The 2013 “Dancing Stews” with their professional partners!

Thank you to all who made the first annual “Dancing With the Stews” fundraiser a huge success. We were able to raise over $22,000. for the children of Fresh and Green Academy! This will provide three meals a day and free education for some of Ethiopia’s neediest children for the next five months and bring us closer to our goal of building a larger school with boarding facilities.

The evening featured a full length “Dancing With the Stars” type show with six flight attendant/professional dancing teams. Our VIP guests enjoyed front row seating at the show and a special reception with hors’deourves, champagne, and open bar. Our MC, Rene Foss, of “Around the World in a Bad Mood” fame, gracefully led us on an unforgettable adventure filled with talent, beauty, and humor. Celebrity judges, Melanie LaPatin, Sid Grant, and Pam Ann each added their own unique flair to the show and truly entertained the guests.

The flight attendants donated their time and new found talent to pull off an amazing show to benefit the children. Capezio, Bobby Tan of Dance Z World, and Donna Inc. donated the shoes and costumes that created the vision of beauty that was “Dancing With the Stews”.

The show was streamed live and viewers were able to text to vote for their favorite team. The prize for the most money raised before the event went to Chevy and Solomon. Sacha and Tobi won the most votes and therefore the most donations during the event. K-Mo and Jana won the prize for the “Judges Favorite” and the overall winners who took home the Mirror Ball trophy, were Chevy and Solomon. While the voting is over you are still able to make a donation in your favorite teams name!

For some great video footage, watch here.

You can also visit our YouTube page for more!

Click to Donate!

K-Mo & Jana	Ann Marie & Frank	Chevy & Solomon
Sacha & Tobi	Francesco & Kristin	Eddie & Amanda

We had such a great response that DWTS2014 is already in the works! Stay tuned for more information and how you can become the next “Dancing Stew”!
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Join us as we pair Flight Attendants and professional dancers for a night of performance, friendly competition and great fun geared towards helping the children of Fresh and Green Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Step 1. Click this link to vote and donate!

Step 2. Click here to reserve your seat. Limited availability!

Step 3. Click this link and enjoy the live show!

Want to Watch on Your Mobile Device?
Just Scan the QR Code Below…

Goldman-Sonnenfeldt Family Auditorium, JCC in Manhattan 334 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10023

 Get your tickets now!

Join us as we pair Flight Attendants and professional dancers for a night of performance, friendly competition and great fun, to help the children.

Come watch and vote for your favorite couple and enjoy the cocktails and appetizers. There will even be a raffle for some very special prizes. You don’t want to miss out but if you can not make it, be sure to watch our live stream here.

Our fundraiser will be a fun, dynamic event that will feature a dance competition with flight attendants paired with professional dancers competing against each other to raise money for the Academy in Ethiopia.

There are many ways you can support this amazing event.  You can purchase tickets to attend and prepare yourself for a fantastic night of entertainment.  If you are unable to attend, you can can simply give a donation by clicking on the “Donate Now” button.  You can also vote for your favorite dance couple by donating a vote.

Simply click on the dancer you would like to vote for and you will be redirected to their page to vote for them.

Click, Vote, Donate!

Vote for K-Mo & Jana	Vote for Ann Marie & Frank	Vote for Chevy & Solomon
Click & Vote for Sacha & Tobi	Vote for Francesco & Kristin	Vote for Eddie & Amanda

General Admission (with one free drink) – $75

VIP Ticket (VIP reception and open bar) – $150

DWTS Chairman  (Your own reserved front row table for 8-10 of your friends, VIP reception, and write up in the program and on all advertisement) – $3,000

Purchase your ticket today!

Each couple will preform their dance the night of the competition, they will receive a score based on their performance as well as votes/donations they receive before and during the competition.  So please join us at the event or tune in via the internet to view a live stream of the competition and vote for your favorite Stew!

