Ladies Night in Africa #2

A week after the first dinner and a few days after Nanny's funeral (done the way we all hope she would have wanted) my mom hosted a second dinner. I had already left to return to Korea so my mom wrote a short synopsis of the evening:

The May 8th dinner had 18 guests attend with same type of entertainment and food and prizes as on May 1st...judging by the laughter and positive comments everyone had a great time. again some came in African dress....a prize was given both nights for the most authentic dress...as well as a prize for the runner up...the guests voted on this.....the 1st prize was a "I support michaelwithoutborders" tote bag ordered from cafe press....

Again, this dinner was a great success and the following people participated and/or donated money:

• Peter Demacio
• Eva Lengyel
• Caroline Bonner
• Ewa Siudowski
• Cathy Huffman
• Cathy Vitucci
• Beth Stewart
• Debbie Mudie
• Carol Wylie
• Debbie Bulir
• Lori Rees
• Lorri Poutney
• Cindy Olynyk
• Sherryl O'Neil
• Jackie Steele
• Judy Morely
• Judy Graham
• Donna Snider
• Carrie McCrum
• Mary Ditta
• Diane Campbell
• Sarah Chisholm
• Emily Knox

Though I did thank all of the people who volunteered their time to help with the dinners and those who donated door prizes in my post about the first dinner, I would like to once again thank my mother (Sharon Davidson) who spent untold hours organizing everything and hosting the dinner (and who is still working on ways to raise the remaining funds).

As of now, I have raised $2856.35 of approximately $5350 (depending on the cost of my flight which is as of yet unbooked). Thank you everyone who has helped me get this far.

I will close with a few pictures from the evening.

Ladies Night in Africa #1

On May 1st, my Mom hosted the first of two Ladies Nights at her house. Since I am away teaching in Korea, I was unable to attend, so my mother wrote a short writeup of the evening:

The May 1st dinner had 13 guests attend and many dressed in African dress...Everyone seemed to have a good time...we had raffles, door prizes, listened to African music and enjoyed a dinner of African food..  Everyone was given Madagascar vanilla truffles to take home along with a special tulip shaped cookie and thank you note for supporting Michael.
All in all it was a successful evening (despite the events of a few days prior - the next post will explain all) and I raised quite a bit of money from several of my mother's friends. These are the people who attended and/or donated money (in no particular order):

• Florence Demacio
• Helen Rigby
  
• Barb Drake Land
• Josie Knill
• Barb Martin
• Debbie Polkinghorn
• Karen & Michael Bromilow
• Susan Gillies
• Roberta Wood
• Debbie Skerrett
• Barb Beamish
• Carol Ann Thompson
• Peggy Martin
• Colleen Meyer
• Margaret Lewandowski
• Anna Marie Southon
• Bob & Betty Hambrook
• Mary Jazvac

I'd also like to take the time to thank the people who volunteered their time to make this event (and the 2nd dinner) possible:

• Judy Morley
• Heather Davidson
• Sarah Chisholm
• Florence Demacio
• Lorri Poutney
• Lauren Smyth
• Debbie Bulir
• Helen Rigby
• John Davidson
  

Last but not least, I'd like to thank the people who donated door prizes for both of the dinners:

• Debbie Polkinghorne
• Cindy Olynyk
• Caroline Bonner
• Everton Blair (owner of Blair Elements)
• Janet Gefre

One final thank you I need to give is to my mother, Sharon Davidson, who spent more time than I probably know getting things organized and inviting everyone she could think of. The amount of money that her efforts have brought in have already far exceeded the amount I thought I could raise.

I find it really incredible the number of people who have been supportive of my volunteering in Tanzania (and this is only a small part of the people who I will be thanking in posts in the coming days - I have at least two more long lists). It makes me feel that this is more of a community effort than an individual one. So a big thank you to everyone who was involved

In closing, here are a few pictures of the evening: