Successful Charity Fundraiser for The Library Project
November 29, 2007

On Saturday evening, November 24, the Robert H. Smith School of Business EMBA students and alumni held the Team Maryland Thanksgiving Charity Fundraising Dinner at the Howard Johnson Zhangjiang Hotel to raise funds for ‘The Library Project’. (www.library-project.org) The dinner event was part of an entire weekend of activities that included a team of 70 runners participating in the Shanghai International Marathon the following day.

Nearly 150 people attended the charity dinner, which in addition to being hosted by the Howard Johnson Zhangjiang, received generous support from the greater corporate community of Maryland based companies and other partners. Through this sponsorship and the night’s fundraising, the event was successful enough to fund up eight large libraries for children living in rural China.

A very special thank you goes out to the many companies that helped make this event such a huge success. Black & Decker, Microsoft, Howard Johnson Hotels & Resorts, Storm Case, Avon, Jaguar, Land Rover, Under Armour, The Children's Place, Disney Store, ASC, Grainger, Grace, Latitude Trading, Cercare, Jost, Grand Hotels, Will's and Aston English all made either financial or In-Kind Donations.

This event cost The Library Project absolutely no money to put on, so 100% of the money raised goes directly to our projects in China. Howard Johnson Hotels & Resorts donated the room and half of the ticket cost for the event. Black & Decker, Microsoft, The Children's Place, The Disney Store, and Under Armour all provided thousands of dollars of power tools, software, toys, and clothes to be auctioned in support of our work.

‘”We’d like to express our sincere gratitude and a heartfelt thanks to the Smith School, their students, alumni and all the people that participated. Children are our future and education can change their future,” said Thomas Stader, Founder and Director of the Library Project.

Smith School China Chief Representative and Managing Director Ning Shao noted, “As a top ranked business education institution, Smith’s mission is to cultivate China’s burgeoning business leaders. As a member of the China community, it is our responsibility to give back to the society in which we operate. Financial achievement is not the only measure for success, it is equally, if not more important for individual leaders and leaders of the largest corporations to contribute something more. This is the Smith School’s first great step in doing its part.” During the course of the Charity dinner, Smith’s current EMBA student, Black & Decker Suzhou Financial Controller Paul Mauerman said excitedly, “I am really grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Smith School’s efforts to advance The Library Project through the events surrounding the Shanghai Marathon because this is something that, although difficult, needs to get done.”

This very generous donation will go toward providing thousands of Chinese language children’s books, hundreds of tables and chairs, plants, globes, children’s dictionaries, and librarian training that will substantially improve the education children will receive at each school in the Ba Qiao School District in the ShaanXi Province.

Thank you to everyone that helped make this event a possibility. If you would like to learn more about this charity event, or how you can support The Library Project through your own charity event, please feel free to contact The Library Project's Founder, at tom@library-project.org.

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ABOUT THE LIBRARY PROJECT

The Library Project donates books and libraries to under financed schools and orphanages in China. They believe education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty that exists in the developing world. As they see it, education is change. The Library Project accomplishes this by; getting the local community involved through book drives and awareness raising, providing libraries to under financed orphanages and elementary schools, and partnering with local NGOs (charities) and companies.

The Library Project has some amazing yet attainable goals: by the end of 2008 they will have donated over 80 libraries to orphanages and countryside elementary schools in China. The number of libraries will more than double by the end of 2009. Projecting further into the future, they hope to provide 350 libraries by the end of 2010. Their goal is to develop The Library Project into an organization that helps empower millions of children every year through the gift of education. This goal will take an enormous amount of dedication, planning, and hard work. They need your help.

To get involved, please check out their website at www.library-project.org.

If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Stader, The Library Project's Founder, at: tom@library-project.org.

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND'S ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business Executive MBA is a world-class EMBA program. The School’s faculty are ranked No. 5 in the world for research by the Financial Times (2007), and most recently, its EMBA program in China was named the No. 1 ‘Most Valuable EMBA Program’ jointly ranked by the World Executive Weekly, the Mundell Magazine and the World Brand Laboratory.