Gosince01's 1 Year Anniversary Blograiser

Summer camp experiences are expensive! But GOTO's kids are TOTALLY worth it.

In honor of the one year anniversary of Giving Opportunities Since 2001, we've decided to host our first inaugural "blograiser."

Over the next three months, we're going to raise enough money to send two GOTO scholarship kids to camp ... $40 at a time.

If you're curious how the finances break down, one full scholarship to Appel Farm costs GOTO $4,000. And one Med-O-Lark scholarship costs us $1,800.

That brings our 3 month fundraising goal to a grand total of $5,800 and 145 individual $40 donors.

Donations can be made on the fancy widget at the top right hand side of the blog. Or you can donate here. Or
you can mail your check for $40 into GOTO HQ, with "2010 Blograiser" in the Memo line.

In addition to knowing that they've helped provide two awesome kids the experience of a lifetime, all 2010 Blograiser donors will be immortalized through a gosince01 acknowledgement or interview.

So please donate $40. Help us, help you reach the internet immortalization that you've worked so hard for. It's the least we could do.

GOTO Hits the Beach

Back in the early aughts, GOTO burst onto the international press circuit with two articles in Bermuda's daily broadsheet, The Royal Gazette.

Founded in 1828, The Royal Gazette is Bermuda's only daily newspaper and reaches around 90% of Bermuda's adult population. So it's safe to say Bermuda knew who we were.

The first article (published January 25th, 2002) focused on GOTO's humble beginnings and ties to the island. The second article (published June 3rd, 2003) featured an interview with the five founding GOTO Board Members ... live from Bermuda!

Second to emphasizing that the GOTO Board "Retreat" wasn't paid for by our donors, this was my favorite moment from either article: “We're not doing it for money, we're doing it because we believe in the organization and we believe in the kids. That inspires people to help us.”

That's as true today as it was then.

If you're interested in taking a stroll down memory lane, here are the 2001 and 2003 articles for your reading pleasure.

A GOTO Revolution!

The incredibly talented GOTO mentee Lauren Reyes designed this awesome piece of artwork for our most recent Gala silent auction.

Even more evidence of how much our kids rock ...

Seen at the GOTO Gala NYC 2010 (Part 1)

Seen at the GOTO Gala NYC 2010 (Part 2)

GOTO NYC 2010 Spring Information Session

This Saturday, we’ll be introducing our 6th grade scholarship nominees to Appel Farm Arts & Music Summer Camp and the fine volunteers of GOTO at our 2010 Spring Information Session.

A few camp Directors will be in the house. And so will current GOTO scholars, ready to share their experiences with nominated kids and answer questions from nervous parents.

Including all of the nominees, current scholars and families, we’re expecting a packed house, but any member of the GOTO family is welcome to attend.

All of the Info Session details are below. If you think you can make it, please RSVP here.

Hope to see you there!

Info Session Details:
Saturday March 6th from 11am-2pm (please arrive by 10:30am)
Center for Arts Education
11 Penn Plaza, 225 West 34th Street, Suite 1112 (between 7th and 8th Avenue), NY, NY
(Near the 1/2/A/C/D/E/N/W/R/F/V trains)

Jazz & Gin on Guest of a Guest

Another year, another action-packed GOTO Gala at Capitale.

The GOTO faithful showed up in force on Friday night. Weather be damned.

The silent auction spread was almost as impressive as the food. Three of our past scholarship receipients wowed the crowd by belting out jazz standards from the stage. And by all accounts, the hundreds of partygoers who attended Jazz & Gin had an amazing time. If you don't believe me, head on over to Guest of a Guest's site to read their Jazz & Gin recap.

The official gosince01 Jazz & Gin wrap-up is coming shortly, accompanied by even more photos of GOTO partygoers doing the worm.

Until then, stay tuned ...