December 2009 Happy Holidays!!! On behalf of the ESAC Board of Directors and Staff, we want to extend our warmest wishes in this holiday season for a healthy, happy, and safe holiday season to all of our friends and supporters. As we count our blessings we want to extend our deepest gratitude to the community, the restaurants, local businesses, our sponsors, and attendees for making this year’s ESAC’s 14th Annual Taste of Jamaica Plain held on Thursday, November 19, 2009 such a tremendous success. Nearly 400 people attended the event and everyone had a wonderful time enjoying great food, socializing, the silent auction, and the incredible music of the Rasheed Meadows’ On Kee Jazz Band. I personally also want to thank this year’s event co-chairs: Edith Buhs and Paul Shoemaker, the silent auction coordinator Jay Goober, the ESAC Board of Directors, ESAC staff, and the GED Plus students who worked so hard to make the event so successful. All I can say is a very humble THANK YOU!! We were able to raise over $40,000 this year and we are grateful for the community’s support for the work that we do in this very challenging economy. We are still receiving donations and encourage your generous support. We are grateful for all of our blessings: our funders, financial supporters, collaborators, partners, ESAC Board of Directors, ESAC staff and volunteers, and the people we serve. We are looking forward with great hope and expectation for a healthy, happy, prosperous and blessed 2010!!! Happy New Year to All!!! Thank you for your support! Bill Minkle,
November 2009 Welcome Friends, On behalf of the ESAC Board of Directors and Staff, we are pleased to invite and welcome you to ESAC’s 14th Annual Taste of Jamaica Plain on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at Our Lady of Lebanon Cedars Hall, 61 Rockwood Street, Jamaica Plain at 6:30 p.m.. The “Taste” serves as ESAC’s signature annual fundraiser and we expect the tradition to carry on for many years to come. It’s an exciting community event where we all who attend have the opportunity to sample delectable cuisine from some of the best restaurants in the city. Some “out of towners” last year said that “JP is now a new destination to come to dinner.” The Taste of JP is an important event that helps support our work particularly in these challenging economic times. We are grateful for the community support and the collaboration of the local restaurants and businesses especially our sponsors. We are filled with optimism as we move forward with your support. We are now in the process of preparing and positioning ourselves as we look forward to the new opportunities and challenges as the winds of change sweep the nation and affect our community. ESAC has always been an incubator for new ideas and developing resources to bring those ideas to fruition to serve the neediest and most vulnerable in our city. We are prepared to help homeowners sustain their homes through foreclosure prevention counseling and senior home repair. We are prepared to help the City’s most at-risk youth prepare for a productive, rewarding, and fulfilling life through our holistic approach in our GED Plus Program now offered at 3 sites: Dudley Square, Grove Hall, and Egleston. We continue to work to curb youth violence in our community. We are also prepared to help children with asthma better manage their disease. We will continue to work for peace and harmony in our community by keeping memories alive of those that we have lost and the spirit of new growth through the Egleston Square Peace Garden. We are looking forward to our future together to serve and work with our community. Together we will continue to build on the ESAC foundation built over 40 years ago. Enjoy your evening and I look forward to meeting each and every one of you. Thank you for your support! Bill Minkle,
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