GFA Birthday Bash for Batonga is IN PROGRESS!

Give a birthday gift to Josh by supporting his foundation!!

This year's Birthday Fundraiser is being sponsored by Grobanites for Africa! The proceeds from this fundraiser will be designated for The Batonga Foundation.

Many of you know about Angelique Kidjo, the amazing four time Grammy nominee who toured with Josh on his "Awake" tour in 2007. Angelique is the founder of The Batonga Foundation, the mission of which is to support both secondary school and higher education for girls in Africa. You can learn more about Batonga by going to www.batongafoundation.org.

The goal of this fundraiser is to request sponsorships to help with the educational needs for 103 girls from two schools in Sierra Leone in Western Africa (78 girls from Waterloo and 25 girls from Freetown). (Note - We added more Waterloo girls since the first 58 girls have already been sponsored!)

In addition to the individual sponsorships, we have some great auction and buy now items which were donated by Angelique, Josh and his fans. The proceeds for these items will go towards additional expenses to help the girls which are not covered in the sponsorships

You can team up with other fans to sponsor the girls, and in return, you'll receive information about the girl or program you sponsor (instructions are on the auction site).

Similar to past auctions, we have a special limited edition magnet which you'll be able to purchase and be entered into a drawing to win an item signed by Josh! (There will also be a drawing for those who sponsor the girls.)

All auction items will end 9-11 pm Eastern Time (6-8 pm Pacific Time) on Saturday, February 27 (Josh's 29th Birthday)! The sponsorships and buy now items will run through midnight on Sunday, February 28.

Let's see if we can get all 103 girls sponsored in honor of Josh's birthday!!

Just go here to get to the auction site:
www.grobanitesforcharityauction.org

For any questions, write to gfc@grobanitesforcharity.org

Waterloo Girls Being Sponsored by Josh's Fans

From the Grobanites for Africa Team....

The 2010 Blanket Drive for The Josh Groban Foundation to benefit the children at Siyawela NOAH is in progress! Those who are participating are going above and beyond the call by going back and making even more blankets since we mentioned that we were running behind last year! Thank you to all of you!

There is a way for everyone to participate, either by making blankets or making a donation, large or small, that will be used to purchase additional blankets in Africa, or to supplement the shipping costs of the handmade blankets. If you'd like to help out, write to Karenloden@grobanitesforafrica.org. The drive will run through March 15.

Here are some of the blankets made so far!

The SoCal/Anaheim Grobanites held their annual blanket party on February 20 to make blankets for the children of Siyawela. Here are some photos!

From Lynn Allred, Project Leader for Tender Totes and Heavenly Dreams.....

The Tender Totes and Heavenly Dreams team has chosen the hospitals for their 6th drive starting June 1,2010. We will be donating to the Portland OR, Tampa, FL, and Shreveport, LA, hospitals as well as making small deliveries to Salt Lake City and Los Angeles. We are looking for volunteers to help with the Tampa, FL, and Shreveport, LA, hospitals. If anyone is interested please contact us at www.tendertotes.org. Thank you!

The South Central Scholars Fund held its annual Charity Gala in LA on February 17. The program included a special thank you to Josh and his fans (see below)! The program reads, "South Central Scholars thanks Josh Groban and his fans for their continued generosity and support."

For more information about this terrific charity, which Josh, his fans and JGF have supported over the years, go to www.southcentralscholars.org.