#WalkForThem Spring Fashion Show Fundraiser

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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!

#WalkForThem

New Highs for Poker and Blackjack!

New Highs for Poker and Blackjack!

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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!

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Do You Believe in Miracles?

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Our school needs to buy the land that it sits on or we’re out. Homeless.

Due to current events in Ethiopia, things were put on hold for a few months. Now that things are better, the owner of the land the school sits on is moving forward with the sale of the land. He has a new buyer lined up if we do not make the purchase in four weeks! We are still $219,000 short.Please help us raise the rest of the amount needed, by making a donation and spreading the word! Tweet, post, intsa. Tell your friends! Together we can keep the kids from having to go back into the streets to beg for food.

Click to Help Us Buy the Land

Fresh and Green Academy has been taking impoverished kids off the street in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for 16 years. The school educates and feeds these children at no cost to their poor, mostly single parents. With the help of Friends of Fresh and Green, a New York-based 501 (c)(3) non-profit, the school has managed to grow from a simple Pre-K and Kindergarten to now include Grades 1-8.

Relying completely on donations, the school has faced rising rent costs and the land has recently been sold to a new owner. Fortunately, this generous individual saw the good work that the school was doing in breaking the cycle of poverty, and has offered to sell the land to the school.

So we need you to help with a Miracle: raise $219,000 before May 20th so Fresh and Green Academy can buy the property it sits on. Otherwise, the land will be sold and developed and we will have to find another location that will be even more expensive or charge the kind of rent that will put it out of business and put the kids and their parents back on the street.

Please help us with any amount you can. it is people like yourself who are able to put us over the top with a US tax-deductible donation. Thank you so much!

Click to Help Us Buy the Land

 

Spreading Love, Happiness and Hope for the Holidays

Spreading Love, Happiness and Hope for the Holidays

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All beings are connected and helping one can impact millions!

-Michael Mike-E Ellison

Fresh and Green Academy is proof that it is simple to make a difference. Since the school opened in 2000, hundreds of children have been saved from having to live in the streets. The school is operated and the children are fed and educated entirely by the generosity of others.
Holiday donate button

Your end of the year donation will continue supporting the beautiful and energetic children at Fresh and Green Academy in Ethiopia.

One of our favorite compliments from our donors and supporters is that our children look happy! Yes, indeed they are. The reason for this is because of years of care that includes nutrition, education, and unconditional support that these children would not have if it were not for donors such as yourself.

Tales From the Field by Trish Hack-Rubinstein

Tales From the Field by Trish Hack-Rubinstein

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Couldn't be happier!

Couldn’t be happier!

November 21, 2014

I arrived in Addis Ababa, very early on Thursday morning and after checking in to a very beautiful and cozy guest house, headed to the school. The children are thriving! The care and love they receive at school is overwhelming and is what keeps me coming back to the school time and time again. Because of the work Muday is doing with this one school in Ethiopia the world is already a better place.

We have 10 new students this year which brings the number of children being kept off the streets to 170. Some of the students have returned after having attended kindergarten but not being able to continue their education because they were students at Fresh and Green before we started increasing grade levels. It is wonderful to see children, that had the cards stacked against them after kindergarten, with an increased sense of enthusiasm and a renewed spirit.

 

Education is a Right not a Privilege

Unfortunately, in many developing nations education is not available to all children. While compulsory and free in Ethiopia, schools are not attended by all children. Books and uniforms must be purchased and meals are not provided. Many children work at an early age by shining shoes, selling trinkets, or begging to help feed their families. In the rural areas of Ethiopia many children work as sheep herders but dream of attending school and going to the city for a better life.

Thanks to many generous donors, the children at Fresh and Green are getting a chance at that better life. And with the gift of education anything is possible. These children can truly make a difference in this world and have already made a difference in my life!

Peace-Trish