On June 5, 1948, the one and only Theodore Berchman Brosnan was born in Brooklyn, NY. Just a couple weeks from now will mark the 61^st anniversary of that day.  To commemorate, Patrick and Tim will embark on a fundraising challenge of sorts, both to honor the occasion and to raise money for a project in the village of El Sunza, El Salvador – a village our dad visited in 2005, drawing up plans to further involve his friends and family in support of the community there before he passed on.

 The Project:

We are now in our third year of working with the people of El Sunza through a partnership with Fundacion Sueños (Dreams Foundation), a Salvadoran non-profit that does an excellent job of what would best be termed holistic community development. They engage families and youth in vocational training, educational programs, and faith-based activities such as Sunday school and summer day-camps. In addition, they have developed a home-building program that pairs local masons and carpenters with work teams from the States. Qualifying underprivileged families in the village then work alongside these volunteers to build safe, solid homes that they can enjoy for decades to come.

 In the summer of 2007, 11 of us from Austin spent a week in El Sunza helping to build a house and working with the youth on a photography project that was showcased in a coffeehouse gallery here in Austin. We are headed back down on July 11 with another team to do much of the same work and to assess how to best contribute our resources and skills to sustain future projects.

 The Fundraiser:

To mark our dad’s 61^st birthday, Patrick and Tim are going to run 61km in 61 hrs. We call it:

61 in 61 for 61 x 61 ^®

What this means is that in about 2 ½ days, we’ll run a total of 61 km, or about 38 miles. Why are we doing this? Good question. I guess because we like to run, it’s a good challenge, and it’s a way to work with this “61” theme. But there’s more. We’d like to get 61 people to contribute $61 for the project. Donations can be made online or through the mail, and all are tax-deductible.

 The Investment:

Money raised will go toward the building of a 300 sf house. Each house costs approximately $2500 to build. Money raised beyond that will help with travel and in-country expenses and/or for future homebuilding projects.

 Donate online at:  http://www.peoplenotprofit.org/61.htm

or mail a check to:        People Not Profit

                                          attn: Tim Brosnan

                                          7211 Bethune Ave

                                    Austin, TX 78752

 Thanks,

Tim and Patrick