News
Themed dinners starting
Bridges to Learning friends and donors are meeting over the next few months to enjoy ethnically themed mouth-watering meals at homes around the Twin Cities. Started as a fundraiser at the 2011 gala, these dinners are fostering relationships and community between supporters of the Anh Linh students. We are excited to see these meals turn into a great success!
Kim-Anh Tong and Jon Cohen hosted the first dinner - Indian themed - at their house last month. Not only did a group of Bridges to Learning supporters gather around the dinner table, but many participated in getting henna after the meal!
Look forward to them at our next gala.
2011 Investing in Hope Gala
- Peg Thomas, Executive Director of Bridges to Learning
- Reviewing the food and wine items at the silent auction
- Mivi Nguyen, high school vocalist and Brad Sattin, local KSTP News Anchor and Gala MC
- Tong Pham's friends and family
- View of the silent auction
- Melinh Dancers
- Diane Ingersoll, Lisa Van Anh, Jon Cohen and Kim-Anh Tong, sponsors and volunteers
- The Sherman Family! Jim Sherman (middle) is a Vietnam Vet and is a sponsor
- Decorations handmade by volunteer and sponsor, Beth Cecchi
- Liem Nguyen (Board Chair) and friends
- Wall of wine
- Mark Grimme, sponsor, and friends
- Beth Cecchi, volunteer and sponsor. Additionally, decorator for the 2011 gala.
- Jerri Hirsch and Bob Mac Murdo (Founders) with valued sponsors and donors, John & Barbara Sorich
- Family and friends of Tong Pham, board member
- Jenny Engh, table captain and strong supporter of B2L
- Diane Ingersoll and Lisa Van Anh, sponsors
- John & Joyce Johnson signing in for the event. John is a board member.
- Donovan McCain & Jade Cohen, volunteers, selling corks for the wall of wine
- Board member, David Leckey
- Silent auction
- George and Susan Niece
- Decorations handmade by volunteer and sponsor, Beth Cecchi
- William Etter, sponsor
- Silent auction items
- Bill Cecchi, sponsor, and friend
More than 175 guests and 25 volunteers gathered together at the Sofitel in Bloomington to feast, bid on items and raise almost $60,000 to benefit the children who attend Anh Linh and other schools in Vietnam.
The evening started with a wine raffle supported by Worldwide WineCellars and South Lyndale Liquors, and a silent auction banquet of items gathered by Kim-Anh Tong and her crew of volunteers. The Asian inspired meal by chef Mark Crane was topped only by the marvelous entertainment.
Brad Sattin (KSTP Anchor) guided us through a video by the Pastory Group, of the events at Anh Linh school during a recent Moon Festival. Then, we sat entranced by Vietnamese traditional dances by the MeLinh dancers. Finally, we learned about how Bridges to Learning connects people from across the globe to the Anh Linh school through a video by Deacon Warner featuring founders Jerri Hirsch, Bob MacMurdo and sponsors John Sorich, Mary Jane Madden, and David Leckey.
A lively live auction by Col Kurt Johnson had us rolling with merriment as he described the skydiving and sushi dinners, and helped our guests procure a week’s stay at a cozy home in France. The event culminated with the auction of a diamond pennant fashioned by John Sorich of Diamonds Direct and a sensational rendition of "The Greatest Love" by singing sensation Mivi Nguyen. Mivi left our guests with tears of joy, that we could make such an amazing impact on the lives of the children that we serve.
Founders Jerri & Bob speak at the Humphrey School
Jerri Hirsch and Bob Mac Murdo, Bridges to Learning Founders, were recent panelists at a forum sponsored at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs on "How (and Why) I Started My NGO." They were joined by other Minnesota-based globally-operating social entrepreneurs.
Panelists included:
- Jeff Hall, One Village Partners (based in Minneapolis, working in Sierra Leone)
- Michele Boston, No Time For Poverty (based in Saint Paul, working in Haiti)
- Segundo Velasquez, Mano-a-Mano (based in Mendota Heights, working in Bolivia)
- Michele Gran, Global Volunteers (based in Saint Paul, working globally)
- Jerilyn Fosdick Hirsch & Bob MacMurdo, Bridges to Learning (MPLS, work in Vietnam)
- Mark Cross, MATTOO (based in Minneapolis, working globally)
- Jan B. Hansen, Educate Tanzania (based in Chaska, working in Tanzania)
Discussion Facilitators: Kate Kelsch, Amherst H. Wilder Foundation and current MINN President Paul Vliem, Humphrey School Master of Public Policy 2011.
Panelists discussed their inspiration to found their own organization, the assessment tools they used to find gaps not covered by other NGOs, & the challenges & setbacks they faced in starting their organizations. This event is part one of a series on Minnesota-based social entrepreneurs tackling global issues.
See video at http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embedqt/134163.