Building Blocks at Gala

Join us for this annual event as we create friendships, eat delicious food, and support the local children.

By: Karin Fazio
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​Mark your calendars for November 4th because Children Beyond Our Borders is holding the biggest CBOB event of the year. The 4th Annual Gala: A Building Block for Education is making its appearance in Orlando, Florida, this time at the Caribe Blu for the very first time. Every year our CBOB family gathers together for this black tie event to celebrate all of our efforts and accomplishments for the year, as well as discuss our vision for the future. Each year our Gala gives opportunities to help shape the lives of the children we serve.

A building block, defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary, is a basic unit from which something is built up. It’s also defined as a component that fits with others to form a whole.  Our mission in CBOB is to “provide opportunities for children and youth affected by armed conflict and social injustice to find peace, prosperity and well-being through education and empowerment”. Not only are we providing an education for these children, but we are supplying them with the proper building blocks  to achieve that education. Our main in focus is improving our facility for our children in Orlando and Gainesville to have a safe and loving environment to focus on the values the that we teach. With your help we can make this happen. With a small donation you can help us reach our goal.These will serve as a safe space for the children, where their educational needs can be met, a mere building block for them to follow their dreams through education. With the help of our donors, we can continue building our programs into bigger and better resources to encourage our children, who inspire us every single day while they push to expand their knowledge for a brighter future.

Meghana Tatineni, the Event Manager, has been working hard at finding sponsors for this event, as well as entertainment in hopes to make this event enjoyable for all of our hardworking members, as well as all of our supporters. We all at CBOB know that Gala is going to be a success with the efforts of Meghana, those working alongside her, and of course all of our attendees. Our previous Event Manager Carolina De La Rosa, who organized the 2016 Gala event, describes Gala as a “fun, memorable night and a great way to be reminded of what CBOB does for the community, while getting to dine and dance with people that share your love for service”. ​

Shana Call, our Volunteer Coordinator, says “Gala gave me an opportunity to be surrounded by people with the same mission in mind. It’s a wonderful networking experience. Each year members of the board, interns, managers, and individuals who have a love for CBOB all come together to support what is CBOB.” It is definitely a time to cherish and remember in the future years to come.
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If you are new to CBOB and want to get to meet and connect with fellow active members this is the perfect way to do so. Our Mentorship Coordinator, Teagan Murphy, has been involved with CBOB for two years now and has attended the past two Gala events. The 2015 Gala event occurred when Teagan had only been involved with CBOB for a month. “It was a great way for me to see so many people who had been involved with or impacted by CBOB, including but also aside from the interns I worked with regularly” Murphy states.

For the 2016 Gala event, Teagan had now been involved for over a year and felt as if she was reuniting with the CBOB family rather than being introduced, both memorable in different ways. Here, Teagan was able to catch up with managers like our Executive Director and the Director of the Service Trip Program, the interns from other cities, and the girls she volunteered with in Cartagena on a Bound For Peace trip that previous summer. Teagan was rewarded CBOBer of the Year at the event for all of her hard work and was able to reflect back on the year. CBOB is so lucky to have members like Teagan who help achieve our goal and mission and that’s why Gala is such an important event. It allows for everyone to come together and celebrate a cause we all hold very dear to our hearts.

As you can see, the Gala is a wonderful social event for members, but more than anything else it is a night to raise money for our Children Within Our Borders program. Children Within Our Borders works with local children in the Gainesville and Orlando communities. Workshops and tutoring sessions are provided to help the children build not only an education, but confidence to succeed and follow their dreams.

Juanita Buitrago, the Service Trip Program Director, has attended the previous Galas and looks forward to attending every single year. Seeing individuals being highlighted for all of their hard work during the award portion is one of her favorite parts. Every single individual is what makes CBOB what it is today. Just like building blocks we are all individual pieces that comprise of one framework, providing the support and love for the children who fight against social injustice. Every year Gala awards are handed out for volunteers in appreciation of their time, efforts, and passion they put into the organization and the children.

If you are interested in supporting Children Beyond Our Borders by attending this event you can purchase tickets at www.chbob.org/gala.html For more information or on how to sponsor this event please contact events@chbob.org.

​With your help we can end the fight against social injustice and change the lives of all of the current and future children involved with Children Beyond Our Borders! 

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