dreamprogram.org The DREAM Program @DREAMprogram
The Village Mentoring Organization
Elm Street DREAM Quarterly Report December 2013 – February 2014 Greetings from DREAM! Though the winter is still not over, it held many fun events for Elm Street mentors and youth, including Winter Adventure Camp, dormstorming, and preparations for a trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. Please read below for highlights of Elm Street DREAM’s winter quarter!
Highlights from the quarter include:
Hillary Laggis, Ben DeCarlo, and Morgan Snover joined Gabby Fisher and Eli Friedman-Heiman as co-chairs this semester. We welcome them! Two Elm Street mentors worked together to write a grant to the Alumni Grants Committee, asking for resources to start special healthy lifestyles programming for teens next fall. Last semester Elm Street received a grant to assist in funding their trip to the Basketball Hall of Fame. Elm Street mentors and mentees raised over $225 with their annual dormstorming event!
Fridays:
Elm Street finished fall semester with one-on-one activities. Elm Street kicked off spring semester with an afternoon of sledding and cocoa at the Burlington Country Club. Mentees joined their mentors for a day of dormstorming. They went door-to-door across the UVM residence halls, asking students for small donations. Mentors attended the teenage boys’ basketball game in Winooski, where they made fun banners and cheered on their mentees. While the younger mentees played games in the UVM gymnasium, Elm Street teens watched the documentary Bully and ate snacks. Before spring break, mentors spent one-on-one time with their mentees.
Special Events for Children and Mentors:
Twelve Elm Street mentees and thirteen mentors attended Day WAC at Camp DREAM, where they played broomball, cross-country skied, and sledded with other youth from programs across Vermont! Six Elm Street mentees and one mentor attended Overnight WAC at Camp DREAM. Six mentees and four mentors from Elm Street attended Teen WAC at the Bolton Valley Resort, where they received cross-country ski lessons thanks to Emily, an AmeriCorps member from the Catamount Trails Association.
Capacity Building and Fundraising:
This year DREAM raised $102,368 during its Annual Appeal. Gifts came in all sorts of sizes from DREAMers around the world. With the $20,731 raised during the Alumni Appeal, DREAM raised over $123,000 this quarter. DREAM was recently awarded $15,000 from the Hoehl Foundation and $5,000 from the Redducs Foundation for work at Camp DREAM. These grants were awarded for the construction of a new bathhouse in Fletcher, VT, where Camp DREAM is located, and for working with New American
Office: 30 Community Drive, South Burlington, VT | Mail: P.O. Box 361, Winooski, VT 05404 │ (802) 338-8979 | info@dreamprogram.org