GLOBAL FUNDRAISING GOAL UPDATE We're delighted to announce that we have donation confirmations from six more cities, which brings our total raised so far to $74,848.57 (as of September 16, 2009, from 22 cities). This fantastic total includes $66,750.59 donated to Equality Now and $8,097.98 to other charities. But we're not done yet, so please continue to support CSTS events. We're hoping to top last year's Global Donation of $107,219.15!! We've got more cities on board than ever before, so let's raise the roof for Equality Now!! WHY WE ARE HERE As we draw towards the end of the 2009 season of Can't Stop the Serenity, it's more important than ever to remember the importance of why we are here. Imagine that you are a young girl of twelve years old. Twelve is a magical age, where life is poised to leave childhood behind while reaching out toward the mysteries of women. Dolls sit on shelves but remain dear friends and babysitting becomes something to strive for, to feed the blossoming feminine need to nurture as well as to earn money for little dreams. Yet for Fawziya Abdullah Youssef, a 12-year-old Yemeni girl who should have been a flower girl instead of a child-bride, life ended at this young age – awash in pain and blood. Fawziya bled to death after three days of hard labor, a child forced to become a mother before her time. Child brides are commonplace in Yemen, particularly in areas where tradional conservative beliefs hold sway. More than half of Yemeni girl

Twelve is a magical age, where life is poised to leave childhood behind while reaching out toward the mysteries of women. Dolls sit on shelves but remain dear friends and babysitting becomes something to strive for, to feed the blossoming feminine need to nurture as well as to earn money for little dreams. Yet on September 11th, for Fawziya Abdullah Youssef (a 12-year-old who should have been a flower girl instead of a child-bride) life ended - awash in pain and blood. Fawziya bled to death after three days of hard labor, a child forced to become a mother before her time. For most WOMEN it is a traumatic experience (pain of any kind for anyone is debilitating) but to force a CHILD to suffer through it for THREE days is a devastating commentary of sadness and disbelief. Yet, Fawziya is not the first Yemeni child-bride, nor is she to be the last. Unless something is done now to educate and legislate changes to protect these girls from the same kind of horrors Fawziya suffered through, thousands more will follow in her bloody footsteps. Without a minimum statutory age, there is no way to even begin to punish those responsible for this sick slavery. This is where the hard working efforts of organizations like Equality Now help to make a difference all over the world. Recent reports find that anywhere between 25% to 50% of the females in Yemen are married off before the age of fifteen - giving them the ghastly earned sobriquet of “the brides of death.” Many li

CSTS and Equality Now need your help to do good in the ‘Verse! What if we tell you that there is a way you can help make a difference to raise money for Equality Now and all it would take is maybe a minute of your time?  Sound good?  Well here’s the scoop. There’s a contest for your favorite charity at: http://www.ilovechristiecookies.com/contest/form.asp The link isn’t listed in the drop down menu yet, but with a few more votes it should be up there soon.  So where’s what you need to do. 1.  Click on the drop down menu (“Check to see if your favorite charity is already listed.”) to see if Equality Now is listed.  If it is, click on it and proceed to fill out your information and vote!  (Amanda Sullivan should be the Charity Contact Name) 2.  If it isn’t there, click on the 2nd drop down menu (“Don’t see your charity listed?  Click here add yours.”) and enter in Equality Now.  Fill in the information, use Amanda as the Charity Contact Name and send in your vote. 3.  Tell everyone you know about this and have them go and vote too!  There are 12 prizes in all ranging from first: $10,000, second: $5,000, and 10 prizes of $1,000 each.  There is only one vote per email address (so if you have multiple emails you can use them) The more we pass this on, the better chance we have to raise even more money for Equality Now. Nominations must be submitted on or before October 15, 2009. The winning charities will be announced in No

GUESS WHAT? I have here in my cyber hand something you fine folk have been waiting to read.  No, it’s not a puppy or a shiny sparkling bit of heist (although those things are fine enough in their own regards...) I have here, right here before me... that precious bit o’email from Amanda at Equality Now! What email you ask?  Well for those of you who mighta missed our little missive earlier, it contains two very special names - the names belonging to the shiny winners in part one of the global prize draw... Even I can’t stop the serenity - so now, without any further ado and/or and procrastination of the special shiny announcement - here we go. ::drum roll please:: The winner of the Creation Entertainment Gold Passes is: ✺❥✺ MEGAN MCAFEE-ERSKINE ✺❥✺ of Albuquerque❣ AND The winner of the Browncoat Ball Passes is: ✺❥✺ JOHNNY YARBROUGH ✺❥✺ of Chicago!❣ ✶✳✸✷✵✹✺  CONGRATULATIONS❢  ✺✹✵✷✸✳✶ From all of us here at CSTS central, we say thanks for supporting our awesome sauce cause by supporting your local organizers and whoot for winning!  Be sure to keep checking back because we have more things to share and we’ll also be drawing for the rest of the festive prizes in a couple months. Also, a very special thank you to Amanda Sullivan/Equality Now for agreeing to be our lovely random name/prize puller!  What a team we make and what a way to make a difference! Have a fantabulous La

SHINY!  We’ve sent the following list of lucky first round winners off to our fantabulous friends at Equality Now and at any moment they will be picking the two lucky winners for the Browncoat Ball and Creation Entertainment passes! CREATION ENTERTAINMENT GOLD PASSES Jen Grańa - Boston Cory Seaton - Denver Carl Hewelt - Chicago Craig Dungan - Raleigh Abi Kritzer - Minneapolis Patrick O’Connor - Seattle David West - Pittsburgh Aurora Miracle - Portland Brett Trout - Des Moines Mark Thompson - Vancouver, BC Wendy Scott - Warwick, UK Diana Hall - Nottingham, UK David Hudgins - Arlington Steven Norris - Nashville Tiffany Bell - Melbourne, AUS Jacob Acosta - Dallas Megan McAfee-Erskine - Albuquerque Linda Bourbeau - OC/Irvine Michelle Carlbert - Los Angeles David Bean - San Diego MA Ghaffar - Riverside Lydia Hernandez - Austin Risa Kitaura - San Antonio BROWNCOAT BALL PASSES Dan Morley - New England Erin Card - Denver Johnny Yarbrough - Chicago Amy Preble - Raleigh Grant Johnson - Minneapolis Gary Rawson - Seattle Michele Trader - Pittsburgh Anitra Pavka - Portland Kelly Goergen - Des Moines Laurel Ragen - Vancouver, BC Susan Crean - Warwick, UK Laura Walker - Nottingham, UK Matt Krainik - Arlington Lisa Rish - Nashville Carly Williams - Melbourne, AUS Tracy Yothers - Dallas Chris Laplante - Albuquerque Michelle Evans - OC/Irvine Kate Hopp - Los Angeles Corey Ruhl - San Diego Beth Zorko - Riverside Barbara Slough - Aus

Only two months left for Can't Stop the Serenity 2009! The last cities have signed up and we've grown to 55 cities this year in seven countries. If you've already been to an event this year, we'd love to hear your stories. You can use our Forum or email our Global Communications Team at jen@cantstoptheserenity.com and we'll add them for you. You can also add your photos to our Global Photo Pool at Flickr. And if you haven't yet experienced the fun and excitement of a Can't Stop the Serenity event, there's lots in store in September! For a full listing of events, please click here. UPCOMING EVENTS...