Small Planet Fund Party - THANK YOU

Our deep appreciation to everyone who joined us at the party. With more than 200 people turning out this year, we had a packed house and raised tens of thousands of dollars for our core grantees. Our special guest this year from the Landless Workers Movement (MST), Luis Antonio Pancetti, had a great time, too. Dawn Plummer from the Friends of the MST organized an amazing tour for him, including the party and a taping for Democracy Now! (it should air on Monday 12/17).
Off for a much-needed holiday!
Wishing you all well... Anna

So Many Places to Give! The Small Planet Fund Gets a Shout Out in The New York Times

Tomorrow is our big event and today we got a very sweet mention from our dear friend Marion Nestle in The New York Times: “So Little Time, So Many Charities to Feed.”

ONLINE AUCTION IS UP AND RUNNING

Hey everyone - Check out the cool items on our online auction. all of your $$ goes to the very good cause of the Small Planet Fund.

Pics from the Small Planet Fund Party Online

You can now find pics from our annual party online. (This is one of my favorites: Vandana Shiva and my adorable niece Josephine). Big thanks to Arnold Adler who volunteered for the second year in a row to document the party. The benefit raised was a big success in terms of raising money for the groups we support and (as we try to achieve every year) it was a damn fun party. Be sure to add your name to our mailing list if you'd like to get the invite to next year's shindig. It will be in early December in SoHo. --Anna

Success!

Thanks to everyone who helped make our fifth anniversary of the Small Planet Fund such a great success. You can see images from the party here and on flickr, too. We will post news about the final amount we raised shortly. In the meantime, there is still time to make a tax-deductible donation before the end of the year! --Anna

Vandana Shiva and Frances Moore Lappe at the Fifth Annual Small Planet Fund party.

Small Planet Fund Party!

We had an enchanted evening last night at our fifth annual Small Planet Fund gala with many, many wonderful friends and our very special guest (and Small Planet Fund grantee) Dr. Vandana Shiva. We're still counting the contributions (and you can still bid online at www.smallplanetfund.org), but we've definitely surpassed the $50,000 mark! Thanks to all of the volunteers who helped pull off SPF5 (and, of course, to yummy caterer Mary Cleaver who wowed everyone again with her tasty treats and even made these special SPF 5 cupcakes for us). --Anna

Bid on GREAT THINGS Now!

Hey everyone - I'm excited to announce our first ever (and very cool, if I may say so myself) live auction in support of the Small Planet Fund. Please go check it out and BID for great gifts for yourself and for your family. (If you have questions email Carter - who is the brilliant mind behind the auction and event this year - at event[at]smallplanetfund.org.

As you probably know, if you're reading this, my mom and I started the Fund as a volunteer-led effort to give back to the amazing groups we discovered in writing Hope's Edge. With the help of a dedicated group of supporters, we've thrown a big bash every year in New York City and received additional donations to help us raise (and give away) more than $300,000! Since its founding in 2002, two of the Fund’s grantees have been awarded the honor of the Nobel Peace Prize: Dr. Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and Professor Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. Not a bad record, eh?

If you're in NYC on December 12th, join us for the fete with our very special guest Vandana Shiva. --Anna

Congratulations to Muhammad Yunus-2006 Nobel Peace Laureate & Small Planet Fund Grantee

I had just told Muhammad Yunus' story to undergrads at The Evergreen College in Olympia, Washington, the night before I found out that Yunus and the bank for the poor he founded--Grameen Bank--was awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. I was reminded of the day I found out another friend and Small Planet Fund grantee, Dr. Wangari Maathai, had been awarded the same honor in 2004 for her work with women and the environment in Kenya. In both cases, the Nobel Committee has made a
clear statement that it is impossible to create peace on earth in the presence of poverty, inequality, and injustice. As we celebrate the 5th year of the Small Planet Fund, we are delighted that another one of our nine grantees has been given such international recognition for their important work. --Anna

Photo: Grameen Bank borrowers near Dhaka, Bangladesh. We had just learned about their experience with the loan and these women and their children were showing us their village.