First Annual 'Night Under the African Stars' Benefit Gala

This is the event we are helping to coordinate which I mentioned in my post yesterday:

Event: Cornerstone of Hope Orphanage First Annual “Night Under the African Stars” Benefit Gala

Date: Saturday, August 22, 2009

Time:
5:30 - 7:00 p.m. Hors d'oeuvres and African delicacies
5:30 - 7:00 Silent Auction
7:00 p.m. Musical presentation and Introduction of special guests
7:00 - 8:15 Dinner
8:15 - 9:30 Live Auction and Entertainment

Location: Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart Church, Ankeny, Iowa

Event Chairperson: Nancy Dunham, the4dunhams@hotmail.com

Cause: To raise enough money to finish the expanded orphanage in Benin City, Nigeria, as well as enough money to sustain the needs of the children for at least one year as they come to live at Cornerstone of Hope. To also raise money to help offset the costs to families involved in the Action Africa hosting program.

Event Information: The gala will be held in the church’s gymnasium and the adjoining room, with seating for 220+. All effort will be made to make the evening fun, unique, productive, and to raise awareness of the tremendous need of the orphaned children of Nigeria. We will have live entertainment complete with African music & dancing to entertain our guests throughout the evening. African delicacies will be served, and a silent and live auction will be held, with some items coming direct from Nigeria & Ghana. In addition, information and pictures will be used to raise both awareness and funds to promote our cause. Corporations and individuals are invited to sponsor a table of eight for $1000, with individual tickets priced at $125.

Jake and I have been placed on the committee to procure the auction items (other than the ones coming direct from Africa)….for example, one item might be two tickets to an ISU bball game, and dinner for two. I’ve never been to a benefit auction, but I’ve come to understand that the idea is that the bids are to be generous, over the amount of what the actual item is worth, hence how money is raised for the cause. I am already learning a lot about event planning, and it has been fun to envision the night and what it will be like! Jake is also getting a great idea of how to go about raising money for a cause. He has said that helping to plan this event will be a great way to get his feet wet in the fundraising world….experience that will be invaluable as he chips away at raising the $250,000 for the Right to Dream Academy.

Lastly, I wanted to include some information in case you or someone you know would like to help, but don’t picture yourself attending the benefit gala. Cornertsone of Hope is a registered 501(c) 3 U.S. Charitable Organization. Because Cornerstone of Hope, Inc. is a non-profit organization, it is driven through the love and generosity of the international community. As an individual, corporate representative, or family, there are many ways to get involved and help the Hope Orphans.

The goal amount of the event is $50,000 which would complete the entire construction of the orphanage. You can also donate to sponsor a child in the orphanage. A donation of $720 would sponsor one child in the orphanage for 1 year (food, clothing, education). A donation of $360 would sponsor one child in the orphanage for 6 months. A donation of $50 would sponsor one child in the orphanage for 1 month. Of course anything and any amount helps! If you would like to make a monetary donation, or if you or the company you work for are interested in donating an auction item for the gala, please email me at janelsullivan@aol.com and I will send you the details. You can also find donation information (or donate online) at the Cornerstone of Hope website at:

http://www.thehopeorphans.org/gettinginvolved.html

The success of the orphanage is built upon channeling individual efforts through financial contributions, volunteerism, and public and political advocacy. Every hour and dollar counts towards changing the Hope Orphans' futures.

A New Project

I am excited to share with you a new project that Jake and I have been asked to help with! But first, I want to give a little background on the reason for this project…..it all starts with a man named Eric Idehen…..here is his story, in his own words:

Cornerstone of Hope is the result of the vow my wife and I made to God after we were unable to have our own children. We had vowed to adopt two children. We got married in September 28, 1997 at the Church of The Nazarene in Kiev, Ukraine. Pastor Bob Skinner, Pastor Sunny and Pastor Briggs Ibiso offered prayers to God in our behalf for the fruit of the womb. Miraculously, God gave us our first child, Enrique Edoghogho (meaning the day of joy), in May 8, 1999 and the second child, Edward Emwanta (meaning truth), in July 16, 2000. In October 2001 we had our third child Elliott Edosa (meaning this is the day the Lord has made). Praise God!

