 neighborhood block party. My name is Quincy Hensel. I'm CEO at the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce and I also serve on the board of directors of CFL and we want to welcome you all here this evening. It's great to see such a wonderful crowd. I do want to recognize a few people who are with us tonight. I do know that we have the Mayor of Portland. Mayor Strimling is here with us. Thank you for joining us this evening. I also know that we have, I've seen two city counselors here. There may be more. I have seen counselor Brunnerman who I see right there and I did see counselor Doosan who is somewhere. Oh there she is. Thank you. I don't know if there's other counselors here. If there are, could you please shout out. Excellent. Well thank you counselors Brunnerman and Doosan for joining us this evening. It's wonderful to have you. And for all of you who might be new to CFL I just want to give you a little bit of a background as to who we are. CFL is a growing 501c3 located here in Portland and we offer financial services including financial literacy courses, one-on-one financial counseling and coaching, individual development accounts or IDAs, counseling for higher education, small business support and we also have a focus on workforce development. Our services are open to all refugees, immigrants, asylees, as well as low income mayors who are in the greater Portland area as well as the Lewis and Auburn area. And more or less since our beginning about 11 years ago we have gathered for an annual event to celebrate the work that we've done in the community as well as to celebrate the achievements of our students. We also use this opportunity this evening to share with all of you a little bit about what we have done and the successes we've had in our community. So I'll give you a little bit of info on the show flow for the evening because I know people always want to know what is in store. I have a few additional opening remarks that I'm going to share with you. We are also going to hear from our presenting sponsor this evening which is Hannaford as well as our executive director Claude Ruanje. And then we're going to hear from a few students of CFL. We'll wrap it up with a paddle raise, a few closing remarks, and then we're going to announce the winners of our silent auction. So I do want to take just a moment to thank all of the generous supporters as well as participants of this evening's events. First of all, I want to thank the performers. I'm not sure if you saw them, but they were fantastic. He had the aquaba ensemble who were the drummers who were here earlier as well as the pseudo dancers. And after this evening's remarks, we are going to welcome the Aki Acoustic Band as well to do a performance for you. I'd also like to thank our generous sponsors of this evening's event. As I mentioned, our presenting sponsor is Hannaford. Our old port sponsor is Wells Fargo. Our Bayside sponsors are the main credit union league, Bangor Savings Bank, Plansons International, LL Bean, Family Wealth Management Partners at UBS, and Seaport Credit Union. And we also have a list of additional sponsors as well as in-kind donations in your program, and they are also on the screens that you will see on either side of the room. I have a very special shout out this evening to Helen Andrioli, who is a member of the CFL board alongside me, Helen, over here, who Helen chaired. We'll give her a round of applause. Now I'll tell you what Helen did. Helen chaired our annual event committee, which made this event possible, and she put a huge amount of time and energy into this, so I want to thank her for all that she did and all of her dedication to CFL. I also want to thank the marvelous Sally Newhall from Sea Glass Events. Where is Sally? She's probably... Oh, there she is waving over there. Sally orchestrated the planning and the execution of this event, and she has really taken our annual event up to the next level, so I would love a round of applause for Sally as well. And a very special thank you and a shout out to Craig Tribuno. Where is Craig? He's probably in the back with the oven. I don't know where he is. I don't see him, but I'm sure he's in the back, but there he is. Craig is the president of systems engineering here in Portland. He also serves on the board of directors of CFL, and he made all of the food tonight. Craig actually made the food. For any of you who ate what was ever in the cone, I haven't had the food yet, but Craig actually bought a woodworking router and learned how to use it and made the cones for the food, so Craig is walking away from this event that much more talented than he was before we executed this, but a huge thank you to Craig, just an awesome contribution to this event. And last but very far from least, I do want to take a moment to thank our staff at CFL because without them, we truly would not exist. Mara, Floreca, Stacey, and Clamont, as well as our executive director, Claude Ruanje, who is a phenomenal leader and definitely a force within our community. They're probably all standing in the back. Claude is here in the front. I'd like a huge round of applause for the staff at CFL. It is truly an honor and a privilege to serve on the board of