Ga; Dallas, Texas; Haiti; and Zambia, Africa, during the holiday season. The collecting period has been going on for four years, and Zoe’s mission is still going strong.
The Kick-off
This year, Zoe wanted to kick-off the doll-collecting season in a big way. During the Oct. 25 event, Zoe will unveil the Living Doll Experience (LDE) and “Girlpreneur.”
Sponsored by What Next Global and The City of Miami Gardens Vice Mayor Felicia Robinson, Robinson made the event a part of her official Paint The City Pink Breast Cancer Initiative.
LDE will feature nine girls from the community who will be transformed into “living dolls” and be encased in life-sized doll boxes. When the show starts, an eclectic burst of music, dancing, and the showing of fashions will be the signal for the powerful, beautiful, and undeniable Black girls, in the doll boxes, “to come to life” and join in the fun.
“Girlepreneur” Program
Also, during the Oct. 25 event, Terry will unveil the Girlpreneur program. Girlpreneur is a pilot program starting January 2016. The program will accept 15 girls between the ages of 8-12 who have an interest in owning their own business. Girlpreneur will work with the girls for six months, using a kid-based business curriculum designed to create the foundation to start their own business. The event, which will be hosted by Radio Station 103.5, The Beat, and Ashli “The Goldie Show” Cleary, will feature live music by young girl DJs from Girls Make Beats. Free food, entertainment, vendors offering free items, and social service agencies will be on site.
Zoe Proclaims
“It’s so important for little girls like me to know that we are beautiful and that we are powerful,” Zoe said. “I’m so excited to be having this event. It’s going to be so awesome,” she added.
Since starting Zoe’s Dolls, Terry has given out more than 1,500 dolls to little girls in need.
What Next Global, a non-profit organization established to support youth development, empowerment and entrepreneurship, partnered with Zoe, to make her dream a reality.