Month: February 2011

*Aha! An Evening of Humor, Hope and Healing.*

Aha! Is a benefit show featuring a reception with UVA head football coach Mike London and a clean, funny standup comedy show showcasing nationally recognized standup comedians, hosted by WINA’s Jane Foy.

Aha! Is A Party with Purpose!

All proceeds go to Building a Bridge!

Reception
At the reception and silent auction that precedes the comedy show, our honored guest UVA football coach Mike London will take a few minutes from his busy schedule to remind us why we must never give up. Coach London will share with us some of his compelling personal narrative. As a community leader who shares our determination to make the most out of what we’ve got and our vision to move forward with our lives Building a Bridge will present him with our first ever “Never Quit” award.

Comedy show
After the reception the evening continues with Jane Foy from WINA, Co-host and Producer at the Charlottesville Radiogroup who will host the comedy show introducing our two comedians:
Frequent guest on The Tonight Show and recipient of the National Humor Treasure Award, Brett Leake will be headlining the evening. Brett, himself no stranger to adversity, describes himself as a sit-down stand up comic as he performs his act from a wheelchair.

Tony Deyo, a comic and former professional symphony musician, who bills himself as semi-obscure but who co-authored The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Jokes and was part of HBO’s U.S. Comedy Arts Festival will also entertain.

Date: March 31st 2011
Time: Reception 6:30 pm, Comedy show 7:30 pm
Location: Jefferson Theater, 110 East Main Street, Charlottesville, VA 22902
Ticket price: $75 — Reception and comedy show, $20 — Comedy show only

For more information and tickets:
Daniela Ghaida (434) 989-1274; [email protected]
Tickets also at Siips at the downtown mall
Tickets online at the Jefferson Theater

Sponsors of the evening include Attorneys Gary Kendall and Greg Webb, and the MichieHamlett Attorneys at Law, Virginia National Bank and Allen, Allen, Allen & Allen law firm

Check out our Facebook site and the event site!

Dear friends, families and fellow supporters of Building a Bridge,

Happy New Year 2011 to all of you.
The year 2010 was exciting for us in so many aspects. For instance in June, we received a wonderful donation, a Toyota seven-seater van, as we reported earlier. At that time, I told Charlottesville’s The Daily Progress the van was “more than I could have hoped for.” Little did we know at the time just how fast our Bridgers would take to it — kayaking in the Chesapeake Bay, visiting a farm in Staunton, and touring Washington DC and the National Zoo, the Mall, and its monuments.

So, too, the spirit of Building a Bridge has been on the move as we have expanded our outreach with Celebrity Bartending, VSA Art Show, 10-10-10 Loving the Arts, the Day of Caring, Celebration of Community and the Heritage Holiday Parade, while welcoming new volunteer residential counselors from as far away as California and Germany.
Our dedicated staff has provided reliable support and — in addition to what I mentioned above— many happy and fun moments for our residents: bowling trips, birthday parties and the Halloween party, just to name a few.

The year then ended with our Belmont Christmas party, where we welcomed families and many friends from the Charlottesville community.

I am glad to report that, as our economy continues to rise up from the Great Recession, the year 2010 has proven to be one of the most fulfilling years in Building a Bridge’s recent history. Thanks to your year-end donations, we have a good start into 2011 to keep up the momentum and hope to make 2011 the best year yet.
Thank you to all our wonderful and committed supporters.
Best wishes to all of you.
Daniela Ghaida – Executive Director

‘The Daily Progress was able to say “the folks at Building a Bridge are an above average family” because people like you make us a part of yours.’

Photos provided by Amber Critchley and Joan Bullard