In one of our deliberations on our vow to God, my wife suggested that it would be better to support an orphanage home instead of adopting just two children. We both agreed on this idea because it would enable us to reach out to many children. Our investigation of a few orphanages revealed mismanagement, lack of adequate care for the children, and in one orphanage, we observed serious neglect of these children. We were totally disappointed by these findings. We quickly concluded that our objectives would not be effectively achieved if we were to throw our money into orphanages of these kinds. Thereafter, we decided to establish and run our own orphanage home in Benin City, Nigeria.

Nigeria, like other countries of the world, is affected by HIV & AIDS. An estimated 3 million people now suffered from HIV & AIDS epidemic. Out of the estimated seventy thousand orphaned children in Nigeria, about eighteen thousand children are orphaned due to HIV & AIDS alone. As we consider this crisis, we become more and more moved to put our ideas into concrete action. We also recognize our financial limitations, and we reach out for others who would like to share our vision to reduce the suffering of orphans in the world. We are impressed by the enthusiasm and passion of other founding members of Cornerstone of Hope. Pam Avaux, James Adams, Kevin McGuire, Ron Matthews, Paula Galloway, Brian Worthington, Fritz Trost, Kim Blacksmith-Davis, Mark Havemann, Tammra Swartwood, Michael Terry and Robert Welch, joined in forming the strongest bond in this noble course.

We are determined to make Cornerstone of Hope the best orphanage in the world. Together, we shall work tirelessly to take abandoned children from mean streets into the loving arms of good people of our orphanage where they will receive physical, intellectual, and emotional care. As part of our mission, we seek to make these orphaned children productive members of society and facilitate their adoption by loving families. With your help and the grace of God, we will make a difference.

Eric Idehen, February 2006

Jake and I have been asked to help coordinate an event being held in Ankeny in August to help raise funds to support an expansion project for this orphanage (more about this event in tomorrow’s post). In Eric’s words, the reason for the expansion is this:

We want to do more for more children and we need your help! The reconfiguration and expansion of the orphanage is critical to our plans to bring in more children and change their lives! Initially, we thought that we could fit as many as 20 children in the facility when we thought that they would send us infants, but the children that we have are between 5 and 10 years old. They need a lot more room and we need to have separate facilities for the boys and girls as well as separate areas for the younger children and older ones. We turn down new children that the government brings to us frequently because we don't have the appropriate facilities to handle more children. We want to change this!

We were referred to Eric by our social worker that is coordinating our Ghana adoption. She recently began working with Eric to begin the process of possibly creating a Nigeria adoption program through her agency. Along with this, Eric had begun looking for individuals moved by his cause that would have insight and interest in donating time to help make his fundraising event for the expansion a success. Our name came up, and now we are serving as chairs on the event planning committee. Our first meeting was last Thursday in Des Moines, and I must say, as I looked around the table at those gathered, I was very humbled that I was sitting there….sitting amongst the company of Barry Spear (among many other notable titles, he is the founder of the Make A Wish Foundation of Iowa), a marketing major originally from Ghana, a director from a local African children’s choir originally from Rwanda, our social worker, 2 local & professional musicians, a top notch event coordinator, and Eric Idehen (founder of the orphanage). Oh, not to even mention Jake’s contagiously energetic presence! As I glanced around that table I was SO INSPIRED by the passion that each of these people had! It is so refreshing to see people who see a need, jump in, get their hands dirty, stretch their limits, and GET ‘ER DONE! Wow, I can learn a lot from this group!

As I said above, I’ll be sharing more about the event that we are planning for in tomorrow’s post. For now, I wanted to leave you with the website for Cornerstone of Hope Orphanage, as well as a video detailing many things about Eric’s story, the orphanage, and Nigeria in general. You will notice that right now there are 6 children in the orphanage. There are so many more orphans, and Eric’s vision is to help - one orphan at a time….doing it the right way….sufficient facilities, capable staff, financial support to give each orphan ample education, food & clothing.

