February is the month of love!
We are celebrating February this year basking in the love of our members and their incredible generosity!
I am writing on behalf of myself and Stacy this month since we are unified in our message of deep affection and appreciation for our Ebell community.
Last month, I reported that we would be publishing all the donors to our Preservation Master Plan Campaign along with those who have donated to our ongoing programs and philanthropies over the past year. And, I am pleased to say that expansive list follows in this month’s issue of the E-Magazine.
I want to give special thanks to Lorraine Spector, Board Director for Development, for her leadership of our fundraising efforts through the establishment of Ebell Friends. Thanks to board members Kay Balue, Dennee Frey, Christy McAvoy, Donna Russell, Fran Varga and Suzanne Wilton for their service over the past several years to lay this important groundwork for us. Under Stacy’s leadership, we have added professional staff support to this previous all volunteer effort and the results are stunning and very encouraging for our future.
As you may know and will certainly learn more about in the coming year, we have an important task ahead of us to secure our historic campus’s compliance with current earthquake building codes. We are in good company: there are nearly 2,000 historic structures in Los Angeles that have been given 25 years to come into compliance with current codes. It sounds daunting, but we are also in good hands with our Preservation Master Plan project team under the leadership of House and Grounds Board Director Christy McAvoy.
But, as you all know, The Ebell is so much more than our building. What happens within our historic walls are the real magic. Stacy has begun to shine our Ebell light out into the community with strategic partnerships that showcase our amazing building and highlight our mission. We now have musicians using our space for rehearsals. We have a new partnership with Los Angeles World Affairs Council to present a series of discussion with leading mayoral candidates, just to mention a few events.
Sunday, I spent the afternoon watching over 300 volunteers from three Junior League chapters and Ebell members prepare packages of soap for the SOAP project in advance of the Super Bowl next weekend. The soaps were later delivered to over 400 hotels in Los Angeles along with materials to raise awareness of hotel staff and others that human trafficking picks up during this high profile event. Project SOAP founder Theresa Flores, herself a victim of trafficking, spoke passionately about founding the effort 12 years ago to simply provide a hotline number available on the back of a bar of soap and the young girls and boys that have been recovered. There’s a lot happening and Ebell members are encouraged to attend and participate in everything.
We are working hard to make you proud and stay in love with The Ebell!
Happy Valentine’s Day and hope to see you here for Galentine’s Day!