directors of CFL and see the incredible work that these individuals do on a daily basis. Thank you for your continuous dedication to CFL and our mission. Now, without further ado, I would like to introduce to the stage Sheri Stevens, who is the Community Relation Specialist at Hanoverd, who as I mentioned earlier is our presenting sponsor of this evening's event. Thank you, Quincy. And good evening. I know I'm speaking for myself and my fellow Hanoverd associates in the room when I say that it's a real pleasure to be here tonight and spend a little bit of time with you on your busy day. I look around and I see a heartwarming representation of community coming together just to help new manors reach their goals through the work of community financial literacy. Thank you for being here and for all that you do to support the mission of CFL. At Hanoverd, we understand the importance of building and sustaining healthy communities. When our communities are strong, we all benefit. Like other businesses in this room tonight, many of our customers and our associates live here. This is where we raise our children. We love this city. In our case, it's where our business began over 130 years ago. We know that without the support and encouragement of these local communities, we would not have grown from that small produce stand down here on the waterfront to over 180 stores in our five state service area today. That's why it's so exciting to be here with you tonight and see help us recognize and celebrate the work that CFL is doing in these communities or for these communities today and as we look forward into the future. Community financial literacy provides, and I know Quincy touched on this a minute ago, but I'll touch, I'll mention a few more. Community financial literacy provides an array of services to new manors, including but not limited to education on basic household budgeting, employment and payroll deductions, retirement counseling, and navigating the often complex process of applying for and attaining a higher education. I want to hesitate right there because just saying that out loud, I'm thinking, Claude, I could have used your help myself a few times. But this is an enormous benefit to the people they serve, but also to all of us in the room as they apply for jobs, start businesses, buy homes and shop in our communities. In essence, this is an event that allows us all to pay it forward. Welcoming new manors that come from near and far offers us the ability to learn and to grow, to become stronger and better individuals and to create a long term economic sustainability for the state of Maine. We truly appreciate Claude and his team, and we're grateful for their hard work to educate and prepare new manors for employment. They are grooming the workforce that we all draw from. The people that they coach are our customers. They are supporting individuals who bring diverse and valuable perspectives to our organizations. At Hannaford, we have seen these benefits firsthand. We are extremely grateful for the knowledge and insight that we have gained from new manors that have joined our business. We're exploring a partnership with Claude to identify ways to do more, to tap into the full potential that new manors can attain for themselves and bring that knowledge and skills to the workplace. We understand that in order to prosper, we must have full representation of the diversity within the communities that we serve. We're very, very proud to sponsor this event tonight and bring awareness of the services that CFL provides. But we're also thrilled to have the opportunity to network with other individuals and organizations that support the cause. Thank you again for being here, and we hope that you enjoy the rest of the evening. Thank you. This is great. I'm really enjoying it. Two years ago, I was telling my fellow staff yesterday that maybe seven years ago when I did a presentation to an event like this, I had five pages long. And so, and the people keep telling me, this time is going to be 10 minutes. And one of my staff always say, cut it off. It's time. I'm really happy and pleased to be here. One thing that made me mostly happy about this event. I did not even spend 30 minutes working for it. You heard what Quincy said. Helen, Mara, Stacey, the volunteers, Sally, they did all. Please give them a hand again. Sherry was my colleague. We just graduated together at the Live360. And I see my other colleagues here as well. So thank you very much, Emily Adams and others who are here for coming tonight to support us. Thank you. I don't want to really repeat myself from what Quincy said for the sake of a time. But we are honored to have our mayor and all the city councils here supporting new menace. Last year, they really did something special that everybody can remember. Opening the Office of Economic Opportunity for new menace. It was a heck of a job. The city of Poland is a welcoming city. But we want to make sure that this is extended to the other city as well. So we want to make sure that man is a welcoming state. And all of us can be happy because we need new menace for different reasons that Quincy and myself I'm going to repeat. And the Sherry already talked about it. One, we need