Happy St. Patrick's Day!
6:30 pm tonight we leave for Africa! Hopefully this will be an uneventful flight (as contrasted to the "excitement" of the Christmas party flight!). We will be there until March 29 when we come back to the United States.
Future Trip
The next trip will be July 7-19 and I would love to know, quite soon, who is planning on going. We are running into pricing issues because of the oil situation and I am hoping I can keep the $3,500 price the same. If I get the reservations in by mid-April it looks like it will be possible. Please join us ... it is a heart-warming and life changing experience.
Starbucks Fundraising Activities
Thanks to Marilyn Halter and her bosses Craig Schneider Thanks to Marilyn Halter and her bosses Craig Schneider and Joe Hallinan (and ALL her managers) we had another successful clothing drive at 12 Starbucks stores. Since last year we have raised a total of $6,500 and we are hoping to expand to other districts. The next cycle for Middletown, Matawan, Marlboro, Manalapan, Menlo Park, East/North/New Brunswick, Westfield, Piscataway, Edison and Union will be April 15-June 19. As usual, thanks for all your support.
In addition, Marilyn's group will be cleaning a park in New Brunswick next month and will donate the money they receive for volunteering to Sylvia's Children. In addition, we will put a plaque in the park, acknowledging their efforts on behalf of Sylvia's Children.
Thanks To Monmouth University
Thanks to Nicole Vitale, Monmouth University donated a large percentage of their proceeds for the production of the Vagina Monologues to Sylvia's Children. They did a two night performance which generated over $1,200 for Sylvia's Children. Nicole currently sponsors a child and has a warm spot in her heart for what we are doing.
Joseph J. Catena School
The children at the school are penpals with our African children. I am taking (on this trip) all the pen pal letters that the children will then answer. In addition, the school has raised $3,500 for the school and, in addition, one of the parents (who is with Cisco) has arranged for a webcast where both sides can actually see each other! We will be doing a test on Wednesday to make sure it works!
Indian Hill School
March 21-25 the students at Indian Hill School in Holmdel, NJ will be collecting items for our Christmas trip. This will include pencils, erasers, stickers and baseball caps. I love meeting with the children because they are so willing to help those less than fortunate than them. (This all came about through Jordan Gilbert's efforts ... thanks Jordan for caring!)
St. John Vianney
Lisa Lenn at St. John Vianney has invited me to speak to several freshman through senior classes and what a delight. Thanks to her we can have a collection box at the school, during the same time period as we have it at Starbucks. They also have a cultural night April 28 that I had hoped to attend but had a seminar speaking conflict! Next year ... thanks Lisa.
Rutgers MBA
Laurie Edwards is a busy little bee! In addition to producing JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR at the Millstone Theatre on April 9 (to benefit Sylvia's Children) she is working on her MBA! And, as with all MBA students, they have to have a real world project to work on ... guess what they selected! They will prepare a total social media program for us that will take us into a stronger presence on the web, in Facebook, on Twitter ... using those resources to raise money and help us achieve our goal of raising $100,000 for the clinic and $30,000 for the van. Thanks, Laurie.
Thomas E. Bowe School
And, thanks to Mary Aruffo, this school is doing a fundraiser by selling the wonderful Sylvia's Children red/green bracelets for $2 each (they have 250 so could generate $500)!
Holmdel High School
Know your Danielle Ruda, a senior, is producing a Band Aid for Uganda (aka Battle of the Bands) on Saturday, March 26 from noon to 3 pm. Her mother, Beth, has done a spectacular job of getting prizes as well as sponsorship for this event (and great PR). Last year they raised over $2,000 ... it sounds like they will do even better this year! Thanks, ladies.
Middletown South High School
Last, but not least, Lexi Briggs (whose father is a dentist and sponsors three children) has succeeded in getting a Band Aid concert at Middletown South for Friday, April 1, from 7-10 pm.
