Dancing with the Stews West Coast has Started!

Dancing with the Stews West Coast has Started!

The Show has started in Southern California! Our Flight Attendants and their professional dance partners are training for our 4th Annual 2016 “Dancing With the Stews” fundraiser!

 

Joining us this year:

The Marvin Glover Band

and

 Artist and humanitarian Milica Kennedy Kastner will be presented with Friends of Fresh and Green Academy’s highest honor,

The Emissary of Excellence Award

In association with Sea Sand Entertainment

Join our dancers:

Lam Nguyen & Jeff White
Jutem Lee & Ron Wild
Brian Nguyen & Merle Morgan

Mark the Date: May 13, 2016 at 7:00 PM Mark the Place: Dance Revolution – 6626 Valjean Ave, Van Nuys, CA 91406 (map below) The evening’s festivities include a VIP Reception, silent auction, a Dance Showcase and live music with…

MarvinGloverLogo

    Tickets can be purchased in advance online for $85 General Admission and $200 VIP ($175 before May 3rd), which includes a very special Reception before the show and front row table seating.

Dancing with the Stews West Coast

Become a Dancing Sensation on the stage in Southern California!
We are looking for Flight Attendant dancers (pilots welcome too) for our 4th Annual 2016 “Dancing With the Stews” fundraiser!
No dance experience necessary!

Have you ever watched that popular TV show and said “I wish I could do that”? Well now you can! Sign up below for a chance to be part of Dancing With the Stews 2016! This is just a preliminary sign-up so if you think you may be interested, don’t hesitate to fill out the form below for more information.
For a look at last year’s event, visit our You Tube Channel.
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Finalists will receive:

  • 10 hours of dance instruction with a champion Ballroom/Latin dancer
  • a pair of professional dance shoes
  • use of a professional gown or dance outfit provided by a top dance wear designer
  • that good feeling you get when you help make a difference in a child’s life (you will create your own fundraising page that will count towards your final score so you will have an opportunity to get your friends and family involved) and…
  • a chance to win the Dancing Stew Champion Mirror ball trophy and claim the title Dancing Stew Champion 2016!

Sign up today and get ready to have fun and make a difference!

The Power of Personality by Neil Jones

The Power of Personality by Neil Jones

 

How did I end up in the middle of Africa? This was not even on my radar 3 months ago. Wasn’t Ethiopia the place where they had that terrible famine when I was a kid? Surely it’s better now but why would I want to go there? The answer: personality.

The first personality I encountered was Trish Hack-Rubinstein, at a bus stop in outer San Francisco. The kind of idle conversation where somebody casually mentions that they have a Non-Profit Organization in their pocket (run largely from an iPhone). This person radiates an energy that affects everyone within speaking distance, and suddenly we are learning in leaps and bounds about Ethiopia’s history and the challenges they face.

And then a huge collection of gregarious, generous and kind-hearted personalities at a fund-raising event in New York City, and I’m hooked! I once met Mr. Munroe Ashkenase, who founded Foster Parents Plan (now Plan Canada). His favourite expression was, “I never met a man who didn’t want to help – you just had to make it easy for him.” Well these people were making it easy for me.

Just over a month later, I have navigated the customs and immigration hall of Addis Ababa airport clinging to my only clue: “Someone will be there to pick you up.” That someone was the personality that created this whole enterprise: Muday Mitiku. Constantly in motion, keeping an organization the size of a village in her head (and on her mobile phone), she is a wonder to watch. Her staff and family provide seamless support.

And finally I meet the collective personality whom I knew before only in pictures: the beautiful children who make a stranger feel like he is part of the family. The characters! The laughter! The schoolyard games! If only I spoke their language as well as they speak mine – but they will teach me, throughout the course of a week. Amharica kwanka tamari naw – I am a student of Amharic.

I am the beneficiary of the generosity of all of these personalities, these perfect hosts. That is why I do my small part to help with their challenges.

Tales From the Field by Trish Hack-Rubinstein

Tales From the Field by Trish Hack-Rubinstein

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




Fifth Annual Poker/Casino Night Fundraiser

Fifth Annual Poker/Casino Night Fundraiser

Our 5th Annual
Texas Holdem’ Charity Poker/Casino Night at Connolly’s Pub in NYC was a huge success!
Poker Fundraiser

This year’s event was extremely important because the funds raised went towards purchasing the school before the October deadline. I am happy to report the event brought in $14,000!

Thank you so much to all who participated before, during and after the event. Your contributions are greatly appreciated.