Sponsors: (order is determined by alphabetical order and does not signify ranking or level of importance. Without each and every one of you, 09.25.09 would not have been possible).

• Almaz Restaurant: The HOME RUN sponsor. Mimi, we have worn you down with favors, meetings at your restaurant, borrowing chairs and tables, and showing up everyday to ask for a help. Through it all, you always smiled and said “Eshi”. You are an amazing soul and a kind hearted angel, and because of your kindness, Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians alike were able to enjoy the taste of Ethiopia . AMESIGINALEN.
• Chez Hareg: Thank you Hareg for all the great ideas, the contribution to our organization, and letting your bakery be the de facto EA4C office space. We were worried for a second that you would start charging us rent. But everyday we would come in, you would open us with open arms and your special cookies. Thank you for being the first business that let us hang-up our 09.25.09 banner on your window. Also, thank you for the 09.25.09 cupcakes with buna. AMESIGINALEN.
• Convention Flowers: Nubia , thank you for coming up with the 09.25.09 floral arrangement—the beauty of your floral design is AMAZING! Thank you also for being a sponsor and letting us your computer anytime we needed it. AMESIGINALEN.
• DJ Photography: Ato Derege! Thank you for everything. You have done it all, you took pictures for us, you photo-shopped the 09.25.09 posters for us, you translated words in Amharic for us, you opened up your office space so that we could decompress and unwind a little bit. AMESIGINALEN.
• Dukem Restaurant: Gash Tefera, Wizero Dunu, and the Dukem Restaurant family. Thank you for giving us prime location to hang up our 09.25.09 banner. Thank you for the laughs you provided, taking part in the 09.25.09 specials, and for donating a Mesob so that we could decorate our marketing truck. Thank you for putting up with the daily “two seconds” request.
• Foodized: Fellas, you are the future entrepreneurs in the making. Your concept incorporating a food delivery service that caters to the Ethiopian community is BRILLIANT. Thank you for wearing our 09.25.09 t-shirts and helping us promote the event. We were true partners in this venture and we are forever grateful. Now if only we can get you to stop competing with us for office space Chez Hareg and Habesha Market. AMESIGINALEN.
• Gemini Healthcare Group: Thank you for your tireless efforts and your dedication to building a clinic in Addis Abeba. You are an amazing organization who is striving to be the change we have been waiting for. We are confident that you will raise enough revenue to turn your aspiration into reality. May you continue to make a difference in people’s lives and giving unselfishly back to our community. AMESIGINALEN.
• Habesha Market: Thank you for giving some of our organizers free food on the house. Thank you also for giving us prime location so that we could sell baseball tickets at your business. And like Almaz Restaurant, thank you for letting us use your tables and chairs and becoming the “branch office space” for EA4C. Yared, thank you for being a kind and giving person who brightened up the day for some of us during the most challenging times. AMESIGINALEN.
• Metro Lab: Kassahun, thank you for just being you. You have an amazing drive and a dedication to our community. The service that you provide to our community is essential, and while you can make a lot more money with your brilliant mind and your drive, you chose instead to dedicate your energy to providing a service for the community. AMESIGINALEN.
• Salon Revive: Hiwot, thank you for being the first sponsor to sign on board. You were also one of the first businesses to donate to the Obama campaign through Ethiopians for Change. There is a pattern, you give openly, and in return, we are sure you will receive bountifully. Also, thank you for the free buna that you have for your customers, one particular organizer took a lot of advantage of that even though there was no hair to be cut. AMESIGINALEN.
• U-Street Parking: Henok, thank you for providing the $1,000 for the Eyasu Generation Award competition. We have always known that your fierce business acumen has an equally giving and compassionate side. Because of you, the winner of the Eyasu Generation Award—to be announced on Monday 09.28.09—will receive a grant that will enable that person to continue impacting our community in a positive light and motivate hundreds more behind her to continue to look beyond personal gains and give back to our community fully. Your generosity will inspire our future leaders to become just that—leaders. AMESIGINALEN.
• Zenebech Injera: Thank you for providing enough injera to feed hundreds of people during the 09.25.09 event. Your injera is quality at its best, and the fact that you donated over 600 injera will never be forgot neither by the organizers of EA4C nor by the patrons who were able to enjoy your injera with the fine food from Almaz Restaurant. AMESIGINALEN.
• 7-11: Thank you for being a triple sponsor of the 09.25.09 event and going out of your way to take part in the Ethiopian Heritage Day Appreciation.
• All-Star Designers: Yusef, thank you for stepping up at the last minute and providing 50 free 09.25.09 t-shirts. Your kindness will be repaid with new opportunities in the Ethiopian community for your great t-shirt and designing company. AMESIGINALEN.
• Bank of America : Thank you for being a triple sponsor and stepping up at the last minute when we encountered cash flow issues. Thank you for coming out to the event and setting up a booth. AMESIGINALEN.
• Coca-Cola: Thank you for recognizing the significance of the Ethiopian population in America and reaching out to us to contribute funds as a sponsor. You were the first corporation that joined us as a sponsor that says a lot about you and your companies embrace of our community. AMESIGINALEN.
• Rolling Review Media: Thank you for being a sponsor and being patient with us as we incorporated your brilliant promotional showcase into our marketing strategy. AMESIGINALEN.
• Wachovia Bank: Thank you for being the official EA4C bank. Thank you for going out of your way to promote the 09.25.09 event and for being a key sponsor that helped us along the way. AMESIGINALEN.

