On December 28th, the beach of Useppa Island, off of Fort Myers, Florida, filled with residents ready to work their abs for an Akilah fundraiser. Shelby Calambokidis of Baltimore, Maryland, had graciously offered to lead an Abs class at $30 per person to raise money for Akilah.
Shelby leading the class
We had a great turnout, with about 25 participants, and many other donations from residents on the island who skipped the class but wanted to show their support for Akilah nonetheless. Their fears were well-founded; Shelby definitely put us through a grueling workout!
Doing the dreaded "bicycles"
The Abs for Akilah class was a huge success; we raised a total of $2,809 in class fees and donations! We hope to make this an annual tradition on Useppa and bring even more participants to the beach. Maybe next year we will hold a yoga class!
Almost finished!
Many thanks to Shelby and the Calambokidis family for organizing this event, and the Greer family for distributing flyers and spreading the word around the island. What a fantastic way to end 2011!
"1994 will forever remain imprinted in my memory. We need to educate our new generation about what happened even as we forge ahead with nation building. Yes, I must say that it is difficult, but somehow one must gather the strength to carry on with the mission I seek for a better life ahead."