Faith and Fire

Sometimes the stars seem to align for us. We become determined to take action, go through the motions and before we know it, success. That faith and fire inside can propel us to do amazing things and that is just how I would describe the Art Salon for a Cause.

People left the salon enlightened, disturbed, encouraged, and supportive of domestic violence issues. A few survivors came out of the DV closet and shared their stories with me and one woman in crisis came to me for help, which she is getting. Bravery is working.

Our three day event managed to pull over 160 people who enjoyed wonderful live music, delicious gourmet (even homemade) food, and beautiful art in every room of the 5,500 sq foot luxury home. We had wonderful sponsors, volunteers, and we received media attention from the East Valley Tribune, AZ Republic, The Wrangler News, KJZZ radio, East Valley Radio Station, and all the other websites that helped promote our event. Most amazing to me is the $1,500 in scholarship money from the silent auction.

Earlier this week, Bravery cohosted the Arts and Advocates reception at Cup O' Karma (formally Into the Bean) and awarded the very first Bravery Scholarship to Melissa Nudi. She is a mom, DV survivor, and an MCC student who plans to enter the medical field. Bravery raised $500 and MCC matched the funds to give her $1,000. I am a huge advocate of education and am so honored to help another person in this capacity and Melissa is a perfect example of what Bravery is all about.

The other scholarship will be given through Tempe Dollars for Scholars and will go to a Tempe High School student to attend college. Currently, we are working on candidates and will announce him/her in the coming months. I would very much like the Bravery Scholarship to become a staple of the program because an education is one of the keys to a better life and has become more expensive (college credit prices have doubled in the past decade).

I've been getting emails about the online auction through Ebay Giving Works and I will admit that many of the wonderful donations were sold in the silent auction, but the online auction will resume next week. If you have something you would like to contribute on behalf of Bravery to help us reach our goal, please feel free to participate. If you haven't already, you can subscribe to the auction blog to stay updated on coming items.

Most importantly, please share Bravery with others by sending them links to the website, subscribe to the blog, donate, and bid online. Together we can make a difference...all it takes is a little faith and fire!