A sincere thank you to everyone who attended and/or donated raffle items for our November fundraiser at J-Bar Chicago! It truly went above and beyond all of our expectations: because of your efforts, we raised enough money to see all of our students through their studies all the way until the end of 2013! As a reserve grows, we look forward to enrolling additional students into Rationale’s scholarship program and continuing to support St. Jude’s community projects.

A special thanks to Mamadou (J-Bar) and Sarah (Grey Goose) - without the two of you this event would never have been possible. Thank you for all that you have done. Your passion for education in Uganda is going a long way.

For the full set of event photos, please visit our Facebook page, the album is called “J-Bar Benefit Event”

A few weeks ago we had the benefit of Skyping with Gloria, one of our scholarship beneficiaries, about our event happening tomorrow night at J-Bar. She was excited about the prospect of a full-scale fundraiser in Chicago and decided she wanted to send you all a message. This video is the result:

First, Gloria says thank you. Thank you for taking time out of your day to support educational opportunities in northern Uganda, thank you for coming out to our event tomorrow, and thank you for standing behind Rationale.

Second, Gloria wanted to update everyone on her academic program. Gloria’s dream was to pursue either nursing or agriculture, with a preference on the latter. In August, Gloria was notified of her acceptance to Gulu University, her preferred university for agriculture. Her entrance, however, was for Information Technology. In Uganda, you may enter the institution of your choice (after acceptance) and later switch into the program in which you are apt to succeed. This is not very different than the way you can switch majors in US institutions of higher learning.

Unfortunately, after accepting her position at Gulu University in IT, she was unable to switch into agriculture. Gloria had three choices: continue with IT (a program that her heart wasn’t in), wait until next year to begin agriculture at another university, or transfer to Soroti to begin nursing immediately. After many days discussing the decision with her family, St. Jude administrators, and her mentor provided by Rationale, she decided that her priority must be to begin her studies as soon as possible. As such, we are happy to announce that Gloria will begin a program in Nursing in Soroti in just one week!

We couldn’t be more excited for what Gloria’s future will hold in her new field of study. Stay tuned for more updates!

We look forward to seeing you at J-Bar’s event tomorrow evening!

The details:
When: TOMORROW, Thursday, November 8th, 6-9pm
Where: J-Bar (610 North Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611 [right off the Grand red line stop])
Why: To raise funds for Rationale’s scholarship and food security programs in northern Uganda
Cost: $20 donation will get you a bracelet and complimentary Grey Goose Signature Cocktails from 6-9pm

Facebook Event

There will also be a raffle throughout the evening consisting of Ugandan and Chicago items.

100% of proceeds go to Rationale – please come out and support our programs!