Website - Click this link:
http://www.thehopeorphans.org/

Video - Click this link:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2157369531411754083&hl=en

Jake's Thought for the Week

Each Monday I will be posting Jake's Thought for the Week which he sends out to all the parents of the players in his All Iowa Attack program.

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1

What follows is an excerpt from Faith & Doubt by John Ortberg

FAITH VS. DOUBT
I have to live. I have to make a choice. I have to spend my life praying or not praying, worshiping or withholding worship. I have to be guided by some values and desires. And then I have to die. I must give my life in total, in full, without the luxury of holding something back for the second hundred years. My life is a ballot I cast – for God or against him.

My brain cannot provide the certainty that I’m betting my life on the truth. My morality will not provide the luxury of waiting until I know for sure. There is one road to certainty – through a door marked “death.” Then I will know, or there will be no me left to know. But I need to decide how I will live on this side of the door. Once we have been born, trying to put off deciding what to do about God is like jumping off a diving board and trying to put off actually entering the water.

When I think about this urgency, I’m reminded of a saying my friend Kent the drummer told me about. The background for this saying is that all musicians are torn between the desire for perfection and the demands of reality. They would like to know before they sing a note that it will be pitch-perfect. They would like to know before they hit the drum that the beat will fall in perfect rhythm. But musicians are thwarted by reality. There are no guarantees for the perfection of their choices. In fact, to the contrary, there is the guarantee of imperfection. Kent tells me that no one has ever sung on perfect pitch; no drum has ever been struck in perfect time. So Kent has a saying that reminds him of the need to actually play a note in the face of potential imperfection: “You have to put it somewhere. If I refuse to sing a word or play a note until I’m certain of perfection, there will never be music.”

If you don’t want to go to the grave with all your music in you, you’ll have to take a shot. You’ll have to roll the dice. You have to accept limits and uncertainty and risks and mistakes. You have to put it somewhere.

Go Attack!
Jake Sullivan

Mom's

Mom and Dad were watching TV when Mom said, "I'm tired, and it's getting late. I think I'll go to bed."

She went to the kitchen to make sandwiches for the next day's lunches. Rinsed out the popcorn bowls, took meat out of the freezer for supper the following evening, checked the cereal box levels, filled the sugar container, put spoons and bowls on the table and started the coffee pot for brewing the next morning.

She then put some wet clothes in the dryer, put a load of clothes into the washer, ironed a shirt and secured a loose button. She picked up the game pieces left on the table, put the phone back on the charger and put the telephone book into the drawer. She watered the plants, emptied a wastebasket and hung up a towel to dry.

She yawned and stretched and headed for the bedroom. She stopped by the desk and wrote a note to the teacher, counted out some cash for the field trip, and pulled a text book out from hiding under the chair.

She signed a birthday card for a friend, addressed and stamped the envelope and wrote a quick note for the grocery store. She put both near her purse.

Mom then washed her face with 3 in 1 cleanser, put on her night solution & age fighting moisturizer, brushed and flossed her teeth and filed her nails.

Dad called out, "I thought you were going to bed."

''I'm on my way," she said.

She put some water into the dog's dish and put the cat outside, then made sure the doors were locked and the patio light was on.

She looked in on each of the kids and turned out their bedside lamps and TV's, hung up a shirt, threw some dirty socks into the hamper, and had a brief conversation with the one up still doing homework.

In her own room, she set the alarm, laid out clothing for the next day, straightened up the shoe rack. She added three things to her 6 most important things to do list. She said her prayers, and visualized the accomplishment of her goals.

About that time, Dad turned off the TV and announced to no one in particular. 'I'm going to bed.' And he did...without another thought. :)

Mom smiled, read a chapter of her bedside table book, closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MN talk about one of Jake's Players

Highly-touted prospect Harrison Barnes has Minnesota Gophers on his list of colleges
Harrison Barnes, the No. 1 player in 2010 class, likes what Tubby Smith has done at Minnesota
mailto:mfuller@pioneerpress.com?subject=TwinCities.com:
Updated: 05/07/2009 12:18:19 AM CDT

The last time Harrison Barnes came to Minnesota, he might have gone overlooked by fans.
That won't be the case this weekend.

