BFA Saw Great Success at 25th Anniversary Gala and Warehouse Party!

On September 20, 2013, Books For Africa celebrated 29 million books and 25 years at the BFA 25th Anniversary Silver Jubilee Gala. We hosted a big event to celebrate all of the people and projects that have helped us in our mission to end the book famine in Africa.

We kicked off the event with a VIP Reception at Windows on the River at the Crowne Plaza St. Paul Riverfront Hotel, where St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and a number of our VIPs addressed the audience, including the Ethiopian Ambassador to the U.S., the Tanzanian Ambassador to the U.S., and former Tanzanian First Lady Anna Mkapa.

Then our guests made their way downstairs to join other BFA supporters for our pre-gala festivities, including music from KFAI African Rhythms and a fashion show with designs by Yvonne Johnson of Milu Milu Couture.

We then sat nearly 500 glowing supporters for a formal dinner featuring an address from U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Books For Africa Board members, founder, and volunteers; a special song written just for the anniversary event; a live auction; and a keynote address from Nayaradzayi Gumbonzvanda, World YWCA General Secretary.

The following day, we hosted the annual Books For Africa Warehouse Party/Braii at our new St. Paul warehouse. With so many folks in town for the anniversary, the Warehouse Party was a great success!

We hosted two bands: Black Market Brass, a local Afro-jazz band, and the one and only Books For Africa Warehouse Band, made up of musical members of our St. Paul and Georgia warehouse staffs.

Guests enjoyed free wine, beer, and South African BBQ from Amara Wines, owned by BFA Board Member Bob Marx and a major in-kind donor for the BFA 25th Anniversary Year. The Cave Café food truck was there as well to offer up Afro-Italiano fusion food throughout the evening. People danced, ate, drank, and were merry at the free Books For Africa event!

It was a lovely celebration of 25 years of work, and an inspiration for the next leg of the journey as we continue our work to end the book famine in Africa.

See more photos of the Silver Jubilee Gala on our Flickr here.
See more photos of our Warehouse Party on our Flickr here.

Check out event coverage in the Star Tribune [Minneapolis, MN, USA].

Thank you to BFA's Anniversary year sponsors:

Platinum Sponsor:
Gold Sponsors:
Partner Sponsor:
Gala Sponsors:
Major In-Kind Donors:
	Thank you to our other in-kind donors: Linder's and KFAI African Rhythms