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National Peace Corps Association > News > Polyglot > Bringing the Peace Corps Community Together: Global House Parties 2012
Bringing the Peace Corps Community Together: Global House Parties 2012
By Sarah Kana on Friday, October 5th, 2012
Dunedin Area RPCVs at the home of Rebecca Wellborn
On and around September 22, 2012, Returned Volunteers, current Volunteers, parents of Peace Corps Volunteers, current and former Peace Corps staff and the entire Peace Corps community hosted Global House Parties to meet, reconnect and to celebrate their service in Peace Corps. This year’s theme was “Find the 250K”, a campaign set up by the National Peace Corps Association in the hopes of finding all Peace Corps Volunteers and staff- in order to strengthen the community and its
Washington, DC Party
voice. Although the parties did not generate as much monetary support as we had hoped for, the parties were a great success and we’ve gotten some wonderful feed back, stories and photos!
“Our house party was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed the opportunity to connect with each other and meet new friends. We had a very interesting situation in that ALL of the volunteers who attended this party had served in Africa region, except for
one person who served and Asia,” said Cedric McKay, who hosted a party in Chicago. “The countries represented by our service at this party were: Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Kenya. The Volunteer who served in Asia was posted to the Philippines. I am, indeed, so glad to have been a part of this initiative! I look forward to assisting in further ways, perhaps, to our goal of finding the 250 K.”
“We had a very great time! We had food catered by a local Senegalese restaurant and some of the Volunteers also brought wine. I provided music from the Continent! Our dessert was inspired by the continent: peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate frosting! We wanted to match and celebrate two of the most common ingredients which we saw during our volunteer service in Africa: Peanuts and Cocoa. The dessert was an amazing hit!”
“A party of 15 gathered in Rockford, IL. to welcome home Connie Wenger, RPCV Georgia. The party included 11 Returned Peace Corps Volunteers (RPCVs), one young woman in the application process, and three friends of the Peace Corps. After a potluck dinner, Connie gave a Power Point presentation on her work in Georgia, highlighting family life, traditional song and dance, and stunning images of the Caucasus Mountains. We agreed to meet October 25 to hear the stories of Justin Gallagher and Laken Rippentrop, recently returned from Mongolia and Kenya,” said Loren Floto.
A Washington, D.C. area party raised several thousand dollars. A party in Manila, Philippines hosted by NPCA Board Member, Stephen Groff, had 36 guests, including two ambassadors.
If you had a party, or attended one, please send us in your pictures so that we can share them! We’ve posted pictures on NPCA’s Facebook page and set up a Flickr album. Check them out!
It’s not too late to show that you support our Find the 250K campaign and appreciate the important work of the National Peace Corps Association in “keeping the Peace Corps flame alive.” You can still make a donation — do it today!
