Children's Home Fundraiser A Big Hit! By Jason Corbin

Yes, Oui, Si Art Gallery, Vancouver St, Boston MA

On Sept 16th, friends, family, co-workers and even some folks we didn’t know, came from far and wide to attend the first Bridge to Nepal Jazz, Wine and Cheese night held at the Yes Oui Si art gallery in Boston. About 40 people attended and socialized over some smooth jazz performed by the Ezra Platt Jazz Trio while sipping wine, nibbling on a variety of cheeses and enjoying the dynamic art work on display at the gallery. All through the evening we had a running slide show on one of the walls showing images of Nepal.

The fundraiser benefited the orphanage in Tikapur Nepal where we are planning on putting an addition for a study/dining area for the children, as well as a better kitchen that is further away from the children’s living quarters because of smoke from the kitchen fires. The cost of the addition is estimated at $5000 and through this fundraiser we have raised $3300 so far and money is still coming in from folks that wanted to attend and couldn’t make it!

The other purpose for the fundraiser was to raise awareness of the soft slavery and orphaned children issues that plague Nepal and what Bridge to Nepal, by God’s grace, is doing to help. A twenty minute talk was given that focused on telling the stories of six of the orphaned children that are currently living at the Tikapur orphanage.

Jason Corbin shares the stories of kids who live at the Children's Home

The night was a great success and we have had many people requesting dates for when we are going to do the next one! Who knows, perhaps we’ll make this an annual event.

Putting together a fundraiser like this can be a lot of work, but it’s worth every minute preparing and planning. We would encourage folks who have been involved with Bridge to Nepal to have your own fundraiser. It does not need to be as fancy as a Jazz, Wine and Cheese night at an art gallery (We were simply blessed with friends with connections), but you can do a simple desert night at your house, or you can have a party and charge $5.00 for your friends to come. Be creative.

At my office there were many folks who could not make it to the fundraiser and still wanted to give. I had learned that the Orphanage was going to require about 10,000 bricks. To make it interesting for my coworkers to give I called their giving “bucks for bricks”. In Nepal a brick is about 10 cents (rounded up). So every 5 bucks buys 50 bricks. When I put it in that perspective for folks we received a lot of 5 dollar bills! Feel free to steal the “bucks for bricks” idea and run with it! This could apply to building schools as well.

The event also provided an opportunity for us to talk to local businesses and get them involved. Our local wine store donated a case of wine and a Trader Joes in our area donated some of the cheese and crackers.

Thanks to everyone who made this night a great success!