them to fill the gap of the aging population we have in our workforce development. We need new menace to grow our economy instead of me. We need new menace as entrepreneurs. We need new menace to pay taxes beyond what people say the new menace are here to take away. That's not true. We are here as a part of the state to contribute ourselves to the growth of the state. So all of you, the funders, the donors, the sponsors, you are planting seeds. There is no doubt that you will have a return on your investment. I'm sure you will. One way or the other, you're going to have us from every investment you are making. Now, before Mara tells me that my time is up, I'm going to go to my my main speaker brought me here. Every year, we recognize either individuals, organization and businesses that either have worked hard as a partner, as a sponsor, as volunteers to the organization. So the three awards that we're going to give today, one is the volunteer of the year award. And the other one is commitment to service award and the outstanding community partner award. Our 2016 volunteer of the year award goes to Katrin Odedde. Katrin came to CFL looking for a way to volunteer. We did not know that Katrin had a CPA in her skills or background. Over the sudden, we put her to work and she has been doing really a great work in the last almost a full year with community financial literacy. Katrin secured a job, a full-time job, but she continued to work and volunteer with CFL. Please have me to welcome Katrin on stage to come and get her award. For those who are in a room looking for employee, Katrin will be a best employee if you can have her. Really, she's really good. But more than just Katrin, I invited some of my fellow immigrants to come and network with many employers who are here today to see if they can secure some employment. Please, there is many skilled immigrants who are in the room today but probably who are underpaid, but they will be happy to really network with you and work for you if you do have some openings. Our next award goes to our 2016 Commitment to Service Award goes to Lewiston Adult Education. Lewiston Adult Education is a comprehensive adult education program offering academic, vocational, and enrichment learning opportunities. As a part of the Lewiston Adult School Department, LAE offers these programs at several accessible sites and a flexible time. LAE also works closely with the many partner organizations to strengthen our community and promote lifelong learning. CFL is one of those partners of LAE, but let me tell you about LAE. In 2011, when CFL wanted to expand to Lewiston area, we went and talked to the executive director and talked to some other staff. They said, no, we can't work with you. You are unknown. And that's true. We were not in Lewiston. And also, because they have tried to work with other organizations in the past to offer financial literacy on site, but it did not work well. So they were really hesitating to make us again work or do this partnership. I told them, I remember exactly what I said. Give us a chance. That's what I'm asking. But today, every year since last year, we have seen over 150 students from Lewiston Adult Education coming to take our courses. Thank you. I think they deserve the applause. So please, help me in welcoming Lewiston Adult Education Director Bill Grant and those who came with him to receive this 2016 Commitment to Service Award. Thank you. Thank you, Claude. And on behalf of Lewiston Adult Education, I really appreciate this award. But it really is CFL that does the work in our area. And it is a great partnership to have. I think you're underestimating that 150 number, because Clement and I were trying to figure out how to keep the fire department out of our room because it was so packed. But he has such a great following. And we really appreciate this partnership. So thank you for this award. If I can say another word about Lewiston Adult Education, same thing as Poland Adult Education. The biggest obstacle immigrants face when they come to this country is a language barrier. So Lewiston Adult Education and the Poland Adult Education are really doing a great job and SMCC and the USM to fill the gap. Again, please give them a hand. The 2016 Outstanding Community Partner Award goes to Men's State Housing. Men's State Housing is known as the organization that opens the door to your future. I was introduced to Men's State Housing by Debbie King Johnson, who is here tonight. And Rob Wood, I'm not sure if he's here yet. Men's State Housing was the very first organization. People asked me why it took me so long to recognize them. They were the first, I'll repeat that again, to find CFL, the very first organization. That support came through Rob Wood. I will be talking about you every year when I'm on stage. Because you know how you supported this organization and connect to Debbie King Johnson. Scott Kerr, our former board member, is also in the room. I remember the first trip we had when we went to Augusta to meet with McCormick, the former executive director, and Debbie King Johnson. They didn't hesitate a word to say how they're going to sponsor or support the organization. Matter of fact, I don't know if even some of