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Although the Cosmopolitan Club is most famous for its activities involving university students, its outreach stretches far beyond the university campus through relationships with ex-alums who have returned to their own communities, community members who identify with our motto "Above all nations is humanity," and young people still striving to finish their education. Executive Director Andrea Shields receives tons of communication from people involved with Cosmo in the past. Her office is filled with photos, letters, cards, and mementos of marriages, children, travels, new jobs, and key life experiences. Cosmo alums reach across the years and around the world. Anything you are inspired to share with us is welcome! There's always space in the office and the house to display what you send. Emails and visits are always welcome-we love to hear from you! Urbana-Champaign community members are another rich asset of the Club. You participate in our coffee hours, programs, and dinners; and cook and donate food for coffee hours and dinners and for the fall Thanksgiving Benefit Dinner, the spring International Dinner, and the fall, spring, and summer International Student receptions. Face after face passes before my eyes as I write. The contributions of so many people make programs possible and help us publish newsletters and buy necessary items for the house. You donate furniture, lamps, flower bulbs, and vacuum cleaners and help us solve problems with plumbing and electricity. How could we survive without you? Then there are the young children. Some come to dinners and make the house ring with laughter. Some participate in programs, such as our young Thai dancer. Some receive educational support via Thanksgiving Dinner Benefit funds donated to educational programs. Some attend activities such as five students from Cunningham Children's Home and five students from Edison Middle School's Bilingual Program who received tickets to attend this April's International Dinner at the YMCA and enjoy a first-time experience in tasting so many different kinds of food and in observing dances and hearing musical instruments from around the world. For these children it was an exciting evening full of a wonderful chance to be surrounded by people from around the world and start to learn about other cultures. We hope that in the future these children will become our ambassadors in helping others to see that "Above all nations is humanity." |