Taylor Swift Inspired A Needham Mother & Daughter To Give Back

Five years ago,  a local teacher and her daughter launched NikaVika SisterHood, a Needham-based female empowerment coaching practice. Now, Gretchen Miller Johnson and her 15 year old daughter Anika Viktoria have been energized to do more. They found motivation in  Taylor Swift's charitable actions during her Eras Tour, Swift quietly donated to local food banks and hunger relief organizations. Gretchen and Anika are launching the 13 Days of Swift-Mas raffle. Undeniably, Taylor Swift inspired this Needham mother & daughter to give back and help food banks, and young women to feel empowered.

Gretchen and her daughter Anika Viktoria started a project last summer called "Feeling 13," a play on Swift's song "22." That was the original fundraising project to help out area food banks. They've now taken it a step further with the 13  days of Swift-mas.

Here's how it works. Everyone who buys a Swiftie Sticker for $13 is entered into a "woman-powered raffle prize." A prize will be given away daily during the first 13 days of December. The final prize will be announced on December 13th, which is the music icon's birthday.

NikaVika SisterHood's name comes from Anika Viktoria's name, shortened. Gretchen and Anika recently shared their enthusiasm about the project, saying, “We’re excited to celebrate how Taylor has inspired us over the past few months, by having our project culminate on her birthday. Call it "Karma" that Taylor Swift inspired this Needham mother & daughter to give back,

According to a press release, The Johnsons are coaching local girls to sell their Swiftie Stickers as a community service project. 100% of profits (approximately $10.00 per sticker) will be split between two causes: 1) local food banks and 2) local girl-power coaching.  The first 9 of  the 13 activities with themes of "girl-powered, food insecurity activism" can be found at nikavikasisterhood.com.

Anika and her mother are forging partnerships with female owned companies to help the with 13 Days of Swift-mas project. From Bianca Restaurant in Chestnut Hill to Abbott’s Frozen Custard in Needham. They are also working with Legendary Today Streetwear in Boston, and The ThinkingCaps Co. in Milton. Their involvement ranges from promotion to buying and selling stickers and donating raffle items.

You'll find the 13 free coaching activities available online. However, there will be an in-person coaching session this Saturday, December 2 at the Milton Public Library from 9:30-11:30am. Girls, can dress in their favorite Eras outfit and bring a non-perishable food item, if so inclined. Those will be donated to the Milton Food Pantry. There will be Swiftie stickers available to purchase, too. Space is limited, so please email nikavikasisterhood@gmail.com to sign up for one of the four 30-minute sessions.

We are taking a little trip down memory lane and visiting all the Gillette Stadium ERAS of Taylor Swift with photos from all of her incredible shows.  You can check them out below, but first, let's talk the eras!

The journey started with Taylor's first ever show at Gillette Stadium on June 5, 2010 when she gave us the FEARLESS Era!  This was the first time she headlined and NFL stadium and it was the first female headliner at Gillette.  Talk about a career moment!

Next up, was the SPEAK NOW Era.  Who can forget dancing in the rain to to our favorite Tay Tay songs, as it poured down on a sold-out crowd.   With this era Taylor doubled down on her New England fans and play two shows.  The Speak Now Tour was at Gillette Stadium on June 25th and 26th, 2011.

The RED Era come in hot, when Taylor took over Gillette Stadium on July 27, 2013.   Who can forget her closing the show with the smash "We Are Never Getting Back Together"?!  We loved the all the costume changes on this tour.  We couldn't stop taking photos at this show, check them all out here!

Then we took a little time machine to when Taylor brought us her 1989 Era when she took over Gillette Stadium for two sold-out shows, July 24th and 25th, 2015!  Remember when she threw the ultimate dance party with her special guest Walk The Moon's Nicholas Petricca.  See even more photos from the shows here.

And now, who can forget the most recent era that has come through our beloved stadium.....the REPUTATION Era!   All we can say, was that giant snake, wow...wow...wow...we weren't ready for it!   And this time, Taylor upped the ante by playing three sold-out back to back to back nights!  Take a look at our rewind from the shows.

All we can say it THANK YOU Taylor for all these incredible moments at Gillette Stadium filled with swifties from all over!

55,000 people all singing along!