For those living near Bloomington, Indiana ... support local artists and Five Talents!

Textile and quilt artists, Daren Redman, Sandee Winrow Milhouse, and Jacquelyn Chiddister take the floor for their "First Dance" as the latest addition to Bloomington's art community.

Specializing in Shibori textiles, applique, and quilts, the artists have created a "beauty with a statement" exhibit.

Exhibit Dates: Saturday, Feb. 28 to Friday, March 27
Opening Reception: Meet and Greet the Artists, First Friday, March 6, 5 to 7 p.m.
Location: Gallery North, 116 West 6th Street (same building cluster on the square as Gratzi)

Offered in conjunction with the Indiana Heritage Quilt Show, a trolley will be shuttling between art and quilt exhibits in downtown B'ton March 5-7 with a stop at Gallery North.

A portion of certain sales will be donated to Five Talents International: Fight Poverty, Create Jobs and Transform Lives.

For more information, contact Daren Redman at darenredman@gmail.com.

Five Talents wins City of London Award

Five Talents was awarded the Overall Winner at the City of London Sustainable City Awards at a ceremony in the Mansion House on Feb. 19. Five Talents also won their category “Sustainable and Responsible Finance.”

Zac Goldsmith handed out ‘green gongs’ at the City of London Corporation’s 8th annual Sustainable City Awards. Five Talents was saluted at the prestigious event alongside an outstanding selection of global and local organizations.

The 10 judges, including Samantha Heath CEO of London Sustainability Exchange, were impressed with the high calibre and volume of entrants, which have been backed for eight years by the City of London Corporation which looks after the square mile business district, signalling a continued commitment to green ethics in business.

Emma Bara, Sustainability Coordinator, City of London Corporation said: “The nine winning organizations, which include global businesses, local firms and social enterprises were singled out for their sustainable excellence. The awards given out this year prove that all organizations, whether large or small, can make important changes which are beneficial for the environment while also making business savings.”

Five Talents was congratulated on its work in 10 developing countries, helping more than
20,000 people to escape poverty by providing business training and small loans using the microfinance method.

Tom Sanderson, UK Director of Five Talents said “I am thrilled that Five Talents’ work has been endorsed in this way, and the true honor goes to our project staff in each country who work directly with the clients to help them to grow their businesses and to climb out of poverty.”

Zac Goldsmith, who presented the awards to the winners at the Mansion House awards ceremony last night, said: “Despite the immensity of the environmental challenge, the truth is, almost everything that needs doing is already being done, somewhere. If ‘best practice’ today became the norm tomorrow, we’d be half way there already. The Sustainable City Awards proves not only that solutions exist, but that where they are adopted, companies invariably flourish as a result.”

Businesswoman Wins National Microentrepreneur Award in India

Vasanti Uikey struggled against extreme poverty to become a successful microentrepreneur. Now, this 45-year-old mother of two has been named the 2008 National Runner-up and the Social Responsibility Category Winner (West and Central) by the Citi Micro Entrepreneur Awards program. She was chosen out of 2,500 nominees for this prestigious award.

This program was founded in 2004 to recognize individual micro entrepreneurs from across India who have risen from poverty to self-sufficiency.

Thanks to a $62 loan from Five Talents partner, Community Development Society (CDS) in India, Vasanti now owns a milk distribution center and a grocery store in the Pandhrabodi slum of Nagpur.

Ten years ago, Vasanti worked as a nurse and her husband drove a rented auto rickshaw but their income was meager. To increase their family income, Vasanti decided to start a dairy business because there was no milk shop in her community. In 2002, she applied for government assistance and gave up her job in order to sell milk from a roadside table. Encouraged by her customers’ response, Vansanti began diversifying into other groceries.

Later that year, she learned about CDS and a women’s Self-Help Group they had recently formed in her neighborhood. Vansanti joined the SHG and in 2005 took her first loan to set up a grocery shop which she operated out of her home.

Today, Vasanti overcomes competition by offering credit to customers and keeping her store open 17 hours a day.

Vasanti is also a community organizer and helps others in her neighborhood improve their quality of life. Her initiatives include forming women’s SHGs, assisting unemployed youth find part time jobs, running a subsidized playschool in her neighborhood and helping needy students gain access to scholarships from CDS.

“We thank you Five Talents for your participation in developing many clients like Mrs. Vasanti through your funds,” said CDS Executive Director Rev. P.Y. Singh.

Sponsorships Now Available for X-OUT Poverty Golf Classic

Drive Out Poverty! Come join us for a day of golf as we seek to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives. Five Talents International will host its sixth annual X-OUT Poverty Golf Classic on Tuesday, June 9, at Westfields Golf Club in Clifton, Va. This event will feature an 18-hole Captain's Choice and a 7:30 a.m. shotgun start.

Five Talents empowers the poor in developing countries by promoting innovative savings and micro-credit programs along with business training. Every year a dedicated team of volunteers and corporate sponsors host this golf tournament to raise awareness and funds for hopeful entrepreneurs in some of the poorest countries on earth.

Sponsorships are available for this year's event, including co-presenting sponsors, raffle, hole-in-one, reception, team, advertising and hole sponsors. Team and co-presenting sponsorships include four playing spots. All sponsors receive advertisements in the game day booklet and acknowledgement on Five Talents' Web site and day-of-event signage.

All golfers will receive a round of golf with cart, range balls, special gift package, breakfast, lunch and awards reception. Skill contests will feature a win-a-car hole-in-one prize, winning team prizes, long drive (men and women) and closest to the pin.

In a world where almost half the population lives on less than $2 a day, Five Talents is finding ways to help people help themselves. In 2008, Five Talents invested in more than 18,000 entrepreneurs at the bottom of the economic ladder. Each loan financed a business that in turn helped at least five other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.

For more information about sponsorships, contact Joann Barron, director of development, at joannbarron@fivetalents.org or (703) 242-6016.