the board member knows that even the logo we have was designed by Men's State Housing. Give them hands please. So I'm sure Debbie King Johnson came with some other folks from Men's State Housing. I would love to welcome them on stage to come and share a few words and also receive this award. Thank you all for being here tonight. On behalf of our directors and employees, I want to thank Community Financial Literacy for recognizing Main Housing as its 2016 outstanding community partner. And to say how appreciative I am for Claude's kind words and certainly to be a part of this evening celebration. I would like to acknowledge our agency director, John Gallagher, and also our deputy director, Peter Meryl, who are in our audience. If they could just stand. Yes. I'm very grateful to Peter and John because they let me do what I do. And it brings me to work with organizations like CFL. Main Housing is deeply honored to be recognized for our role in the important work that is carried out by CFL. Who is, and you can attest to this, clearly the leader among the organizations seeking to improve the personal financial literacy of main people. And since our partnership began in 2009, it has to me been absolutely inspiring to watch CFL transform from a fledgling, small nonprofit organization to this organization that you see today. They meet the needs of all of the immigrant and refugee communities in three cities. And they have an amazing staff who work tirelessly to deliver the services and resources that empower our main families to achieve the financial stability and realize their full potential. Main housing believes that developing a strong community begins with securing a home for each of its members. Because its home, which is the foundation for building a stable and safe neighborhood, economic opportunity, good health and educational success. Financial education is an essential tool, especially for the immigrant and refugee community, as they strive to be financially stable in their new community. I personally can only imagine how overwhelming it must be to start over in a new country, having to adjust to a new language, a new culture and very different traditions. The CFL students are excellent examples of just how courageous our new Americans are, and I greatly admire their determination. Financial education is more important than ever. It's the stability of all main families, and it's what they depend on to make sound decisions concerning budgeting, saving money, managing credit, setting money aside for emergencies, and so much more. And CFL understands this need and offers a variety of classes and even one-on-one counseling for the individuals in their communities, and it is all imperative because it helps shape their future. Main housing is very proud of its partnership with CFL. We extend our sincere congratulations to CFL for a job well done and thank all of CFL's partners for their support and commitment to furthering the financial education of main families. As Theodore Roosevelt said, far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Main housing looks forward to continuing support of CFL's programs and to help them work hard at work worth doing and witnessing the rewards of their success. Thank you. Once again, if you can give them applause, all those who earned the awards. It's always hard to choose from all these many organizations that you see supporting CFL to be the winner, but those who won, thank you for those who did great work and I really applaud you for supporting such a great cause. Now, let me welcome a dear friend and also a hardworking staff of community financial literacy. Klema Yombe is our program coordinator. He is going to introduce the two panelists. Unfortunately one of the panelists I think could make it, Klema will share a few words, but Klema has been with CFL in the last five years. He is getting his master's degree in economic development very soon this year. So I'm not sure what we're going to say next year, but he's a very, very dedicated staff of CFL and let me please, if you can help me to welcome Klema on the stage and then give you the award. Thank you. Good evening. I always tell Mara it's very difficult to take the stage after Claude. He's so convincing and so charming that coming after him puts a lot of pressure on you. I thank Claude for all these years of mentoring. I tell the board for providing me with the tools to teach all the classes that we've been doing and a special thanks to Mara who is the face of the organization every time I need something. Mara makes sure that I have everything I need for the class and Stacey, the moneymaker of the organization. Thank you. Floreca. Floreca is the person who's in charge of college access and I always refer people to her if they want information about accessing higher education. Thank you for your attention and I thank Claude again for his warm introduction. In recent years, innovations in financial product and services delivery have increased financial access for the poor and unbanked. Yet for immigrants, asylumes and refugees, that road is still difficult to navigate. Low or no financial literacy may limit their ability to fully access those services. Low or no financial literacy