Challenge!

As we are all aware, 2008 is over. At Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities, we'll be wrapping up our 2008 year-end campaign at the end of January. Before we do, I'm making a final push to raise the $4,000 remaining to meet our campaign goal.

Grandville Avenue Arts & Humanities (GAAH) administers the programs of the Cook Arts Center and the Cook Library Center. GAAH's mission is transforming lives in the Grandville Avenue neighborhood through reading and the arts and by celebrating the community's cultural richness.

The board, staff and volunteers of GAAH have a vision for the life-changing power of reading and the arts. The Cook Library Center and the Cook Arts Center are nurturing environments for children, adults and families in the neighborhood, the Latino community and beyond, acting as greenhouses of lifelong learning.

The Cook Arts Center provides creative, diverse programs to encourage and showcase neighborhood residents' artistic talents. The Cook Arts Center celebrates and cherishes the neighborhood's rich ethnic heritage and its colorful rainbow of cultures.

The Library is a community resource that promotes literacy and intellectual development and provides services and programs that meet the needs and interests of the Grandville Avenue neighborhood. It is a safe place for children, adults and families to learn and enjoy themselves.

By recruiting 160 people to donate $25 each to GAAH - we can meet our goal. Sounds crazy I know - but it's not impossible. I've set up a causes page through Facebook that allows people to learn more about our organization, and donate instantly online with a credit card or debit card.

All donations are tax deductible and go directly to GAAH to allow us to serve more children and families. To find out more about GAAH, our facilities and our programs - click here.

To make a difference in the lives of the under-served families and children of the Grandville Avenue Neighborhood, and allow them to experience the power of literacy and the arts, please go here.

Thank you for thinking outside yourself, and for making Grand Rapids, Michigan, our country, and the world - a much better place.