You should come!

Circus news must wait! I can delay no longer in sharing my excitement about an upcoming event that I'm lucky to be involved with: The GEMS 10th Birthday Party benefit!

GEMS is Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, which frankly sounds a bit tame when you consider what they do: "empower young women, ages 12-21, who have experienced sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and develop to their full potential." That's from their mission statement, so no, I didn't make it up. Ages 12-21. 12. And they are right here in NYC. Not Bangkok, not Mexico City, here.

It's hard to write about it without getting too worked up. Some of you know that I helped with another GEMS benefit at the beginning of the year, which was a screening of the Showtime documentary about GEMS, Very Young Girls. It was extremely difficult to watch, but extremely eye-opening, and - like a good cause should be (not to mention a good documentary) - hopeful.

Which is why I'm on board for another event, especially one that's also a celebration! 10 years of doing what GEMS does deserves a hearty party, so this one's going to have a DJ and cupcakes, as well as readings from GEMS founder Rachel Lloyd, organizer Janice Erlbaum (who in addition to being my favorite author introduced me to GEMS in the first place) and some of the girls themselves.

You should come. Really.