Oct. 25th Benefit Concert and Silent Auction, Burlington, Vermont

On Thursday October 25th from 8pm-12am, Magnolia's Bistro of Burlington, Vermont opened its doors to the community for a concert and silent auction to benefit Futbol Para La Vida. Futbol para la Vida (soccer for life) is an HIV/AIDS prevention education and youth leadership program in the Dominican Republic. FPV developed from a 2005 pilot project between the community of Batey Libertad, the University of Vermont (UVM), and Grassroots Soccer. You can read more about the program at the September 2007 posting on this blog, or listen to a National Public Radio story at Only a Game.

The evening was a huge success, with money raised at the door and through a silent auction directly benefiting HIV/AIDS prevention education in the Dominican Republic. A huge thanks goes out to July and Shannon of Magnolia's for great food and hosting the event, Kelly Ravin and friends (of Lucy Vincent) for some fantastic music, Tristam Coffin of UVM for organizing and advertising, the November '07 UVM travel-study class for collecting items for the auction and getting out the word, many Vermont businesses for auction items -- including Smuggler's Notch, Magnolia's, University Mall, and Magic Hat Brewery -- and of course everyone who showed up (in spite of missing the Red Sox game).