GOTO New York Goes to Camp

On August 15th, a busload of GOTO New York volunteers made the trek down to Elmer, New Jersey to visit the many scholars who attended Appel Farm's 2nd camp session.

The vols spent the day touring the camp, hangin with the kids and eating good, old fashioned camp grub.

A few pics from the day are posted below. But if you want to see more photos, here's a full photo album from the day's events.

GOTO Boston Goes to Camp

A few weeks ago, four carloads of GOTO Boston volunteers caravanned past the blueberry patches of Washington, Maine and down a long dirt road, to visit their scholars at Camp Med-O-Lark.

They toured the campground, which was dotted with red cabins donning names like "Hotel California," and along the way spotted their campers dancing, fencing and acting with friends new and old. Whether they were exploring their creativity in the Art Barn, mastering their cooking skills, or just lunching with friends at the picnic tables, the GOTO scholars were thriving in their activities and having a ball!

The GOTO Boston crew wants to send a big thank you to all of their donors and volunteers for making the summer of '09 possible. They sent 20 deserving GOTO Boston scholars - the largest group ever - to learn, grow and accomplish their artistic goals in picturesque Maine.

Here are more pics from the big day ...

Rock The Boat Basin Photo Gallery

The Rock the Boat Basin photo gallery is now live. See the end of the post for the URL to the full gallery.

Thanks again to everyone who came out. We'll see you at Halloween ...

http://www.thegotogroup.net/gallery/v/summer09/

Rock the Boat Basin: Events Committee Wrap-Up

Part of the joy in leading the Events Committee is getting to work with my committee volunteer to make each fundraising party a success. I often tell my members and other GOTO volunteers that “We put the fun in fundraising!” (cheesy and slightly embarrassing, I know, but it’s true!).

We ensure that each event goer's donated dollar is returned in the form of fun. We pick the little details that make each event one to remember: rockin’ bands, amazing silent auction items, delicious food and plenty of free-flowing "refreshments."

Thanks to the hard work of our volunteers - and the tireless outreach led by our Marketing Committee - GOTO events always have a great mix of New Yorkers. Rock the Boat Basin was no different. Each of you looked awesome when you stepped onto the scene. And you were surprisingly prompt!

While Rock the Boat Basin was GOTO NYC’s first foray into the Upper West Side, we pulled it off. And I had the best time while I was there!

Over the course of the night, I made it my mission to meet & speak to as many party goers as possible. For those of you who I spoke to, I want to thank each of you for not freaking out when I walked up with my little orange notebook and asked you to answer my questions:

“Why do you GOTO?”, “What do these events mean to you?”, “Is this your first or your fifteenth?”, “Who suckered you into coming tonight?”, “Are you interested in volunteering?” and the dreaded, “Can I take your photo for the blog?“

Some of the answers I received (and friends I made) can be found in the blog posts directly below. I hope they make you appreciate our GOTO people as much as I do.

I look forward to seeing each of you at Halloween 2009 - our NINTH (can you believe it!?!) Annual Costume Bash is at the Broad Street Ballroom. We’ll be rockin’ out from 9 pm to 2 am this year!

See you soon and thank you, thank you, thank you for your support of our kids!

Xo- Kelsy

Chair, Events Committee

Heard at the Rock the Boat Basin 1

Q: Why do you GOTO?

A: “It’s the kids- they’re so talented and we’re all here to help. GOTO is just one of those great things you can’t say no to. We all want to help as much as we can!” Chyrsie Harris, GOTO Mentoring Committee member. Far left

Q: Who led you here tonight?

A: “I think of myself as an event drifter,” said Shawn Bostwick. “Allison Goodner has led us here today - we’re Columbia guys- we are part NYC.” Shawn and Tony McGill will definitely be at the next GOTO party.

Heard at the Rock the Boat Basin 2

Q: Why do you GOTO?

A: “We’re good friends of J’s [Board Member, Jason Liddell], and this is a great thing to support. We always buy the expensive tickets… so many of our friends are here and we have a great time. Two of our friends actually met at a GOTO event and just got married - Tyler Garrow met his wife here!” – Joe Hart

Q: Why do you GOTO?

A: “I’ve been to a couple events- the Boat Cruise was a really great time! It’s for the kids- what other reason do you need?” – Ranu Mehra (center) and her 2 friends & GOTO first timers, Zarna Joshi & Sanjana Chopra

Q: Why do you GOTO?

A: “Cause you told me to…” – JP Brennan (Thanks, JP- haha)

Q: Is this your first or your fifteenth?

A: “I was at the very first GOTO event and I’m still coming to them!” said Heather Middleton, far right.

Seen at Rock the Boat Basin

Report from Appel Farm: Rachael Bralow (Bunk 1 Counselor and Acting Instructor)

"Bunk 1 was quite the exciting place this summer, and Vanessa Wilson and Clyde Ilagan (both GOTO scholars) greatly contribute to the team morale. They both worked hard in their majors and minors and both girls kept the rest of the bunk on their toes, always ready to play a new game or lead the bunk in a new adventure.

Vanessa (photo on left) is a beautiful dancer. On July 11th, she got the chance to perform with both her dance majors and her music video dance minor in the mini-session showcase. She especially liked

the Michael Jackson tribute dance that her major did.

She also worked really hard in her swim minor and made great improvements in the pool. Besides swimming every day during Minor 1, she could be found swimming away at the pool during free time. During performance week, she performed in a toy box theme dance show she shined once more!

Clyde (photo directly below) also worked really hard in the ceramics studio during majors. She finished glazing and firing in the knick of time for her arts exhibition.

Clyde said that she made all of her pieces for her grandmother, which includes plates, a cup, a portrait of herself and some ceramic cookies! Clyde also got to exercise her inner rocker chick through her rock band where she played the drums.

Having both girls in my bunk was great, and I have missed having them this session!

Thanks, GOTO!"

Below is their Bunk's photo from First session. Clyde majored in ceramics and minored in dance for musical theater and the drums and Vanessa majored in dance and then minored in another dance class focussing on working with the video kids to create music videos and also minored in swimming.

GOTO Links

Here are a few GOTO links for you to be aware of:

If you're on Facebook, you can become a member of this Group to receive invitations to all of GOTO New York's fundraisers & events. And this Group to do the same for GOTO Boston.

You can become a member of our LinkedIn Group to network with other GOTO volunteers, alumni & supporters.

A photo archive from past GOTO events can be found here.

And you can find in depth information on GOTO's history & programs at www.thegotogroup.org.

Report from Appel Farm: International Week

Our friends from Appel Farm have been kind enough to send us updates from camp over the course of the summer. Here's their most recent report:

Today marked the beginning of International Week for all of us here at camp! To celebrate this, we held the first EVER Appel Farm Olympics! Each bunk was assigned a country to represent in various different games, which all originated in countries other than America. The games included things like "Ampe" from Ghana, "Stuck in the Mud" from Australia, "Birds Fly" from Tanzania, "Riding the Bicycle" from China, "Tock, Tock, Tockeeya" from Israel, "Tickum-Tackum" from Iran, etc...

This event gave everyone an opportunity to learn a little more about many different parts of the world in which we live, and everyone had a really fantastic time!