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On Sunday, September 10th, philanthropist, Stanley Black welcomed Wells Bring Hope back to his home for the fourth year in a row for its annual fundraiser. The day started off warm, but when it was time to sit down and listen to the talks, the clouds came in to cool us off, and the threat of thunderstorms never materialized, much to our relief.
Our event was a huge success, thanks to our generous donors, capable volunteers, and especially to Board Member, Carol Rosen who choreographed it all.
Thanks to the help of Marsha and Mark Hierbaum who contributed $30,000 in matching funds for Raise the Paddle, we raised enough money to fund 26 wells.
Guests nibbled on delicious food from Huntington Caterers and sipped wine generously discounted by The Wine House.
While everyone ate, drank, and chatted away, our fantastic volunteers enticed guests to bid in the silent auction. The tables were loaded with exciting offerings and bidding for many items was fierce, especially for the Hollywood Bowl garden box, the Malibu Wine Safari, and a spa day at The Oaks at Ojai. Thanks to everyone who bid and made the auction lively and fun!
At the close of the silent auction, guests moved to the back lawn, where they were welcomed by Founder and President, Barbara Goldberg. This year we honored the women and girls of Niger who inspire our work. The more than life-size photos on easels of made them very real to our guests. Barbara announced the launch of our 10 Year Anniversary campaign, “500 in 10.” It reflects our goal to drill 500 wells in 10 years, giving us just 6 months to accomplish that in a race against climate change.
Stanley welcomed us all to his home, and then Barbara introduced WBH’s Nigerien-born Director of Microfinance, Hadiara Diallo, who talked about the extraordinary impact of the training that we give to women to start their own small businesses in every village where we drill a well.
Treasurer Larry Johnson spoke very movingly about his first trip to Niger last spring and the personal connection that he felt with the people he met, both our Rotary partners in Niamey and the rural villagers. Gil Garcetti closed with remarks about how he was touched by the hard lives of women and girls when he first went to West Africa in 2001 and how that motivated him to help change their lives.
Grant Snyder, auctioneer extraordinaire, took the stage for the fifth year in a row, helping us raise lots of money for wells. He auctioned off exciting trips to Belize, Maui, and tempted donors with a week of skiing in Park City and playing “cowboy” at a dude ranch in Wyoming and flying on a private jet to some great California destinations. Once again Turkish Airlines gave us two business class tickets to any of their Africa destinations. They’ve supported us for the last five years and we so appreciate their generosity.
Thank you to all who came to support Wells Bring Hope’s nine great years!
To view and download all of these photos and more, please check out the album on the Wells Bring Hope Facebook page. Thanks to Debrah LeMattre and Aulona Gojani for their great photography!
