Party People
Under the Tent at Gloucester Maritime
Hello Friends,
I am so pleased to announce that we exceeded our goals in all areas for our first big event of the Foundation!
An Amazing Evening filled with Fun
We gathered on the harbor, to live saxophone played by Darnley Hodge (husband of Board Member Doreen Hodge). The air was balmy and a small breeze came off the ocean. Everyone was enjoying reconnecting to old and meeting new ones. To top it off, the full moon of rose over the pier just after the auction. It feels so lucky that we were able to come together at that time and with that weather.
Doris’s extended family was there (over 50 strong), and thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the way of Doris: by sharing their infectious enthusiasm, connecting with love, and laughing a lot. There were tears too, as people reminisced about Doris, but the positive energy just seemed to lift everyone’s spirits. “Would Doris like this event in her honor,” I asked? “And for this mission?” I heard over and over “YES, she would, and yes she does!”
A Meaningful Mission
The energy in the room at the event was classic Doris: electric with excitement with communicating and spreading the love of each other. Board members Ila Prouty, Doreen Hodge, and Amira Martin (all accomplished Black women) spoke eloquently to the mission of the Foundation, to support people of color, especially black women, to achieve their goals in education, art, social change and climate justice.
I spoke to the history and context of the logo of the Foundation: a rising and dancing black woman. Doris had made a quilt featuring this emblem, in 2012, to work her way through her grief at losing one of her best friends, Harriet Webster in 2011. Harriet was co-founder of Maritime Gloucester (where we held our event), in partnership with Geoff Richon; so, it was especially sweet to honor Harriett as the inspiration for the logo of our new Foundation as we celebrated on the wharf of the organization, to which she had helped give birth, (and to have Geoff there to ring the bell as auction items sold!)
Fundraising Momentum!
Together we cleared over $18,000 after all expenses! This exceeded our fundraising goal by over 10,000 dollars! We wanted to raise at least $7,500 to cover three scholarships of $2500 without dipping into our growing endowment. And we more than doubled that. While we are still calculating all the income and will have to wait to see how much donor money came into our portal at MA Philanthropies (our temporary fiscal agent), we hit it out of the park for our fundraising.
This is all due to your generosity, our exceptional auctioneer Sarah Lafferty (who seemed to channel Doris’ humor and liveliness at several points), and the hard work of the ‘Dream Team”: Eileen Fitzgerald, Nicole Richon Schoel, Babs Swanson, Suzanne Pugh, and Bo Lee, led by Ila Prouty. And of course, a big thank you to all our attendees, volunteers who ran the show, and donors and those who donated auction items.
Let me take a moment here to send some positive energy to my dear friend Jim Schoel, who is recovering from a stroke. If you’d like to help offset his medical bills, please visit this gofundme campaign: https://gofund.me/3976eaa3
What’s Next?
Our board will be meeting soon to look forward, as we continue creating this Foundation. You’ll be hearing more from us, and we love hearing from you!
In the meantime, please buy and wear our great shirts and other swag, tell people about the Foundation, and encourage people to give at least once a year. We are building the foundation to last, and a key part of this is growing a permanent endowment.
We are off to a great start! And we thank you.
In the Spirit of Doris,
Dick Prouty
