Partying Downunder!

I am back in the New Zealand Headquarters this week after a weekend of partying in Australia. However it was all for a good cause of course and I managed to visit five fantastic ESTC parties - four in Melbourne and one in Sydney! I was so impressed by all of the events, each host had done an incredible amount of work and all of their guests were enjoying themselves immensely and having a fabulous time. In Melbourne, Chloe and Nancy put on a great show at the St Kilda Bowls Club and DJ Migsta played a rocking set and got us all up dancing. School girls Olivia and Elly hosted a charming dinner party at home for their friends and cooked a yummy lasagne. Georgi, Andrew and the girls were a dynamo team and put on a sensational event for over 100 people with live music and Ethiopian food at a restaurant in Collingwood called ‘The Horn’. Meryl and Peter Gamgee held a sunday session for thier friends and family on their beautiful property in The Patch. They cooked traditional Kenyan food and showed photos from their recent volunteer placement at one of the IDP Camps in Kenya.

Thank you to all of the Melbourne hosts for welcoming me, it was wonderful to meet you all.

After Melbourne I headed to Sydney to visit Cass Treadwell, Executive Director of GVN Foundation Australia, who planned a massive ESTC event for 250 people. Cass is also one of the founders of the ESTC campaign so I anticipated it was going to be a pretty special party. I was not disappointed. Cass and her army of women who formed the event committee were absolutely amazing. I was so impressed by their drive and commitment and it was so inspiring watching them in action. I truly think that when a group of women put their minds together they can achieve anything. And in this case this amazing group went above and beyond. The GVN Foundation Australia party raised over $AU70, 000! WOW! Congratulations to Cass and the team!

Want to see how ESTC has raised altogether so far? Check out our results page:
http://www.eatsotheycan.org/africa/results.php

Hugs,
Lauren

Eat So They Can takes off!

Wow, what a week! Over the last few days I've been receiving ESTC stories, photos and donations from all around the world, and it has been such a wonderful experience! So far we have already had over $25,000 come in and so our $120,000 target is starting to seem possible. For regular updates of how much we've raised, please visit: http://www.eatsotheycan.org/africa/results.php

I'd like to share just a few of the stories and photos with you that have come in.

Dennis and Anita, Australia

"Well it's done ... and what a buzz ...21 dinner guests and three dinner parties later we have $990.00 ... the weekend is a blur .... cooking cleaning preparing dressing ...

But it's not over for us ... we've got the bug now and we will continue to raise awareness and funds through out the year so that next year we might be able to reach our goal of doubling our takings ... you have really inspired us!!!"

Thank you Dennis! We're so happy to have your support!

Valeria Azcoitia, Canada

"I have good news: we raised about 475$ last Saturday. It makes me feel extremely happy and proud, like last year, especially because we are mostly students participating in the dinner. That's why I asked for a minimum contribution of 20$ but most people gave more."

Thank you so much for being a part of Eat So They Can Valeria!

Victoria Brennan, Australia

"We are all very happy with the result for such a small group and everyone is so inspired to do it again... A highlight was the skype video call with my son Jeremy who is a volunteer in Kenya – it certainly made it all real for us!"
Glad to see that even the dogs were joining in Victoria!

Thanks again everyone! Lots more stories and photos to come... :)

Eliza

Good Luck!

Hello everyone,

Here in the ESTC office we're as busy as can be! So this is just a quick message to wish you all the best of luck! The ESTC team will be thinking of you all this weekend :)

Eliza

1 week to go!

Hey guys,

Can you believe that the big ESTC weekend will be here in only 1 week?! Here in the office we've started to get seriously excited as the countdown begins. We have more registered hosts than ever before and donations are already starting to pour in. This is going to be a great year guys!

Here are a few important dates for your calendar...

16 October: World Food Day
The day before the ESTC weekend marks World Food Day, designed to increase awareness, understanding and action to alleviate hunger. With an estimated increase of 105 million hungry people in 2009, there are now 1.02 billion malnourished people in the world, meaning that almost one sixth of all humanity is suffering from hunger.

17-18 October: THE weekend!
The official ESTC weekend! Good luck and have fun!

31 December: Last day to submit donations
The last day to submit donations if you wish to be eligible to enter the Grand Prize Draw or the $20,000 challenge.

15 January: Winners announced!
The Grand Prize trip winners will be announced!

Any comments or questions, please post them below.

Eliza

Asia Pacific Emergency Appeal

Our thoughts are with our ESTC hosts, their families, and all of the communities in the Asia Pacific region who have been affected by the earthquakes, typhoons, and tsunamis that have wrought death and destruction this week.

The GVN Foundation has launched an emergency appeal to assist two communities who are particularly dear to our hearts - CERV, our partner in the Philippines, and Samoa, the neighbouring island to our headquarters here in New Zealand.

If you would like to make a donation to the appeal please visit the webpage.

> Philippines Disaster Relief Fund

> Samoa Disaster Relief Fund

100% OF YOUR DONATION WILL GO DIRECTLY TO THE FUND.

With love
ESTC Team


Image courtesy of the Globe and Mail: A Filipino boy is carried to safety through floodwaters brought by Tropical Storm Ketsana in the Quezon City suburban of Manila on Sept. 26, 2009. Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images