Monday, December 16, 2013

Malawi Dates Part II

Two years ago I never wrote the entry for a blog post I titled, "Malawi Dates."  Tonight as I rode the taxi ferry across the East River to Charity:Water's annual ball, I thought about that fall day, and determined today couldn't be a more perfect day to write the tale.

The story is, a friend of mine texted me requesting I pick up some Malawi dates, and bring them with me to Scott and Vik Harrison's for a Sunday night dinner party.  My friend explains over her text message that the Malawi dates are for a salad she is making.  Immediately, I'm intimidated by her request.  I'm a bit uncertain what a regular date looks like and I live no where near a grocery store.

Having zero idea what Malawi dates are, I figured I best google first to get an idea, and then call Trader Joes and Whole Foods to see if they carry them.  But when I google Malawi dates, all I get are sites for finding a date (as in a romantic partner) in the country of Malawi.   

Not having a whole lot of time to further research these specialty dates (that apparently are imported from Africa), I decide to just go to Whole Foods at Union Square and hope for the best.  But when I arrive, the nice grocery workers have no clue what I'm talking about.  And since we can't seem to find them on the store shelves and my friend isn't answering her phone, instead of picking up Malawi dates, I pick up a few other date options, and hope one of the three kinds will work for this salad.

Once at Scott and Vik's, I explain to my friend that I did my best, but I simply couldn't find any Malawi dates to bring along with me to the dinner party.  To which she laughs and replies, "That's so funny.  I must have mistexted.  I needed Halawi dates for the salad."  Thankfully, the dates I picked up worked out plenty fine and we had an enjoyable night at Scott and Vik Harrison's.

But the reason I mention the Malawi dates is because tonight - December 16, 2013 - is a notable date for the country of Malawi.  Thanks to Scott and Vik Harrison and the work of Charity:Water, over 3.5 million dollars was raised this evening to bring clean and safe drinking water to the people of Malawi.


For the second year in a row I had the opportunity to volunteer to help work Charity:Water's Charity:Ball, and yet again, it was incredible.  I'm grateful my health seems to be on the up and up and that I was able to be a part of the event.  If you missed the ball, it's not too late to get in on the action of helping bring clean drinking water to those who don't have it.  Drop by http://www.charitywater.org/ for more information on how you can make a difference in the lives of others on our planet.

 
 *By the end of night, over 4 million dollars had been raised for water projects in Malawi!

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