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Auction Thank You and update!
By Scott Lacy
October 26, 2009
Thank you to our donors and volunteers for making our Fifth Anniversary Celebration and Silent Auction a record-breaking night! We are pleased to report we raised just over $10,000 that night because of your generosity and support. We celebrated our Fifth Anniversary evening with special visits from several African Sky leaders from across the country. After African Sky Executive Director Scott Lacy shared the AS story and our five years of service and learning, our Education Program Director Matt Sanders played two of his original songs. Sanders flew from Orlando to Ohio to share how he and his Florida elementary school students organized two performances to raise enough money to sponsor a school for the AS 10 for 2010 school construction campaign in Mali. Sanders is working with a video editor and recording artists to make a film and audio recording of the 2009 “US to Africa” concert held at Winter Springs High School. After several musical performances and a brief art auction (students created art to auction during the event), the combined elementary school and high school choirs joined with an amazing live band and had an audience of hundreds dancing and streaming through the aisles! For his leadership and for the efforts of the concert performers and planners, Matt Sanders and Keeth Elementary School (Winter Springs, FL) were presented with African Sky’s prestigious Silver Seed Award for 2009.
After Lacy’s presentation on the African Sky Story, he explained several exciting new projects for 2010 and beyond. One of the big announcements of the night was the expansion of African Sky into Kenya! Driving to Ohio from Atlanta, Emory University graduates Steve Feldman and Caleb Mooty were on hand to announce the creation of African Sky Kenya. Feldman and Mooty explained their pilot project, which includes an extended volunteer experience teaching math, science, and English in a Kenyan school. The audience loved talking with the gregarious Feldman and Mooty duo, and we are all excited to participate as these two young leaders realize their vision for service learning in East Africa.
The Silent Auction and Fifth Anniversary Celebration was a success because the generosity of supporters matched with months of detail-oriented planning by our Silent Auction Committee (Kathy Lacy, Chairperson). Dozens of caring volunteers hosted the event and demonstrated the family-nature of our organization. Last, we would like to thank our corporate sponsor, American Greetings Interactive for its financial support, along with the Licensing division of American Greetings for its donation of several sought-out items for our silent auction.
Thank you to the volunteers, donors, sponsor, and hosts of the Fifth Anniversary Celebration for African Sky. Our evening together broke our previous records for event attendance and net income (funds raised after expenses). Your support has brought us closer to realizing our goal of building 10 schools in rural Mali. Spread Love.
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