We did it! We raised money for at least one more playground in one evening!
Dear friends of PfP,
Thanks to your generosity and the hard work of our volunteers, Playgrounds for Palestine had a fantastic dinner fundraiser on Saturday, February 10th raising a total over $14,000!
With the help of many volunteers who put in long hours of working meetings, hundreds of calls and emails, unwavering dedication and a lot of love, PfP held its annual dinner at the University of Pennsylvania Hall of Flags, at Houston Hall in Philadelphia.
The food consisted of shish kabab, rolled grape leaves, Moroccan chicken, couscous, hummus, baba ghanoush, falafel, tabouli, plus desserts and coffee.
Tribe1, a local band of musicians, poets and artists sang beautiful songs of transformation and human bonding that left us all inspired.
Maysoon Zayid, an Arab American comedian was fantastic. Patrons that evening wrote to us calling her “hilarious”, the “highlight of the evening”, “really wonderful”.
Lina Salameh, a Palestinian student at UPenn, performed a passionate dance that combined traditional Palestinian dabke with modern dance and got the crowd onto the dance floor afterward.
There was a children’s crafts area, where kids here made cards for kids in Palestine. They made gifts to take home using sand art, beads, zippers, calligraphy, and more.
We had a fantastic silent auction that consisted of beautiful jewelry, embroidery, hand-painted tiles and mirrors, table runners, gift baskets, restaurant gift certificates and so much more. There was a sale table with books and smaller embroidery items, prayer beads and, again, much more. A live auction of an autographed copy of Jimmy Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace not Apartheid, was sold for $500! And several raffle prizes, including a portable DVD player, four gift baskets, a restaurant gift certificate, and a $200 gift Persian rug cleaning certificate were given away to winners.
Certificates of appreciation were given to five individuals in recognition of their support and dedication to Palestinian children over the years.
Attendance far exceeded our expectations, more than doubling our expected number at the door! While this put a great strain on our food supply and seating capabilities, this is a problem any volunteer organization would envy and we trust that all those who were inconvenienced would accept our apology knowing that this is all for a great cause – the children of Palestine.
Please take a moment look at our
program, and see more photos from the evening. Note the vendors who purchased ads to support and read about the volunteers, the donors, and the awardees who make Playgrounds for Palestine possible.
click here to see more photos!
co-sponsors
Co-sponsored by Penn Arab Studen Society, Deir Yasin Remembered, Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), White Dog Cafe, SUSTAIN (Stope US Aid to Israel Now), Philadelphia International Action Center (IAC), Philadelphia Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Bubbes and Zaydes for Middle East Peace, Temple Muslim Student Association (MSA), American Muslim Society of the Tri-State Area, Islamic Cirlce of North America & Pennsylvania (ICNA), Al Bustan, Network of Arab American Professionals (NAAP), Muslim Student Association (MSA) at Penn, Council of American-Islamic Relations of Pennsylvania (CAIR)
We did it! We raised money for at least one more playground in one evening!