may limit their ability to fully access the services and moreover, low financial literacy is correlated with poor financial decisions about cash, asset, debt management and in response, every year CFL offers trainings, training programs that aim to improve financial knowledge and skills among the immigrant refugees and those with low financial literacy level. These trainings have helped these individuals to increase their knowledge about financial concept and in turn boost their economic opportunities. This evening we have two of these individuals, two of our students here to share how CFL trainings have had a tremendous impact in their lives. Our first panelist today, she's a native of Burundi. Her multicultural background and focus on the community collaboration led her to a number of volunteer opportunities and country representation through the United Nations volunteer program in Burundi. Melissa has an associate degree in management and business administration and is currently employed at the state of Maine, where she split her work day between department and vocational rehabilitation and Bureau of Employment Services at the Greater Portland Career Center. Melissa Tangere. Our second speaker, second panelist is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He has been here for five years. In his native country, he was the executive director of Eritier de la Justice, a non-profit specializing in human rights and more. To strengthen his knowledge in project management, he took two classes focusing on money management and saving to build wealth. He's impressed by how those courses help him budgeting, saving and investing his money. Maurice served in many boards as a volunteer and let me tell you that for the last year, I haven't been working so hard on recruiting students because Maurice does that for us, even though we don't ask him to do so. Help me to welcome Maurice Namira. Maurice, I want to thank both of you for coming and I would like for you to take us through your journey from the time you met with CFL until today. Well, thanks everybody for being here and taking your time to listen to me and my classmate, Maurice. I'm so humbled to be able to talk about this journey that brought me to where I am now. It didn't start as bigger as it is now, but I enjoyed being with CFL. I got to learn about CFL from a flyer. I saw Paul in adult education and by that time I didn't have any job, so I was not, I was afraid I wasn't able to afford any classes, especially classes related to financial literacy. But the first time, the first call I made, Mara made it so easy for me to feel like I would be able to enroll and get to know about the financial system in America. So I thank so much CFL for giving us a chance, a very tremendous chance to get to know what kind of environment we are in and get to learn about how to manage whatever wealth we will be able to make in this country. It is always a stressful life when you land in a country where you are. A new camera, facing a white snow, cheering, nobody knows you. And you say, what's this? Why did I decide to leave my country? And you have to start a new life. You are nowhere. And one day I was walking on the road, I met a friend, Christian Abisimo, who introduced me to Klima. He told me, we are organizing some trainings in financial money management. I said, okay, I've been executive director and I've been looking for money. This is the occasion for me to know how to deal with money in this country. And I went to meet Klima. I told Klima, I'm really interesting to know exactly what you are teaching people. He told me, okay, we're going to have a class at adult education. Thank you. I went there. The first lesson was concerning how we are always dreamers in our life. Dream, dream and dream, because the future belongs to dreamers, but if your dream is not transformed in a goal, you will be dreaming forever. First lesson. And I said, yeah, that's good. I've been dreaming for 30 years. Now I have to make a new plan. And the time Klima told us the only way to make your dream become a goal, make a plan. Oh, step one. Plan. Step two, budgeting. Step three. No, have a good knowledge of banking system. Oh, yeah, that's good. I have dollars everywhere. I never see a dollar on the ground. Never, ever. And I say, I want to make dollars. But he told us, if you are not credible, you won't succeed in this country. And how to make a credit being your bills on time. But don't forget to pay yourself first. If you are paying your bills on time, you are putting money in pocket of other people, but putting yours too. And I said, this is a good training. I will start paying myself first and then pay the bills on time. And that way I'll build my credit. This is how this training started changing my life. From the first day of the first hour of training, I made a plan in five stages. Stage one, transform my dreams in a goal. Stage two, know how banking system is working. Stage three, make your budget and know how to spend your money. Stage four, be a good payer on time. And stage five, be aware of your credit. If you lose it, you will be forgetting forever. And let me tell you, last week I got a mail from Credit Karma. Credit Karma. They told me, Maurice, your score has changed. Click on this link and we'll see. My score has changed when I saw the score. I don't tell you that. But I showed it to Claude and Kleyma. You want to know? Excellent. 