News & Comment
ACBLEF 2022 Annual Report
We could almost call 2022 “The International Year of the Yo-Yo.”
Economic crises, lingering viruses, and unrest created a major impact on the nonprofit world in 2022, and the Educational Foundation was not immune to these events. Yet, in so many ways, 2022 was our best year ever.
Despite challenges facing all nonprofits, our successes far outweighed our losses; in short, we “grew” in just about every direction possible as you’ll see in the ACBLEF 2022 Annual Report and for that we thank you – our donors, friends and volunteers.
As I write this, we have just completed our 2nd Annual “Spark” Pro-Am Auction and Fundraiser. This event generated over $70K which will be earmarked to grow and sustain bridge players that fall into one of the hardest groups to engage: young people between the ages of 17-31. We’re hoping you’ll be sending proposals our way to help us with our outreach.
We have many “thank yous” to express, and those will follow soon, but we wouldn’t have accomplished this without the volunteer efforts of 180 bridge pros who dedicated their time to help us grow this fund. We owe deepest thanks to Tracey Bauer and her core team of volunteers: Amy Casanova, Tatiana Haag, Andrew Gumperz, Amber Lin, and Olivia Schireson, who were in the trenches every day for months! A more extensive list of those who gave of their time, talent, and treasury will be included in the September issue of the Bridge Bulletin.
In conclusion, come the end of September, I will be bidding you farewell as Executive Director. This has been, by far, the most satisfying work I have ever done. The Foundation has an outstanding Board of Trustees and through them, the organization has created effective new initiatives and made impactful grants. It’s time for the organization to enter the next phase of its growth, and for me to focus on becoming a Life Master.
P.S. I have a long way to go to get there!
With gratitude,
E. Kristen Frederick
Executive Director