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-Epictetus

In 2000, when local teacher, Muday Mitiku started the Fresh and Green Academy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she never thought the plight of these needy children would touch so many people—all she knew was that if she did nothing, nothing would change for them. Since then, 139 children’s lives have been improved beyond recognition.

However, in 2008, the school had run out of funding and was in danger of closing. Fortunately, three flight attendants were on a mission trip to the school and had fallen in love with the children. They could not turn their back on them and upon their return to the US they founded Friends of Fresh and Green Academy Inc. (FoFaGAcademy), a 501(c)(3) non profit organization .

The Impact
FoFaGAcademy has become the primary support of the Fresh and Green Academy and the children who had been begging on the streets now receive year-round access to clean drinking water, medical care, three nutritious meals a day, and a well-rounded education including art, music, computer classes and physical education and morals classes.
FoFaGAcademy also supports a Mother’s Cooperative within the community, where local crafts can be sold to provide for their families.

What We Need & What You Get
Now we need your help to keep the school operating—This year we were able to build a new building to accommodate the addition of fifth grade. We have hired new, highly qualified, teachers that truly care about teaching and the well being of the students at Fresh and Green. While this was all much needed, it has increased our costs by $2,000 per month. The children cannot put their learning and growing on hold because we do not have funding.

Several of the students are living in violent and sexually transgressive homes as well. One bright young student, Hirut, ran away from the home she was living when the men of the house tried to abuse her. Hirut and two other children who have been abandoned, are now living in a house we have rented for $300 per month, near the school. One of the mothers and her two children live there as well and provide the adult supervision the children need.

Your donation will help us carry on Muday Mitiku’s work, and allow these children to learn, grow, and reach their potential in a safe and loving environment. Please donate today, and allow us to keep providing education, food, and care for these often overlooked children. A single donation is hugely appreciated, or you can become a child’s sponsor. Sponsorship is a unique way of becoming a crucial part of these children’s lives and while the money goes toward helping all the children, you will receive periodic updates on an individual student.

$10–Buys a child a new school uniform.
$35–Monthly donation allows you to become a child’s sponsor.
$60–Pays a teacher’s salary for a month.
$100–Feeds 6 children for a month.
$600–Pays the school’s rent for one month.
$1000–Contributes to the new school facility, which will include boarding and guarantee a safe night’s sleep in addition to food, health services, and education for the children.

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The students’ mothers come to Fresh and Green Academy at least once per week to work in the Mothers Cooperative. You’ll find them working in the newly created looming area weaving colorful scarfs. They can weave four scarfs in a day, knowing every item sold helps them provide food for their families.
You might imagine the moms to be in their late thirties with their solemn, lined faces talking softly among themselves. Looks can be deceiving: most are in their twenties and early 30s, which is middle-aged in Ethiopia. Life expectancy is only 45.
Sit and talk with them and you’ll learn some of their stories: most grew up in small villages. In the 1980s, when most of them were children, it was a time of great famine in Ethiopia. And so they moved to Addis Ababa as soon as they got into their teens, thinking it would be the land of opportunity. But there was no work, or food to be found. Some of them turned to prostitution as the only way of staying alive. Most got pregnant, and most got HIV.
That is one common thread that runs through their lives. But the other commonality is this: Through Fresh and Green they have been given back their dignity: through the weaving and craft sales, they are able to afford food for themselves and their children. Most importantly, the meals they are now able to afford help them qualify for the life-saving anti-retroviral medicine that has turned AIDS from a fatal to a manageable disease. Muday has held classes in health and hygiene and they have learned how to keep themselves and their families healthy and strong. They have formed a sisterhood of trust and friendship in a city where life can be very unforgiving; in short, they are thriving.
Through Muday’s vision, the entire neighborhood of Ketema has been transformed. With your help, not just the students, but their mothers have been given this one invaluable thing called hope.

Little by little, our students’ Moms are beginning to earn an income. In addition, they are developing a sense of pride and dignity by earning their own money.

