About
The American Chamber of Commerce has been hosting the traditional Thanksgiving Charity Dinner for 15 years. This landmark event of the Chamber is a sitting dinner with a traditional American Thanksgiving Menu, live music and a special focus on fundraising. Traditionally over 250 AmCham members, U.S. citizens and official guests honor the event and contribute to the charity initiative.
The main goal is raising funds for “Get Ready to Succeed” and “We Can” Programs of the BCause Foundation (AmCham member). AmCham members are generous and long term contributors to the program, not only with funding, but by greeting and encouraging students in person at Thanksgiving dinners.
Fundraising for the event will occur in several ways:
- Corporate Sponsorship
- All surplus from entrance fee
- Direct public personal or corporate donations to the fund
- Corporate table booking for BGN 2,400
- Selling of raffle tickets
In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim’s fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish which was packed in salt, and meat that was smoke cured over fires. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter.
The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.
The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770’s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.
In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.
Program
Master of Ceremony: Angela Rodel § Militsa Gladnishka
Live Music by
Vassil Petrov and Angel Zaberski Duo
Dress Code: Black Tie
18:30 – 19:00 Registration and Welcome Drinks
19:00 – 19:20 Official Opening Ceremony
Welcoming Address by H.E. Herro Mustafa, U.S. Ambassador to Bulgaria
Remarks by Olivier Marquette, AmCham Bulgaria President
19:20 – 20:30 American spirit section by Vassil Petrov and Angel Zaberski Duo
20:30 – 20:50 Raffle Draw
20:50 – 21:30 Vassil Petrov and Angel Zaberski Duo Live
21:30 – 23:00 DJ Party & Announcement of Charity Results and Closing Remarks
Beneficiaries
Get Ready to Succeed is a scholarship program supporting excelling students who have lost one or both their parents and have been raised in institutions or by relatives, the scholarships are awarded based on academic merit. Our scholarship fellows are focused, highly motivated and hard-working. They all have a GPA of 5 and above.
For 11 years together we have awarded 1,140 scholarships, totaling over BGN 1,700,000.
For the 2017/2018 academic year Get Ready to Succeed program has awarded 100 scholarships to outstanding young men and women.
We are proud to present their stories and what they have become. Among them there are future doctors, lawyers, economists, journalists, biotechnology specialists, teachers, IT specialists and artists. The AmCham members are generous and long term contributors to the program, not only with their financial support but also in providing them with opportunities for internships and career options.
Help us write the next page of young successful Bulgarians!
 | Gergana Tsvetanova is from Nikopol. She graduated BA in Public Administration and Master of Rhetoric’s at the Sofia University. “During my bachelor’s degree I have been using the scholarship to pay for English classes and went twice to Work and Travel USA cultural exchange program.” Later, Gergana also learnt French and studied at University of Nantes for one year as an Erasmus exchange student. Currently Gergana is a Program Coordinator at Cisco, working in business operations. Get Ready to Succeed Scholarship Fund supported her for 4 years with BGN 8,000. |
 | Sheip Panev is from Yakoruda, lost his dad as a small boy. This year Sheip is nominated for “Revival Person of the Year 2019” by the Bulgarian National Radio. In addition to be an excellent student, Sheip volunteered to help sick people. He was a part of “Summer for Joy, Autumn for Care” program helping the free medical examinations of elderly people in small villages. Sheip is a pediatric trauma doctor at Pirogov Hospital, and again takes active part in children screenings at Sofia kindergartens. Get Ready to Succeed Scholarship Fund supported him for 6 years with BGN 12,000. |
 | Hristinka Mileva graduated at the Law Faculty of Sofia University in 2018. “I am happy to say that after five years of university studies, I graduated with honors, being in the Top 10 of the 2013-2018 graduation.” Now she works in a law firm teaming with over 50 people. Get Ready to Succeed Scholarship Fund supported her in the last 6 years with BGN 12,000. |
