EV Chocolate Buffet at the Langham to close auction

Please join us April 30th 7-9pm at the Langham Hotel Boston for a gala Chocolate Buffet—a highly reputed "indulgence"—to help us finish up our online auction in style... and, more importantly, to help us continue Earthen Vessels' essential work with Boston's inner-city young people. The event will be MC'd by one of our 'graduates', Latoyia Edwards. She is also an honors graduate of Emerson College, Miss Massachusetts USA in 2002, and a reporter for New England Cable News. She will be joined by a current tutor-tutee pair who will speak about their experience in the program. You will have the opportunity to bid on several silent auction items reserved for this final evening, including a week's stay in a beautiful apartment in Paris. Check out the auction, live online through April 28th, at earthenvessels.cMarket.com and contact Eric to reserve your ticket for the Chocolate Buffet: atty.ethompson@yahoo.com.

Chocolate buffet and auction a great success

The EV family gathered at the Langham Hotel Boston for a delicious Chocolate Buffet and the exciting end of our silent auction, with bidding heating up considerably as the time was running out. Tutors Esmeralda and Kamille helped out with sign-in and subsequent payments for winning bids. Several former tutors and former tutees or campers joined us, including Carla and her husband; Anthony, and former camper and tutee Latoyia Edwards who MC'd the event. Board member Eric Thompson, who spearheaded the auction, along with former camper and counselor Shelby Pierce, set up the remaining items for the final round of our silent auction. George Bard, whose watercolor of Mt. Mansfield led to some of the fiercest bidding, can be seen here with Program Director Lauren Ravello and Educational Coordinator, Nancy Jiménez. It was fun to see old friends and to meet others who we hope will become friends and supporters. Board Member Jaime de Zengotita, who tutored during college and the first two years of Medical School, was happy to see his former tutee, Anthony. He was also the surprised winner of the first EV Distinguished Service Award for his many contributions,:a framed copy of George Bard's beautiful watercolor of Mt. Mansfield—the original was the object of heated bidding. Board member Anjali Gupta brought along the youngest member of the EV family.
The auction and event raised a total of some $10,000 to help keep our programs for inner-city youth up and running. Many thanks to our sponsors, all those who donated items for the auction, the volunteers who helped the evening run smoothly, and a special shout-out to Eric and the event committee, Carlos and Beth, for their hard work.

Spring doings at EV

Dear Friends,

While awaiting spring eagerly, we are keeping busy trying to get the most out of a short semester. Nancy, our Educational Coordinator is finishing up her second round of schools visits, some 100 teachers to be visited individually in many different schools. She is doing great work building up relationships which make of them supporters and partners in our work with their students. What they share with her is invaluable to help our tutors customize their tutoring sessions to the needs of their particular tutee.

Lauren, our Program Director, for her part, keeps in contact with the families every week and keeps the kids coming to tutoring. That is no small task until children and parents alike discover on their own that coming regularly is the first key element towards progress. Both of them have also been very busy preparing for out Community Event.

It was really nice to see the hall where tutoring takes place transformed into a festive space beautifully decorated by tutors. The small card tables used by each pair at tutoring, with colorful tablecloths and a small vase with beautiful flowers (gift of Hallie's Garden flower shop) were used by tutees’ families sitting down for a potluck dinner with their child’s tutor. That was a great opportunity for tutors and families to get to know each other or reconnect. The performance by the kids afterwards, the result of hours of Saturday mornings’ rehearsals the month before, entertained the families and made parents proud of their children.

We will now focus on recruiting youngsters and counselors for camp and start preparing actively for it. For some of the adolescents in the program, camp becomes a turning point, a breakthrough in their journey towards self-confidence, trust in their abilities and talents, a new positive attitude and hope in the future that is a main step towards success.

A month ago we had a small fun fundraising event organized by one of our alumni Board members that was a great success. Two other Board Members are actively organizing a bigger event planned for May 1st, a Chocolate Buffet at the Langham Hotel Boston. We hope most of you will participate in it, if not by coming, if you are miles away, at least by bidding in our silent auction which is about to go online and that you can already view at http://earthenvessels.cMarket.com.

Our need is great. The new energy coming from our board feels me with hope. We are greatly thankful for your being with us through thick and thin, being part of this great chain of support which sustains our work, We count on you to make of this year a new beginning towards more stability, sustainability at a time when expenses are going up and funding becomes uncertain. May our common endeavor open doors for our young inner-city friends who face so many obstacles in their growing-up.

Marie-Claude Thompson, Executive Director