At present, 40 of our students’ Mothers have joined the Mothers Cooperative at Fresh & Green Academy where they are able to come together and work on their crafts. They weave beautiful scarves, and make other items such as shoes, handbags, and jewelry. In addition, our Moms are able to make a contribution by helping out at our school with meal preparation and other tasks.

The Mothers Cooperative is not only a place where the students’ Mothers can come to create and work, but is also a place where they have formed a sisterhood. This sisterhood gives them hope that they will be able to thrive and take care of their families. These women are able to make a living. Finally, their dreams of a better life are coming true.

Sunday, October 28, 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. at Venus De Milo, 75 Grand Army Highway, Swansea, MA  02777

Sunday, November 11, 10 a.m.- 4 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza, 801 Greenwich Avenue, Warwick, RI  02886

The New Space

New Preschool and Kindergarten Building

Science Lab in the Original Building

One of the main functions of Fresh and Green is to nourish the children. The children receive three meals a day everyday they are at the school, and for most of them, this is the only time they eat. Because of this fact, what started as a preschool and kindergarten school, now has classes through 5th grade!

We needed to build a new structure per government regulations and the result is a new beautiful building and an upgrade of the original building. Fortunately, we were able to rent a plot of land next to the school. The new building has 6 rooms including a bathroom, teachers room, and nap room. The three classrooms are for the preschool and kindergarten 1 and 2 classes. The main building now has a science lab and the 5th grade classroom.

The majority of funding for this project came from the money raised at “The Fourth Annual Poker/Casino Fundraiser”

Thank you for making this all possible and continuing to support Friends of Fresh and Green Academy.

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Our amazing volunteers.

Friends of Fresh and Green Academy hosted its fourth annual Casino Night on September 10, 2012, at Connolly’s in Midtown Manhattan. Over $10,000 was raised which will pay for the new addition of classrooms to enable us to add fifth grade. Many guests exclaimed that they had a great time and will be back next year!
Fresh and Green Academy, in Addis Ababa, has eight students entering fifth grade for which three additional classrooms are needed. These classrooms include a science lab, library, and general classroom. In Ethiopia, fifth through eighth grade is considered middle school. These newly constructed classrooms will be able to accommodate students for the next four years.
Thanks to money raised at this event and continued donor support, Fresh and Green Academy will also be able to admit ten new preschool children. These children now have hope for a future, which includes a well-rounded education and three nutritious meals daily.
The evening’s highlights included a poker & blackjack tournament, and new to this year, roulette tournament. Guests played for prizes while enjoying a full open bar and appetizers. Tickets to see Madonna in concert were among prizes in the roulette tournament. Along with the tournament, a raffle enticed guests to donate more money to the school with a chance to win prizes such as a Proenza-Schouler handbag, Stella & Dot jewelry and more.
Every guest who attended received a goodie bag that was filled with samples, including Scentsy and Lancome products, air plants from Lulindi, promotional coupons, and Friends of Fresh and Green playing cards.
Robert Essel from Robert Essel Photography was taking photos all night, which can be seen here.
Friends of Fresh and Green Academy would like to thank all attendees, volunteers, donors, and businesses that donated goods and services to make this year’s Casino Night a huge success for such a crucial cause.
Please watch for information on holiday fairs and other fundraising campaigns to ensure that Fresh and Green Academy and its 125 brilliant children continue to thrive!

This year promises to be our most spectacular event yet!

Join us for an evening of Poker, Black Jack and Monday Night Football!
Register before August 27th and pay only $185.00
for $2,500.00 in chips, 3 hours premium open bar,
and 3 hours of passed hors d’oeuvres!
Play will be for prizes such as gym memberships, Broadway
tickets, wellness services, dinners and more!
We have professional dealers & tables.
Beginner tables and instruction are available. Don’t want to play? For $80.00, receive open bar, hors d’oeuvres, and more fun and games while helping the children of Fresh and Green Academy!

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