 | Tenjo Georgiev had a difficult childhood. He graduated International Economic Relations at the Paisiy Hilendarski University in 2015. At Sofia he works now in an IT company doing project management, new colleagues training and team development. This year Tenjo became a donor of Get Ready to Succeed Fund to support someone with like his life challenges. Get Ready to Succeed Scholarship Fund supported him for 4 years with BGN 8,000. |
 | George Nanov grew up without parents. Being an excellent student at the Plovdiv Medical University, in his last year he co-authored 4 scientific articles, presented the university at The Youth Science Forum and National Public Health Conference. He was a full-time demonstrator at a department at the Academic Years 2016/17 and 2017/18. Also, he won The Prof. Batalov Scholarship. Get Ready to Succeed Scholarship Fund supported him for 6 years with BGN 12,000. |
 | THE REFUGEES AND HUMANS IN THE LOOP. M. is 20 years old and came from Syria with primary education. He learnt front-end programming, website administration and e-commerce management. After 4 months he was offered a permanent job. Y., 26, studied Architecture in Aleppo. She continued to develop her graphic design and video creation skills and completed a course in Adobe Premiere Pro. She studies now at the Technical University and works for Human in the Loop. U. came from Pakistan, 27. She speaks very good English and a degree in Journalism. To that she added a course in advanced Excel and planned to start working with accounting software. We Can Fund supports Humans in the Loop with BGN 3,000 to pay for the courses and partial salaries for the 3 people for 4 months. |
 | YOUNGSTERS, AND THE PULSE FOUNDATION PERNIK 13 youngsters started a group and individual program for training, support and consultations to start a job. 8 people completed it, 4 went to external vocational courses and got chef qualification diploma, a kitchen worker and two office assistants (both youngsters are with physical challenges). All 4 got job offers and started work. We Can Fund supported PULSE Pernik with BGN 4,310 to pay the consultations and vocation. |
We Can Fund supports vocational training and activities which improve the employment prospects for vulnerable youth, single mothers, disabled people. We do that with the help of committed non-profit organizations who bring true social integration for the groups they support.
For 11 years together we have awarded 1,140 scholarships, totaling over BGN 1,700,000.
For the 2017/2018 academic year Get Ready to Succeed program has awarded 100 scholarships to outstanding young men and women.
We are proud to present their stories and what they have become. Among them there are future doctors, lawyers, economists, journalists, biotechnology specialists, teachers, IT specialists and artists. The AmCham members are generous and long term contributors to the program, not only with their financial support but also in providing them with opportunities for internships and career options.
Help us write the next page of young successful Bulgarians!
| THE REFUGEES AND HUMANS IN THE LOOP. M. is 20 years old and came from Syria with primary education. He learnt front-end programming, website administration and e-commerce management. After 4 months he was offered a permanent job. Y., 26, studied Architecture in Aleppo. She continued to develop her graphic design and video creation skills and completed a course in Adobe Premiere Pro. She studies now at the Technical University and works for Human in the Loop. U. came from Pakistan, 27. She speaks very good English and a degree in Journalism. To that she added a course in advanced Excel and planned to start working with accounting software. We Can Fund supports Humans in the Loop with BGN 3,000 to pay for the courses and partial salaries for the 3 people for 4 months. |
| YOUNGSTERS, AND THE PULSE FOUNDATION PERNIK 13 youngsters started a group and individual program for training, support and consultations to start a job. 8 people completed it, 4 went to external vocational courses and got chef qualification diploma, a kitchen worker and two office assistants (both youngsters are with physical challenges). All 4 got job offers and started work. We Can Fund supported PULSE Pernik with BGN 4,310 to pay the consultations and vocation. |
Register and Support
The registration form has been closed. Please contact the AmCham office for further information.
Corporate Sponsors
Main sponsors
Supporting sponsors
More about sponsorship opportunities during the Thanksgiving Dinner 2019 here