The people came, the food was delicious, the music was top notch and the ambience with its retro look and thoughtfully designed decor was second to none.
Our first fundraising event was a success!
We raised roughly $8,000 and had a private donor match us for the same amount- that's a total of $16,000. Not bad for one night :)
It was also a special evening because our first loan recipient Luis Cortes was there. We were able to hand him a check for $1500 which will be used to pay for a class at UC Berkeley's extension. He has completed 2 years at a community college and has his sites set on Cal and where he will study business. Some of our board members had the pleasure of speaking with this young man prior to the event. His positive demeanor and candor speaks volumes to his upbringing and we have no doubt that he will excel in whatever he chooses to pursue. Check out his Immigrant Story below.
A Special Thanks
Friday July, 14th 2017 will be a remembered for many reasons. We wanted a share some of them for you.
- Founding Board Members - without a dedicated team with a cohesive vision, this event could not be possible. All our board members have their own careers and families. This leaves little time to do anything else. Despite this, our team worked through the countless e-mail strings, conference calls and respectful disagreements to bring our first fundraising event to fruition.
- Volunteers - When you start a grass-roots organization like ours, it's usually the team of people that start the organization that have to pull all the weight, but to our surprise, many people have come forward to help us make our mission a reality. This has been especially true for our backpack drive - which we'll touch on later this week.
- Our contributors - Without you there is no immigranted.org. With our generous donations and time we are able to take what you've given and "grant it forward" to those students that need a helping hand in the educational space.
The founder of JC. Penny, James Cash Penny once said, "The five separate fingers are five independent units. Close them and the fist multiplies strength. This is organization."
We used our individual strength to come together and do something special and we are just getting started!
Currently we are in the infant stages of planning our next event which will happen later this year in So Cal.
To follow our journey as we grant it forward, please subscribe to our blog here.
Check out a few pictures from our event. We hope to see you at our next one. If you are moved and inspired by our cause, please donate here.
Sincerely,
Immigranted
