Mentors Fifth Annual Gala To Feature The 5 Browns And To Honor A Leading Global Humanitarian

Salt Lake City, July, 2009--This October, The 5 Browns, a family of five piano virtuosos all schooled at Julliard, will thrill audiences at Mentors’ fifth annual fundraising gala. The gala will also honor Padma Venkataraman, one of India’s best known social activists.

The gala will be held on Friday, October 9 at 6 p.m. at the Downtown Salt Lake Marriott and over 900 people are expected to attend.

The 5 Browns, five siblings (three women and two men) all in their twenties have dazzled audiences from Beijing to Berlin. They first hit to the top of the nation’s classical music charts in 2005 with their album The 5 Browns. The next year, with their No Boundaries album, they were No. 1 on the charts for 21 weeks.

In the music world, they are an unprecedented concert attraction, dedicated to bringing classical music to the lives of people everywhere. They have garnered attention everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the Tonight Show to The New York Times. Although they are dedicated to their art, they have also become committed to the Mentors cause.

“The idea of helping people help themselves immediately touched us,” said Melody Brown. “What really sold us was when we attended last year’s gala and saw the pictures and heard the stories of the clients whose lives had changed when someone trusted them enough to give them a small loan. We are grateful that we can do our part to help Mentors clients.”

In addition to The 5 Browns’ performance, Padma Venkataraman, daughter of former Indian President R. Venkataraman, will be given Mentors’ International Humanitarian Service Award. Venkataraman has long been a leading figure in the national fight against leprosy and its resulting stigma. She has also made great strides in incorporating micro lending into numerous leprosy colonies. Her determination to break the cycle of leprosy transmission for future generations has become a model for giving these individuals the dignity they deserve.

For more information on the gala or to purchase tables, individual tickets or sponsorships visit the Mentors website at www.enterprise-mentors.org or call 1-801-676-7776. Mentors looks forward to seeing you at this special event!

International Charity Gala to Feature The Mormon Tabernacle Choir

Salt Lake City, August, 2008—Enterprise Mentors International (Mentors), a non-profit charity that lifts families out of poverty in developing nations, will feature the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at its fourth annual fundraising gala on Friday, November 7. The special event, to be held at the Grand America Hotel Ballroom in Salt Lake City, is entitled “Celebrating a Legacy of Hope.”

Mentors attacks poverty worldwide by providing microcredit loans, high-quality mentoring, and encouragement to hardworking micro-entrepreneurs, especially women.

Over 1400 people are expected to attend the reception and dinner, which will be followed by the choir’s performance. The event hopes to raise $1 million that evening, with 100 percent of donations directly benefiting those in poverty.

“It continually amazes me how much this gala can benefit countless people,” said Mark L. Petersen, president and CEO of Mentors. “By reaching this year’s gala goal of $1 million, we will be able to help 48,000 new individuals pull themselves out of poverty and become self sufficient. That’s the equivalent of a small city,” he continued.

In addition to the choir’s performance, First Lady Laura Bush will be honored as the recipient of Mentors’ International Humanitarian Award.

“Mrs. Bush has been instrumental in bringing aid and hope to those in need worldwide,” said Mary Ellen Smoot, chair of Mentors’ board of directors. “I have heard her say that global literacy can create economic self-sufficiency. In this way, our missions converge since we are both striving to help those less fortunate become self-sufficient. It is therefore only fitting that this award be given to her,” continued Smoot.

Mentors currently functions in Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico and the Philippines through seven partner organizations. During its eighteen-year history, it has helped more than 815,000 people and 140,000 families work their way out of poverty.

Mentors devotes 100 percent of all its fundraising to the direct benefit of its overseas clients. Its board of directors covers all U.S. administrative costs. Ninety-five percent of all loans granted by Mentors are repaid and the funds are self-perpetuated to the benefit of even more clients.

"We hope to grow from serving 30,000 clients currently to one million clients in the next few years. In order to accomplish the tremendous task that lies before us, we require the support of those who have been given much to help those who have great need," said Petersen.

For more information on the gala or to purchase tables, individual tickets or sponsorships visit the Mentors website at www.enterprise-mentors.org or call 1-866-748-9565.

Enterprise Mentors International's Third Annual Gala to Host First Lady of Guatemala

Salt Lake City, October, 2007—On November 1 and 2, the First Lady of Guatemala, Wendy Widmann de Berger, will be present at a media tour, a press conference and a gala hosted by the non-profit organization Enterprise Mentors International (EMI). The media tour and press conference will be held at the LDS Humanitarian Center on Thursday, November 1, at 10:15 a.m. while the EMI gala will be held the next day at the Downtown Salt Lake Marriott Hotel. Guatemalan ambassador to the United States, Jose Guillermo Castillo, may also be present at the events.

A special appearance by de Berger and a performance by world-famous tenor Michael Ballam are just some of the highlights of EMI's annual gala. The gala, entitled "Handprint on my Heart," will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday, November 2.

EMI, a microdevelopment foundation providing business training, consulting, mentoring and microlending services in five developing nations, is proud to host its third annual gala which has in past years raised over $1.8 million in humanitarian aid.

"We are so honored to have our exceptional visitor, Wendy de Berger, at our gala. She has been instrumental in bringing aid and hope to those in need all over the world. I know that by the end of the night she will also leave a handprint on our hearts," said Mark Petersen, president of EMI.

At the gala, master of ceremonies Lloyd D. Newell will present special service awards to the Relief Society general presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and to outgoing EMI president Dick Oscarson. De Berger then will be presented with EMI's International Humanitarian Service award in recognition of her work in helping women and children worldwide.

"The woman is the center of the family," De Berger has said. "Through her we can reach the children and youth. She is the axis of change, not only in the family but in the community. They [women] can be motors of development."

De Berger's efforts have addressed the problems of hunger, malnutrition, education and health. She has been instrumental in the establishment of five women's training centers in Guatemala City, in the distribution of more than a million school supplies to 17,000 Guatemalan schools, in the creation of potable water projects, and in the development of a program to distribute nonpolluting stoves among the indigenous population. Her Creciendo Bien, or Growing Healthy, program is helping them to run their own schools, start their own commercial bakeries, build their own care for the elderly, stand up against family violence, and do everything from reforming their poisoned water systems to modernizing their cooking systems.

"We want to see a new generation in Guatemala, educated, productive, with opportunities. This is what people need. They need to be recognized, to know they are worth something. The first point in all of these projects is raising self-esteem," de Berger explained.

De Berger and Mentors share a similar dream. They believe in human dignity and see malnutrition and poverty as a lack of opportunity.

Founded in 1990, EMI currently functions in Guatemala, El Salvador, Peru, Mexico and the Philippines through seven partner foundations. Principles of self-reliance are practiced and upheld with the help of a board of directors and indigenous staff assembled from local business people. This is, as Mentors volunteers say, "a hand-up and not a hand-out endeavor."

"Part of our fundamental approach consists of the 3-M's—mentality, morality, and motivation," said Mentors founder Menlo Smith. "To be successful, a person must have the mentality required to understand promises, the morality to make and keep promises, and the motivation required to put those other two principles into practice on a consistent basis."

Mentors devotes 100% of its fundraising to the direct benefit to its overseas clients. Ninety-six percent of all loans granted by EMI are repaid and the funds are self-perpetuated to the benefit of even more clients. Last year, EMI served 200,352 individuals and created 4,058 new jobs.

"We hope to grow from serving 460,000 clients currently to one million clients in the next few years. In order to accomplish the awesome task that lies before us, we require the support of those, who have been given much, to help those who have great need," said Petersen.