5th Annual Spring Fling Raises $1,212 for Scholarships

At Mano en Mano | Hand in Hand, we’re still talking about what a success our 5th Annual Spring Fling was this year, which took place on March 3rd!  That Saturday our staff, a volunteer group of students from Bowdoin College, and nearly 250 community members gathered to both support our Latino Scholarship Fund and dance into the night. Our goal was to raise $1,000 for our fund.

We were thrilled to raise $1,212 by the night’s end!

The Spring Fling began with a potluck as the community gathered and music played in the background. Our fantastic MC’s, Beth Russet and Daniel Cardenas, opened the evening stating our $1,000 goal and also getting the energy moving for the events of the night. We enjoyed live acoustic music from duo Leif Sherman-Curtis and Christopher Sutherland, both of the Portland-based group Olas, who played beautiful flamenco melodies and rhythms for a set. Following their performance, local DJ Chilo Figueroa filled up the dance floor with his lively mix of Latin and popular music, which left everyone asking for another set. Before the last band set in, Beth and Daniel drew the names for each of the raffle items and excited winners accepted their prizes. This year our raffle sold 450 tickets! At 9 p.m., Bar Harbor-based 80’s band Destroy Them My Robots took the stage and played two sets that kept everyone movin’ and groovin’. By the end of the night, we were still reeling that our fundraiser was such a resounding success! Thank you to everyone who attended, donated, and offered their time! We look forward to seeing you next year.

Please check out the photo stream below to relive some of the evening’s fun:

We’d like to extend special thanks to our volunteer group from Bowdoin College who made a weekend trip to volunteer at our scholarship fundraiser; to our MC’s; to Leif and Christopher who generously offered the talent and time; to Chilo Figueroa who donated his time, equipment, and talent to spin incredible DJ tunes during the evening; to Destroy Them My Robots who brought 80’s music to life; and to Milbridge Elementary School for the use of the space.

Additionally, we’d like to thank the following businesses and individuals that contributed to our raffle (and it’s wild success) this year: Bohemian Mama’s Bakery, Napa Auto Parts, Milbridge House, New Beginnings Salon, Milbridge Theater, The Cinnamon Stick, Salty Dog Farm, Creekside Farm, Rose Wingo Massage, Morna Bell, Betty Kelley, Art and Donna Emerson, and Bahia Yackzan.