Recently named the No. 1-ranked player in the nation's 2010 class by Scout.com, the 6-foot-7, 205-pound junior from Ames, Iowa, mentioned the University of Minnesota among his top 12 schools. Others included Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA and Kentucky.

It's hard to believe the Gophers made that list, but it's true.

"I think he loves the coaching staff up there and what they have to offer," said former Tartan High School and Iowa State standout Jake Sullivan, Barnes' AAU coach with the All-Iowa Attack. "A unique thing with Harrison is that it's going to be a drawn-out process. I think he has as good a chance at going to Minnesota as anywhere else right now."

With coach Tubby Smith leading the Gophers back to the NCAA tournament last season and bringing in another top recruiting class next season, Minnesota fans have a reason to think big.
But Barnes, who plans to play Friday through Sunday in the Sabes Foundation Invitational at Bloomington Jefferson High School, represents the kind of player not even the most diehard Minnesota followers would have dreamed would be interested in a program two seasons removed from the bottom of the Big Ten Conference.

"I like Minnesota because coach Smith has come in there and really turned things around," said Barnes, who wants to take all of his official visits once he trims his list to five schools after the summer. "I haven't had a chance to check out the campus yet, but I definitely will."

Ames High School, which also produced former Iowa State and Timberwolves guard Fred Hoiberg, might soon be best-known for being Barnes' alma mater.

Barnes is considered the best small forward in the country and No. 4 overall prospect by Rivals.com, and he is solidifying himself as Iowa's best high school player ever.

"I think it's very humbling," said Barnes, who patterns his all-around game after Cleveland Cavaliers all-star LeBron James. "It just shows all of the hard work I've put in so far, but the rankings aren't over yet. At the end of the summer, I want to be the No. 1 player in the country."

Some might think Minnesota and Smith have no realistic shot at landing Barnes, especially when fellow national championship coaches such as Duke's Mike Krzyzewski and Kansas' Bill Self already have shown up at Barnes' high school and gotten him to attend their games last season.
Signing high-profile local products Royce White and Rodney Williams Jr. was huge for Smith. But getting Barnes likely would be one of the most impressive recruiting efforts of his career.
So far, so good. Barnes enjoyed his conversation with Smith and described him as a "very personable guy."

"I think he's a great coach," Barnes said. "Minnesota basketball had a good tradition in the past, and it's on the rise to getting back that prestige."

Barnes has Minnesota connections beyond Sullivan, his AAU coach and an Oakdale native. He called White and Williams his "good friends" since they were on the same team in summer camps. He also began playing part time with the Howard Pulley AAU program this spring.
Rene Pulley, the program's founder, compared Barnes to Kansas City native and current Indianapolis Pacers guard Brandon Rush, who earned All-America honors while leading Kansas to a national title in 2008. Rush also played with the Howard Pulley program briefly.
"He might be more skilled, as far as his ball-handling and jump shot," Pulley said of Barnes, who carries a 3.9 grade-point average. "He could end up playing in the NBA after a year or two years in college like Brandon, because he's mentally ready for that level. How he prepares for the game, his work ethic and intelligence stand out."

After his collegiate career ended in 2004, Sullivan, also a Howard Pulley alum, built an AAU club from scratch in Ames, where the Iowa State campus is. Sullivan's AAU club has about 300 members, but the player he helped develop from a raw seventh-grader to the country's No. 1 recruit put his program on the map.

"There's nothing he can't do on the basketball court, and he's so strong and so explosive," Sullivan said of Barnes. "I was actually thinking this past weekend that I wish I saw LeBron James play in high school, because some of the things Harrison was doing I had never seen before out of a kid in AAU basketball."

At one of the last tournaments we were at I noticed some of the younger Attack players that came to watch Harrison play...

And, they waited and waited until the end of the game to get his autograph! They were pretty excited.

Keep your eye out for Harrison...he's got a great career ahead of him!