A mother-daughter conference aimed at informing youth and their guardians about a number of different topics will be coming to Red Deer next month.

On Feb. 4 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the G.H. Dawe Community Recreation Centre the ‘Power of a Girl’ conference will be held for girls ages 10-13 and their mothers or guardians.

“We really wanted to make it a healthy lifestyle conference to look at aspects that impact everybody, but particularly this age group,” said Sharon Vanin a member of the Soroptimist International (SI) of Central Alberta group.

SI is an international volunteer organization that aims to improve the lives of women and girls locally and worldwide.

“SI is interested in making life better for women and girls. We donate to some of the international projects but our main focus is local.”

For Red Deer this is the first Power of a Girl conference but Vanin said they hope to make it an annual event.

“Not only have we had a lot of interest for the 10 – 13 age group but also a lot of feedback for the next age group of 14 – 17-years-old,” said Vanin.

The conference deals with a number of issues from teasing, feeling down, low self-esteem and eating issues.

Some of the presenters for the conference include local City Councillor Tara Veer, a children’s therapist for mental health, a nutritionist with Alberta Health Services as well as a therapist with drug and alcohol abuse through AHS.

“Our intent was to have people who are experts in these areas talk about the things that really are issues for kids this age.”

To make the event fun and to get mothers, daughters, and guardians up and about, Vanin said they have included a Zumba class during one of the breaks.

“One of our members is really into Zumba so she is going to do a brief class to get the mothers and daughters moving during the break.”

Vanin said it is truly going to be a fun day for moms and girls.

“It’s an opportunity to spend the day together and hear information at the same time.”

The idea behind having the conference for mothers and daughters was to have the mothers learning the same information so they could support in the correct ways and to properly handle issues girls this age might be facing.

“This way mothers and daughters are on the same page and there is someone to support them if they need it.”

Tickets are $10 for mothers but free for daughters. For tickets or other information contact Charlotte at 403-318-0302 or Sharon at 403-314-9603. Sharon can also be emailed at vansha@telusplanet.net.

For more information on Soroptimist International visit www.wcsoroptimist.org.

kpalardy@reddeerexpress.com