• Talk of DC: Yodit Gebreye, Nate Zewdu, Malik Desta, and Dawit Getachew . When you came on board, you brought with you the stature of your company and the weight of your reputation. You enabled us to “leverage” your network to serve a better purpose. AMESIGINALEN.
• BK: Mr. BK. Thank you for driving with us everywhere, for providing the laughter, for helping us with the Mesob, for passing out flyers everywhere. You did not make a penny out of this venture, yet you were fully vested in our aspirations. AMESIGINALEN.
• Desta Nights: Yohannes (Johny) Tessema, Mo and the ownership crew at Babylon . Thank you for letting us set up shop inside your establishment for 3 weeks straight so that we could promote the 09.25.09 event and for playing our DVDs each and every Sunday during your Ethiopian parties. For those of you that don’t know, Babylon is located in Alexandria VA and they have some of the best parties in town on Sundays that cater to the Ethiopian community. AMESIGINALEN.

• Mayor Fenty: Thank you for releasing a ceremonial letter from your office honoring the contributions of the Ethiopian community and recognizing the significance of September 25^th 2009 as the Ethiopian Heritage Appreciation Day. AMESIGINALEN.
• Councilman Jim Graham: Thank you for drafting the resolution officially recognizing 09.25.09 as the Ethiopian-American Appreciation Day. You are a true friend of Ethiopians and those of us that live in DC are grateful to have you on the council as an ally and a friend of our community. AMESIGINALEN.
• Delegate Herring: You have been a tireless supporter of the Ethiopian community ever since last year’s first Ethiopians for Obama church registration drive. You were the first to show up at the meeting place and you were the last to leave after our registration drive. Thank you for releasing the letter thanking our community for our contributions. Although EA4C is a non-partisan entity, we wish you and your campaign luck as you run for the House of Delegate seat representing the epicenter of the Ethiopian community in Alexandria , VA
• Busboys and Poets: Andy Shallal, you are an amazing and a humble soul. The way you treat your employees with respect and with gratitude is awe-inspiring. You went out of your way to help us promote our event and opened up your restaurant to Ethiopians. You also took part in the 09.25.09 special. In short, you are AMAZING! AMESIGINALEN.
• Ben’s Chili Bowl: Thank you for promoting our event and for taking part in the 09.25.09 special. You are an integral part of the Shaw District corridor, yet you treat each customer as if though they are your best friends. Thank you for having such a giving spirit. AMESIGINALEN.
• Starbucks: Thank you for stepping up at the last minute and posting up all of our posters throughout the DC market. Additionally, thank you for donating three pounds of coffee that enabled us to provide the coffee tasting ceremony at no cost. AMESIGINALEN.
• Queen Makeda: Thank you for donating all of the Ethiopian decorations and for giving us the gebena, the cini’s, and the Abesha libs that gave our event a distinctively Ethiopian feel. AMESIGINALEN.
• La Carbonara: Thank you for donating your second floor to EA4C so that Mahmoud and the rest of the talent that took part in the 09.25.09 event to practice. You have the best spaghetti in town. AMESIGINALEN.

Of course there are many, many, many more people who made 09.25.09 possible. For the organizers that sacrificed tremendously in LA, Denver, Seattle, New York, Austin, DC/VA/MD, Atlanta, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Boston, the volunteers who showed up early on 09.25.09 to set up tables and run a smooth day, we are forever grateful. Our organization is sustained by volunteers, every organizer is at the end of the day a volunteer—we volunteer to organize our community.

09.25.09 has passed us by, starting today we pause, pivot, and push towards serving our community. Our commitment to you—we will be accountable to YOU. In one week, after reconciling our records, we will publish a full accounting of our expenses and revenue and publish it on our website—EA4C.org. Thereafter, every three months, we will publish a full accounting ledger that will let you—OUR community—know what revenue was raised and where the revenue was utilized. We will be fully accountable to the community we serve; we will be accountable to YOU.

ENA MESIGINALEN!?