755. I just want to follow up on that. This couldn't be possible if I didn't take this class. So Maurice, can you tell us before you took a CFL class, what was your score? I was no score. I was nowhere. Zero score. From zero to 755, I can't imagine. Melissa, I'm going back to you. You said when you called Mara to take class for the first time, you didn't have a job. And I just told people that you are a main-state employee. Now that you are making money, how do you link the knowledge that you acquire through us and the money that you are making now? How CFL classes were able to impact whatever you are doing now? While I was taking CFL courses, I was under general assistance and I have to say that the state of Maine has a reportable system of helping out immigrants to get settled and start a new life in America. I was, I had my bills taken care of so I could go to school and improve my knowledge and be ready, be fully prepared for the workforce. So from there, I had to take classes. I loved taking classes with CFL, money management, and career exploration class with Mr. Claude, which helped us to have an open mind and know how to search for a job online, apply for a job online, be prepared for the interview, and you know how easy it is when you get to see people who went through the same path and telling you oh it is possible. So that's what these two teachers were doing. They were showing us that once, once you go there, out there in the real world, it will be so different from what you're learning here in class. The money you think you'll be managing is not the same money you'll be earning because then you have to take off taxes and you have to do to pay your bills first. And from my, from my own experience, I know I was with a different student having different backgrounds, having worked in different fields in Africa or somewhere else, but I wasn't part of that environment. I didn't have a job, I was a student when I came here in the United States and I was so passionate about the personal finances because it was like a new environment for me and then with the money management class I learned how to make a budget, how to manage my debts, credits and also how to think about a retirement account which is a total new, it was a total new subject for me so I didn't know where to start from and I was able to picture myself doing that from the knowledge I got from CFL classes and I was able to apply for a job in the state using the skills I got from the classes, know how to sell yourself, know how to sell your skills to employers so that they can be able to see that you are, you are capable of doing the job they want you to do. I wouldn't say that all of that was just from what I thought I knew. It was a big part of it was from what I learned in school in CFL classes and I'm so thankful for them being able to share their experiences and show us, help us not make the mistakes that they made and yeah because there are too many financial mistakes that people can do. I was telling one of my classmates during the class, I'm sorry I was talking while the teacher was talking as well, but I was telling him that I just got a check in my mailbox. I wasn't working yet, I didn't have my social security because you need that to to start working in the United States. I didn't have my walking papers but I got a check in my mailbox. I know many people will be excited about this but the check was for 1900 and I really needed money in that time. I don't know for what I needed the money for but I just knew that I needed money to have in my pocket or in my bank account which I didn't have at the time but the check was not something good for me and as I was telling my friend about it the teacher just came up with this scam system where people kind of trapped you. They kind of do it in a purpose of getting you in a very very bad experience. So I was about to go cash a check but I didn't do it because of the knowledge I took from the classes and I'm so thankful for it because I would have started my journey on a new on a very very spoiled foundation foundation. So I learned a lot from CFL and I'm so thankful for it. So to both of you if there is one thing you are going to remember about the class in one word or one sentence what would you say? I'm gonna start with Maurice. If there is one word if you can if you can remember one word or one sentence about the class pay your bill on time beyond paying your bills on time it was one word. Yes please that's what I just want to mention something before I stop. CFL is community financial literacy but I think we have to give him a new name today. Challenge your freedom by learning finance. Melissa it's your turn one word or one sentence. Oh thank you for giving me a sentence because I was going to say that my word was going to be as long as a sentence but have has anybody here drove a car without a driver's license or taken a test? That is how a lack of financial literacy will be for you. It's very risky and you get yourself into a dangerous part that you will be having