C: Is for the giving of Children

Fashion week is about to start and before it does I'd like to focus on a A 10-year-old entrepreneur who is making a difference. We all have to wear clothes, so why not fashion that gives back. Dasia Dawson has no training, she's only 10 and has a book of sketches filled with designs for jeans, jewelry and other clothing. A few years ago she had an idea to take her nickname "Tutu" and turn it into something her peers can learn from. Recently she launched a jewelry line called TUTU Luv Me, which she hopes to expand into a full clothing line later this year. Tutu stands for teach you, teach us, teaching young girls how to love themselves. "You're teaching people how to love themselves. Like I won't have sex because I love me. I will eat right because I love me and it goes on and on". "The larger influence is not just about the apparel it's about the meaning behind it, it's about the upliftment of young girls and even boys," Marcus Dawson, Dasia's father. In just a short eight months of producing the "apparel with meaning" as they call it, they've sold hundreds of Tutu jewels and have even given a portion of the profit to Dawson's elementary school. Starting February 22 Dasia and her family plan to hold monthly workshops at the Kennedy Center that will feature positive role models for girls. The family plans to produce T-shirts this summer that will bear the brand name on the front and TUTU Luv Me slogans — “Do good in school because I Luv Me” or “No drugs because I Luv Me,” for instance — on the back. It's kind of a way of teaching them, without teaching them”. Dasia said she got the design bug from her father, who founded Motoco Inc., a clothing line for men and women. She has designed three pieces of jewelry so far: a bracelet with a heart charm, a necklace with a heart charm and a dog-tag style necklace, also with a charm. The charms are filled with lip gloss. The TUTU campaign is explained on the jewelry boxes. The items sell for $22 each. Dasia's father is currently in negotiations to have the items sold at area Target stores. The items will soon be available online. A Web site, www.tutuluvme.com, and hope to have blogs where young girls can discuss various topics. It doesn't matter what your age is. Anyone can make a difference and that is a F.A.C.T.