We Love Reilly!

Tonight, we had the honor of not only hanging out with the uber-talented band, REILLY, but we also got to hear them perform their incredible violin infused rock music.

Please check them out at their website www.reillytheband.com...listen to their music, like their facebook, find out when they are touring next near you, because you do not want to miss their amazing performances!

They also give $1 per every CD that is sold to a different non-profit each month. Some of the previous ones have been World Vision, Compassion International, etc.

They came all the way to Berry, though, to play for Rome and to be a part of a new kind of fundraiser for the SOUP. We raised over $800 for the SOUP tonight, and are more than thankful for every person who came out to listen to REILLY, to support us, and to set up/clean up.

A special shout-out to Jon Huggins, Berry's Chaplain's Office, and the RiLAC for everything you did to help put this event together!

REILLY

Tomorrow night at 7 pm, Berry College's Religion in Life department is hosting a concert as a fundraiser for the SOUP. They have invited back the band REILLY, who came to Berry's campus a few months ago and blew us all away.

To check out this phenomenally talented band --> http://www.reillytheband.com/

Still interested? Here are the details: Sunday, April 10. 7 pm. Berry's College Chapel. Free with Berry ID, $5 for the general public.

See you there!

P.S. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaZdmDriJgE&feature=player_embedded#at=18

2nd Annual SOUP-off Results

Many thanks to all who came out last night for our 2nd Annual SOUP-off! We had 38 soup-makers, approximately 350 attendees, and raised over $3,000. We could not have done it without you, so thank you all for your support and statuses and soups.

These funds will first be directed to the children for food, medical care, school supplies, clothes, and other basic necessities; we will put all remaining funds in our account for the building of the orphanage.

Thank you again for your enthusiastic participation in the SOUP-off this year. There was some heavy competition! The following awards were presented last night:

• The Golden Bowl Award- Lindsay Larkin's Baked Potato Soup
• The Silver Spoon Award- B.E.S.T. Team's Gumbo
• Trustees' Choice Award- The Biology Club's Curried Pumpkin Soup with special recognition to The Briggs' Carrot Ginger Soup and the BAA's Chili

We have already begun planning our next big event- mark your calendars for March...

Announcing...

New Grant for the SOUP

NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION FOUNDED BY BERRY STUDENT

EARNS NATIONAL AWARD FROM JENZABAR FOUNDATION

Rome, Ga. – A student-initiated nonprofit committed to assisting Ugandan orphans has earned Berry College national recognition through the Jenzabar Foundation’s Student Leadership Awards. Berry joins Brigham Young University, the University of Southern California and seven other institutions of higher learning on the list of 2010 award winners.

The Jenzabar program recognizes student groups and their respective leaders who have demonstrated a commitment to making a difference through community service and/or humanitarian endeavors in the United States and worldwide. Honorees receive a $5,000 grant to support their future efforts.

Berry was honored for a grant proposal drafted by a trio of students in support of The African SOUP – Sponsorship of Orphans in Uganda Project. This new nonprofit was founded by student Brin Enterkin in response to the tremendous need she witnessed while teaching microfinance to rural Ugandan women in 2009. Working in collaboration with Experiential Learning International (ELI), Enterkin and her fellow students are undertaking various initiatives to raise funds that can be wired directly to Uganda to support the country’s nearly two million orphans.

The successful grant proposal was prepared by Enterkin with assistance from fellow students Brenna Conley and Morgan West.

“The grant money will be used cover costs of necessities and education for children in the orphanages of Iganga, Uganda,” Enterkin stated. “And construction has already begun for a safer and more sustainable orphanage [the Capital Building Project].”

Enterkin is no stranger to community service. While still in high school, the Fayetteville, Ga., native helped raise funds to build a school in Cambodia. After arriving at Berry, she earned a grant to teach microfinance to women in a rural Ugandan village. It was that experience that ignited her passion for Ugandan orphans and led to the founding of SOUP.

In addition to her work with SOUP, Enterkin also lends her time and talents to the Berry Enterprises Student Team (BEST), a student-led consulting group that provides expertise and assistance for student-operated enterprises on the Berry campus, and serves as CEO of Berry Nonprofit Strategic Services, a student-operated enterprise that provides strategic planning and business planning services to community nonprofit organizations in various levels of development. This summer, she is in Washington, D.C., working as a policy writing intern for the American Friends Service Committee.

“Brin Enterkin is the consummate Berry student – smart, always smiling, driven to make a difference in the world,” said Provost Katherine Whatley. “She sees a need, is moved by it and then finds a way to help. She meets challenges head-on and keeps on finding ways to solve problems as they crop up, without getting discouraged. Brin is an embodiment of the Berry mission.”

Learn more about SOUP at http://theafricansoup.org/.

EDITORS: E-mail rwoodall@berry.edu to request a photo of Brin Enterkin.

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Berry College is an independent, coeducational college of approximately 1,900 undergraduate and graduate students that is recognized nationally for the quality and value of its educational experience. Located on a magnificent campus encompassing more than 26,000 acres near Rome, Ga., Berry challenges students to embrace a firsthand education that unites strong academic programs with opportunities for meaningful work experience, spiritual and moral growth, and significant service to others.

A Promising Beginning

After several months of sending out fundraising letters to newspapers and spreading the word around campus, the SOUP has officially been presented to members of Berry College's faculty.


Last week, a coffee house style Q & A session was held on campus to get professors and deans involved who had provided advice, support, or interest in the SOUP since the time when it was just an idea, a dream, a trip to Uganda.


Brin Enterkin presented the reasons and story behind the SOUP, ways to get involved, plans for the future, and a powerful slideshow that showed the realities of living as an orphan in that war torn nation. She then opened it up to questions, and received some difficult questions about logistics and overhead that were answered with surprising ease.


This was encouraging to hear for everyone, even those of us helping her out behind the scenes. We know the heart and story behind this project, but it was a comfort to see her easily handle these questions under pressure, showing not only her knowledge of the conditions of Ugandan orphans from extensive research and a summer of experience, but also her passion invested in the lives and futures of these children.



The SOUP was received with a warm welcome from Berry faculty, and a couple of staff members volunteered innovative ideas for fundraising and marketing.



We are excited to begin this journey into changing the lives of these children, and we cannot wait to continue telling people about how to get involved!