10.31.2011

2011 Volunteer Trip

Hello! 
The pictures from our 2011 trip to El Salvador are up on the blog as well as our Facebook page. You can access the Facebook photo album without signing in to Facebook by clicking HERE. We had an amazing fundraising year in 2011! We made just over $12,000 that we translated in to over $20,000 worth of supplies with the help of our community partners. We took down 8 new volunteers this year, which included our two instructors for the First Responder Course we led in El Zonte. The remaining 5 volunteers were the four Team Leaders (Jackie, Daryl, Lisa, and Greg) and the Director of BES (Noah) who had all made the trip before. The trip went well in the clinics as well as in the communities. One of our main goals at BES is to foster cultural exchange and dialogue, so that we can learn from our friends and colleagues in El Salvador, as well as share new things with them. This year also provided exciting new opportunities for BES expansion in the coming years. The Director was able to travel to several new clinics this year to assess the needs of the clinics, as well as their willingness to work with BES. Next year, we will also be donating supplies to the clinics in La Libertad and Chiltiupan in the department of La Libertad, El Salvador. We are very excited about expanding our efforts! As a result of this expansion, however, Benefit El Salvador is attempting to raise $20,000 this year! Due to some partnerships in Utah, we have managed to raise close to $1,500 so far. Keep checking back on the blog for more updates and news. 
Lisa

10.18.2011

Weathering the Storm

Photo courtesy of CNN

      While our volunteers are focused on raising funds for our clinic partners in El Salvador, our friends and colleagues in El Salvador are focused on providing health care for displaced families and those affected by the rain and flooding along the coast in El Salvador. Our thoughts and prayers are with those who are suffering and those who are assisting with the relief effort.

8.02.2011

Ready to go!

After an amazing few months of fundraising, and over $12,000 later, our 2011 International Volunteer Team is ready to go! Check out some of the pics of all of the gear we were able to collect and pack up this year, with help from our partners at Globus Relief!




5.18.2011

Climbing Competition Recap

Hello friends!
Well, it has been a crazy month! As soon as the silent auction was over, the volunteer team at Benefit El Salvador started collaborating with The Front Climbing Club in Salt Lake City for our next event: a rock climbing competition! With a little less than a month to plan, our team raced to action!

The Front administered the competition with the proceeds going toward our fundraising goal of $10,000!

We had a great turn-out of rock climbers eager to try all of the new routes - approximately 80 competitors!

In addition to funds raised for entering the comp, BES volunteers were grillin' in the parking lot to keep all of the competitors and spectators nice and full for a donation of $5!

Gorilla Bars (an all natural snack-bar company) came out to support our cause and brought free samples for everyone to try!
- Check out their website HERE to sign up for a FREE full size sample! (Trust us, they're delicious!)

Overall, the Climbing Competition was a great event with lots of fun all for a great cause!
- Pictures from our partner Caption Photography will be posted soon!

-Lisa Naujoks, Staff Writer

4.20.2011

Silent Auction 2011 - Photos!

Thanks to Caption Photography for documenting this great event! Check out their website HERE. Enjoy!






















4.19.2011

Meeting Minutes 4/18

-Personal fundraising goal $225

-Alert to members! Join ASUU student group!!! 
      This helps us get money from ASUU as a student group based on membership
      Irving will be maintaining that site from now on

-Tabling locations: Union, ASB (East Bio Building), wherev just ask permission from the building/college that runs the building first. 

-Wanted: Bennion Center Rep/Program Director for BES

-Our next event:
       Climbing competition fundraiser
       May 15th
       Need: flat grill rental, food, beverage --> Lisa food: Costco, Greg beverage: Squatters
       Flyer: Darryl
       Flyer distribution: EVERYONE
       Next meeting on climbing comp: MONDAY APRIL 25TH

-Prize drawing: still June 3rd
       iPad 2!
       How to sell tickets
       "Membership prize drawing" 

-International ambassador applications
       Deadline: May 7
       Application online-->Volunteer-->International ambassador application on right hand side

Thanks everyone!!

-Lisa , Staff writer
      

4.13.2011

Silent Auction Update

Hello everyone! 
The Benefit El Salvador silent auction was a HUGE success this year! Stay tuned for upcoming posts with pictures and a fundraising total for the night.

Thank you to everyone who made the auction such a great event: 
All businesses, artists, and companies that donated items, food, or beverage for the night - Thank you!
All volunteers for helping with check-in, food, check-out, and everything else - Thank you!
All guests who came to our little event to support our cause - Thank you!
Lisa

3.28.2011

Keeping Up

Hello bloggers!