a hard time getting out of. So I would say I would never consider myself able to do what I do now without having CFL by my side telling me what to do in the right time. Before I thank you I would like to thank all of our students and I want to acknowledge them if you are here if you are our current students or previous student please stand up so we see where you are. We thank you for coming to class even when we had winter storm. I thank Maurice and Melissa for your time for accepting to be the panelists and I really thank you for the job and the work you've been doing for CFL even you know behind the curtains. Someone called me from Texas to ask about credit and he told me Melissa gave me your number so I can call you. We thank you and thank you for coming. Thank you excellent that was amazing. Clamont thank you so much for all you do for CFL and for moderating that. Melissa and Maurice thank you for being in Portland. We are so happy to have you in our community. You make our community a better place and that I think was a really great example of how CFL touches the lives of those who utilize their services. So I think this is a pretty perfect opportunity this is going to be fun and this is going to be fast. I encourage you please make sure you have your brochures. We are going to do a quick paddle raise now this is an opportunity for you to now that you've heard about CFL and have heard from some of our students it's an opportunity to give back to our organization because we cannot do what we do without the generous support of all of our donors and our sponsors. As you heard CFL definitely provides services that changes the lives of new manors as well as low-income manors. We've helped provide them with the knowledge and the tools to provide for their families to save for college to go to college and to start a business and we couldn't do any of this without your generous donation. So I am going to start you've got numbers on the back of your brochures. I'm going to start with a contribution of $300 to CFL now this is not an arbitrary number. We have learned from past participants that $300 can buy a new manor a college transcript review now this is a serious challenge that new manors have when they come to the states. They try to find ways that they can receive credits or maintain their credentials that they have earned in foreign countries it is not easy to do so a college transcript review allows graduates with international education to achieve their higher education professional goals by having their education qualifications evaluated and recognized in the United States so obviously an extremely important service the cost of this critical service is $300 so with that I would like to ask those in the room who wish to contribute $300 to CFL to support this service for one of our students to please raise your brochure we have individuals who will get your number I know Helen has several people from her office here who she has asked oh so kindly to participate so we will find you too but this is great thank you so much for all of those who raised your number that's fantastic I'm now going to ask those who might be willing to contribute $150 to CFL so for every two of you who raise your paddle we can provide another student with a transcript review so find a buddy in the room and so for all of those who wish to contribute $150 please raise your raise your brochure Matt that's you raise your brochure I'm going to start calling people out I see Dave thank you I see Tim in the background he may have already given I see Scott over here Mike Laura Tay that is excellent and my final ask because every single bit counts I would ask those who are willing to contribute $50 to CFL to please raise your brochure now that is awesome thank you oh there's a lot I see 267 I see 14 34 226 295 that was awesome thank you so much a round of applause for all of you in the room thank you thank you your contributions truly make all the difference we thank you so much for coming just to give a few brief closing remarks and to announce the winners of the silent auction I would like to invite Bill Brown to the stage who serves as the chairman of the CFL board of directors thank you Quincy and thank you everyone who came here tonight to celebrate my 51st birthday we talk a lot about new manors at CFL but what about the old manors that's right right so uh before whatever reason you're here thank you for attending if you purchased a ticket or an auction item or made some other contribution or to simply learn more about CFL or help somebody else learn about CFL tonight you really helped us to fulfill the goals of this event we're very happy to have you here and one more thank you to Helen Andrioli and her team dedication countless hours boundless energy many emails to the board nagging us about stuff but this is what you get for that kind of persistence so thanks again Helen and you know I'll take this chance hopefully you know you're not worn out with the thank yous this isn't going to be like the academy awards where you have to play the music to give me to awkwardly leave the stage or anything like that but I just want to say that my fellow board and committee members invest so much time and talent