It Takes a Village Benefit Concert by Zedicus and Abyssinia Roots

It Takes a Village Benefit Concert by Zedicus and Abyssinia Roots

The DC area witnessed a great coming together of music and goodwill, to the benefit of the children and mothers of Fresh and Green Academy. Zak Jawad and his band, Zedicus and Abyssinia Roots, played a benefit show April 29th, 2017 at Addia Ababa Restaurant (8233 Fenton Street Silver Spring, MD)

Attendance exceed our expectations, as did the fundraising! The gate was outdone by the generous contributions of many new Friends of Fresh and Green Academy.

Watch this space for more concerts! Come out and here some great music, enjoy some amazing food, and have a wonderful time while helping the kids! If you couldn’t make it but still want to help, you can make a tax deductible donation here!

 

#WalkForThem Spring Fashion Show Fundraiser

Friends came together for our stunning and exciting #WalkForThem Fashion Show in New York City on May 20th. Our volunteer models, mothers and daughters all, raised nearly $7,000 for Fresh and Green Academy! A great thank-you also for the talented volunteers who put the show together, and of course all of our donors and sponsors who have given us new resources to keep our 235 students in school!

Models proudly showed fashions made by our Mothers Cooperative at the school. Our guests were entertained by Mike DiRubbo’s Jazz Trio who immediately left for a tour of Czech Republic. Patrons were treated to a traditional Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony hosted by Executive Director Sosina Mulugeta Gebreyesus.

If you are interested in purchasing fashions from the Mothers Cooperative, please visit our Etsy store by clicking here.

There is still time to donate to the event. Thanks for supporting #WalkForThem!

Fresh and Green Goes to High School

Fresh and Green Goes to High School

We are so proud of our nine Grade 8 graduates for passing their high school entrance exams! Most were in kindergarten when Friends of Fresh and Green got involved with the school 8 years ago, and we began to grow the school by a grade each year.

Running a high school curriculum is not on the books for Fresh and Green Academy right now as we try to secure the rights to the land that the school is on. But we will continue to support our graduates as they start up a new path on their journey to higher education and eventually a profession. They are such important members of our community and set a great example for the younger kids!

Our graduates will still start and end their day at the Academy with a meal, with high school classes down the road in between. But we have to pay for their uniforms and books as well as providing medical care if needed. We estimate that it will cost $500 up front for supplies and then $75 a month for each student over the course of the year.

We need your help! Can you help sponsor one of our high school kids through the Friendship Club program? We have created a special category for this initiative and you will be sure to get progress reports from your Friend along the way. If you can help us with the upfront costs as well, then great! Please make a separate donation and you’ll get a tax receipt for that as well.

Become a Friendship Club member!

New Highs for Poker and Blackjack!

New Highs for Poker and Blackjack!

Over 50 players and volunteers helped us raise even more money than last year as the Eighth Annual Casino Event went down last night in New York City. Congratulations to the new champions of Poker and Blackjack who shared some amazing prizes while helping the children of Fresh and Green Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The roulette table was a big hit and the raffle for Red Hot Chili Peppers and Yankees vs. Red Sox tickets added a lot of excitement to a noisy but friendly night of gaming.

A big thanks to our hosts at Connolly’s Pub Klub 45 on West 45th Street and to our always professional dealers and croupiers.

We hope to keep expanding this night which benefits our efforts in Africa and will keep you posted on the date next September for another chance to win for a good cause!

Dancing West Coast a Huge Success

Dancing West Coast a Huge Success

We had a HUGE amount of help from our new and old friends in L.A. and the result was a resounding success! Not only were we entertained by our very polished dance couples and Marvin Glover’s Band, but we raised thousands of dollars in donations, raffles and the silent auction to help Fresh and Green Academy buy their school property in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
We were honored by the presence of Milica Kennedy Kastner, who flew in From London to accept the Emissary of Excellence Award for her work in championing human rights.
A special congratulations to our Dancing with the Stews Mirror Ball competition winners Jutem Lee and Ron Wild of San Diego and heartfelt thanks to the great efforts of Lam Nguyen, Merle Norman, Jeff White and Brian Nguyen to put together flawless routines and raise money for our cause at the same time!
We would also like to thank everyone for coming out to the spectacle, we hope you were lucky enough to win a prize, and we are glad you took the time to learn about and support our kids and their families at the Fresh and Green Academy.