I apologize for the lapse in posts. I am graduating from the University of Utah and I am in the process of completing my honors thesis on my laboratory research. It has been quite time intensive as you might imagine. Nonetheless, the Benefit El Salvador project has kept rolling! Here's a quick update to get you up to speed:
  • Volunteers needed for tabling at the union - anyone interested please contact Parker Plant
  • Send out your invites to the silent auction! 
    • Date & time: Friday, April 8th from 7 - 10 PM at the 15th Street Gallery
    • Find the event on Facebook - RSVP on FB and send invites to your friends!
  • Item gathering for the auction - Please keep Jackie informed on any items or food donated.
  • Please remember the individual fundraising goal of $225.00 this year!
We appreciate everyone's hard work! Keep it up :)
Lisa N - Staff Writer

2.28.2011

Next Meeting

Hey everyone!

Our next meeting is one week from tonight, which makes it Monday, March 7th at 7:30 PM at the Main Library in Downtown SLC.Please invite any friends or acquaintances that are interested in our group! Also, if you have volunteered to obtain some items for the silent auction, the first one is due to Noah or at the meeting. Any questions about the silent auction can be directed to Jackie. See you all at the meeting!

Lisa

2.17.2011

Meeting #2 update - 2/14/2011


1) Personal Fundraising: $225 goal.  To help everyone achieve it, utilize the new donation letter our students writers drafted up for us! It will be available on the blog/facebook page by this coming weekend. 

2) Our student writers are also looking to interview a few of our volunteers in the next week or two.  They will use the interviews to pen an article about BES.   

3) Tabling schedule is available and we’re looking for volunteers!  Greg and Nick will be posting up outside in the Union Plaza on Wednesdays from 10:45am-3pm.  They’ll be signing up new volunteers, collecting donations, selling raffle tickets and promoting our upcoming silent auction.We need a pair of volunteers to set up shop on upper-campus near the hospital and research buildings to target our audience of soon to be nurses, doctors, and pharmacists - anyone interested? Please email harpernoah@yahoo.com or parker.plant@gmail.com!

4) Some volunteers will be making classroom announcements in the next couple of weeks in hopes of growing our membership as a student group and to bring in more volunteers!  The more students that register as members of our group, the more likely we are to get financial backing from our student government.  Log on and add yourself as a member here: https://utah-community.symplicity.com/index.php?s=home   While you’re at it, take a couple more minutes and find our new facebook page.  Just search Benefit El Salvador and “like” us :) 

5) Greg’s been working on some cool T-shirt Designs. Once we finalize the design, we’ll be taking preorders at $10 for a shirt. The shirts will be $15 after the pre sale.  Keri’s friend (a graphic designer) is helping with the design.

6) We have secured our silent auction venue: the 15th and 15th Art Gallery.  It’s a beautiful place! Jackie will have the date, time and rough outline of the event schedule by the end of this week.  We’re also in need of a volunteer who is licensed to bartend for the event.  We’ll be serving beer and wine along with non-alcoholic beverages- any bartenders out there that are interested in helping out for an evening?

7) There was a lot of discussion about splitting the raffle and the silent auction into two events and it looks like we’re leaning in that direction.  The auction will definitely be held early April, while we will likely have the raffle as an end of the semester party.  Greg is looking into secure The Front climbing gym as our venue.  Let's get a dialogue going about this decision: Post a comment here on the blog or here (on our facebook page) with your thoughts!


As always email or post any questions or comments!
Lisa

2.02.2011

First Meeting Update

The first meeting of 2011 for The Benefit El Salvador Project went smoothly and much was accomplished in that short 1.5 hour gathering. Here is a short summary of the topics covered:
- New partnership with Bucks4Books on 200 S. between University Street and 1300 E.
- New blog and facebook page
- A group of University of Utah students will be helping us create and update documents as part of a service-learning class requirement. Thanks for the help!
- Look for volunteer stories.....coming soon to the blog and website 
- Volunteers needed for tabling, class announcements, and the silent auction event
- Silent Auction: 
          Date: April 9th
          Possible location nailed down: 15th and 15th gallery
          Food/beverage ideas anyone?
          15 volunteers to begin soliciting donations for the raffle and silent auction (form letter coming soon)
          Ideal goal is 3 items per volunteer

So, that was the gist of the first meeting. The next meeting is scheduled for February 14, 2011 at 7:30 PM in the Downtown City Library - Conference room 1. Hope to see you all there!

Lisa - Staff Writer

1.14.2011

Welcome!

Hello everyone and welcome to the Benefit El Salvador blog! Visit this page often for photos and information about our fundraising progress. We'll also post information on upcoming events. I also hope to post get-to-know-you profiles on the members of our executive board, which should be fun!

Let's get started....
The Benefit El Salvador Project is an ongoing fundraising effort aimed at supplying rural public health clinics in El Salvador with needed medical equipment and resources. Clinics lack the medical equipment and supplies essential for adequate treatment. Addressing and alleviating this problem is our main goal. The Benefit El Salvador Project is operated and staffed exclusively by a dedicated team of volunteers and all funds and contributions go directly to the purchase and transport of medical supplies and resources. We are excited to get things going this year and reach our fundraising goal of $10,000 before our group of International Volunteers travels to El Salvador later this Summer. Visit our website (http://www.benefitelsalvador.com/) for more information or find our page on Facebook!

Lisa Naujoks - Staff Writer