“font-family: Verdana; line-height: 13px;”>“My father was a minister, and the women in my church put together a trunk with all of these items that I wouldn’t have had sense enough to fill it with,” said Chicago-based R&B/soul singer Terisa Griffin.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“It let me know that somebody loved me and reminded me to love myself. And I’m hoping that that’s what we are letting the kids know with these events.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Griffin
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>stopped in St. Louis for a simple, small-scale promotional tour in St. Louis four years ago to create buzz for her debut CD
“mso-bidi-font-style: normal;”>My Naked Soul maintained a special relationship with the city by equipping nearly 200 area incoming college freshmen with dorm room essentials as one of the venues for her multi-city Better Love Yourself Foundation’s annual Trunk events.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“I fell in love with St. Louis – the food and the people,” Griffin admitted. “They get my music and my Southern style. And St. Louis is one of the places where kids need a lot of assistance and don’t always get the assistance that they need. It’s heartbreaking, heart-wrenching and it’s more than a notion.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>On Sunday she returns for a special five-year anniversary of the Trunk event on a tour that kicked off in Cleveland last Sunday, will continue in Memphis and Chicago, then conclude in the singer’s hometown of Monroe, La.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Years after leaving home – when Griffin stepped out on faith to follow her passion for music – her trunk traveled with her. She still keeps it as a constant reminder of those who cared enough to see her off with the ultimate care package.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“When I left for college, I had no idea what to expect,” Griffin said. “But because of my trunk, I knew I was blessed and I wanted to give someone else that blessing.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>That feeling became the anchor for Griffin’s foundation – which promotes self-love and self-esteem and encourages positive life choices – and the initiative to impact young people who have taken the first step to success by choosing to attend college.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>For 2011, more than three dozen young people in St. Louis will begin their chapter in higher learning with a lesson in love from Griffin through workshops, family fellowship and a soul food dinner. She will bid them farewell with a serenade as they leave with a trunk full of goodies that include irons, laundry detergent, towels an alarm clock and other must-haves.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Since she officially kicked off her Trunk tours five years ago, nearly 1,000 incoming college students have been blessed by Griffin’s organization.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“To a child who doesn’t have anything, it means the world,” Griffin said. “And when those mothers put it together for me, I needed it. When you walk away, your parents have done everything possible to get you out the door and it’s like, ‘I forgot pillows. What about the towels?’”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Verdana;”> Symbolism of the trunk
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Gabrielle
Fowler was one of those parents. She first attended a Better Love
Yourself Trunk event with her niece Candis Johnson – a trunk
recipient who was headed to Alabama A&M
University.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Fowler said, “I love what is in the trunk and the symbolism of the trunk itself: where you’re going and your future and how you were able to get started on your educational career. That concept is just fantastic.”
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The next
year, Fowler’s daughter Tatum signed up and was awarded a trunk
before heading off to Alabama as well to attend Oakwood
University.
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“Once they get the scholarship, the Pell grant, what about the pillow or the towel and the things that people don’t think about when they are trying to pay for college?” Fowler said. “Anyone who has had a child going to college in this economy could not miss the benefits of an opportunity such as this.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Since being introduced to the foundation in 2008, Fowler and her husband felt led to become one of its volunteers and to encourage others to help the St. Louis leg of the Trunk tour remain successful. She says her daughter and niece still have their trunks and talk about the Better Love Yourself Foundation whenever they get the chance. As a matter of fact, Fowler’s daughter will be returning home to speak to the 2011 recipients on Sunday.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“The trunk is just a portion of it,” Fowler said. “There are seminars. She feeds them, gives them a concert and makes them feel special for an entire day. That says a lot – it speaks volumes.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>The process of doing so hasn’t been easy. Griffin says that she received an overwhelming amount of applications this year and had to turn down several students because there weren’t enough trunks to go around.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“Not being able to give every kid a trunk tore my heart apart this year,” Griffin said.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>Griffin
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>has been working on giving back while relentlessly grinding to make a name for herself as a singer since the moderate radio success of her debut single “Wonderful” in 2007.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“What if tomorrow is my last day? What if this next was my last breath, and my music blows up after I’ve gone?” Griffin said. “I’ve got to be about my father’s business. What if this is my blow up, and by waiting I passed up the opportunity to bless the next president of Sony Records? You know, these record label presidents are getting younger every day.”
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>This year’s event has special significance because Griffin now has help from college graduates from schools such as Spelman, Morehouse and the University of Illinois whom she helped back when they were starting their journeys as college students.
“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>“If I never get any bigger than I am, it feels amazing and it is a blessing to do what I’ve been doing,” Griffin said. “And I’m more blessed than the kids are, because I get to be a part of it.”
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“font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Verdana;”>St. Louis’ Better Love Yourself Trunk Event will take place at 4 p.m. this Sunday (July 17) at the YWCA’s Phyllis Wheatley Heritage Center (2711 Locust). It will feature food, workshops and a musical performance from BYL founder Terisa Griffin at 6 p.m.
“mso-spacerun: yes;”> http://www.betterloveyourself.com.