in this organization and it's really based on a deep belief in our mission a commitment to the continual improvement of our organization and really just this fundamental desire to improve the lives of other people in our community and I think that results in a very high level of governance for this non-profit entity very proud to be a part of it is this going to be like your speech Claude people are you giving me standing ovations every every two minutes but I wanted to again mention our staff that constantly every day exceed our expectations they willingly and professionally and with a smile accommodate the needs and the quirks of our board as we schedule and reschedule everything and and engage in so many different things and they really are the hub of the wheel of this organization because they touch the volunteers the public the community the board the committees and the glue that holds CFL together and I just want to give that one extra thank you to our unbelievable staff they're a joy to work with our our volunteers practically every board meeting or committee meeting that I attend at CFL I find out something additional that our volunteers are doing that I didn't know before and I'm almost embarrassed to not know how much our volunteers do and I think that you know I want to say this to the volunteers your commitment to this mission with obviously no compensation and you know very infrequently any kind of recognition it really that kind of selflessness sets the example for volunteer service and investment in our communities and I think you know that that kind of contribution is really the soul of our organization that's the the service model we were founded upon to our donors our grant funders and our corporate sponsors I just want to thank you by taking a financial risk in supporting our programs our operations and our organization and while everybody would like to say that every single penny goes right directly into a program anybody who's involved in the governance of a non-profit organization knows that that is simply not true I want to say thank you to the people that support this organization financially because you have been generous and far-sighted helping us to not only serve our current programs but build our capacity to serve the future and on behalf of the board of directors I just want to say that all of you who give money to this organization we will continue to be committed to the prudent responsible and thrifty use of the resources that you have entrusted to us we take it very seriously Claude I can see you a good friend partly because of or maybe in spite of the fact that you charmed me into joining you in this endeavor nine years ago I couldn't have dreamed of being in this situation one thing being here on my birthday having to give the closing remarks but thank you thank you old manors that's what we're going to be talking about from now on I remember we were just praying for that first five thousand dollar grant and we were so grateful when we got it and our first annual event like this was in a conference room at pretty Flaherty that held probably 25 people and you know here we are with dancers and everything else it's just amazing so you know Claude has not only tolerated me but made me feel useful in this endeavor which I previously knew absolutely nothing about before he talked me into it and I think that quality and him you know has resulted in really some really effective recruiting by Claude of the people that that make this organization run so the lesson you ought to take away from this is that if Claude Rouganji calls you or asks you to lunch watch out unless you've got a significant amount of time to dedicate to a good cause so for our new Americans just a quick word finally most importantly thank you because this is why we're here I appreciate your choice to live in the United States I appreciate the choice that you've made to live in the state of Maine most of the time with no particular ties to the state of Maine you have chosen to live here raise a family build a career build a business go to school and as an old manor or a native manor I just consider this a compliment to our state and our lifestyle and the fact that you've selected the country that I love and the state that I love to live in to make your home is is very special to me and I just want to say welcome to the United States welcome to Maine and welcome home so now we'll get down to the good administrative stuff like who won what and if I mispronounce any names somebody will correct me probably my wife so but I'm gonna I'm gonna go for it now these are the winners of the silent auction Nick Tenney tribe photo Matt Vieth and Matt Vieth also won the Nick Tenney wave photo the Nick Tenney waterfront goes to Alicia Roberts the kayak package to Abigail Ingles night out in Portland to Evangeline Hollander the wine basket Yvonne Mume the barbecue for 25 to Joe Powers and a weekend in Portland to Elaine Hillcott great to see you all here hope to see you here next year in the meantime on Facebook check out our webpage Twitter and talk to somebody you know about CFL and if you can volunteer between now and then you'll enjoy the celebration so much next year thank you and good night