Author: The BridgeLine

Alex and Ani invite you to a fundraising event “CHARMED BY CHARITY”.
When: January 22nd; 6-8 pm
Where: Alex and Ani, located in the Shops at Stonefield; 2050 Bond Street
Light snacks and beverages will be provided.
Shop for yourself, for a friend, for a spouse…it is close to Valentines Day!
15% of the proceeds will go to us.

We are looking forward seeing you!

If you would like to follow us more regularly, please follow us on Facebook and check out events, photos and news. You do not need to have an account to check us out!

See you there!

Families, friends and supporters who follow us here on our web site: You are probably wondering why we have not posted any News in many months! Is nothing happening at Building a Bridge?

On the contrary, but we post mostly now on our facebook site. (Please follow us there.)
Lots of great things are going on!

We have a new staff person in the Belmont house, Beth Elliott, who joined recently. Welcome Beth, we are delighted to have you.
We have started a book club once a month, where we get together and talk and recommend a book that we have read recently. It is not the regular book club! Great discussions happen that are not always related to the books!

October is of course the time of pumpkins and parties! We went to Carter Mountain to get pumpkins and go on a hay ride, and later there was a great pumpkin carving and painting party. That was followed by a fun Halloween Party at our Belmont house, almost everyone dressed up! We all enjoyed food and dancing.

Just last week, some of the Residents went to Fairhunt Farm, where they spend many hours with horses. We were taught how to take care of the horses, could ride them with instructors and go on a carriage ride. It was a joyful and wonderful day in great fall weather.

And yesterday, we started our Guest Chef for Dinner with Brett Leake’s mom and her husband, Sylvia and Max Reinhard. We had a great meal, much laughing, and great discussions. We already have a list of more supporters of Building a Bridge who signed up, and hope more friends will participate in this fun program.

Check out our Facebook site for Day of Caring, Poetry reading and much more.

Enjoy!

If your brain injury is the result of military service (or occurred while serving in the US armed forces), call Ben Shaw, Veteran Peer Specialist for the Virginia Wounded Warrior Program for additional information about veteran/military-specific services.

Ben Shaw, OIF/OEF Combat Veteran
Veteran Peer Specialist
Virginia Wounded Warrior Program / Region Ten CSB
434.962.0175
www.wearevirginiaveterans.org

What: A fun(d)raiser with silent auction
When: Thursday March 24th 2011, 5:30 – 7:30
Where: Siips Wine & Champagne Bar on the downtown mall
Who: Celebrity bartender Jane Foy from WINA and her husband Pat will pour your drinks.

Please join us for excellent wines, tasty foods, and meaningful camaraderie!
Our silent auction will continue at our next event, March the 31st at the Jefferson Theater.

“Aha! An Evening of Humor, Hope, and Healing.”
All tips and a percentage of the tab will go directly to Building a Bridge.
Check out our Facebook site

*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; daghaida@building-a-bridge.org
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.

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