Brendan Sailing Fall 2024 Newsletter

​From our Leadership - A Message from Chairman Jim Muldoon

​Dear Brendan Sailing Friends and Supporters,
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As we share this latest edition of our newsletter, I want to take a moment to express my deepest gratitude for your unwavering support over the years. Because of your generosity and belief in our mission, Brendan Sailing continues to provide transformative experiences for young people with learning differences, helping them gain confidence and a love for the water.
Your commitment has brought us through another year of growth, inspiring connections, and positive change. Thank you for being an essential part of the Brendan Sailing family. We couldn’t do this without you, and we look forward to all that we will accomplish together in the months and years to come.
With sincere gratitude,
James P Muldoon
Chairman and Founder, Brendan Sailing

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The Latest - A Recap of This year’s Summer Camp from Executive Director Jane Millman
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Dear Brendan Sailing Community,
As we move through fall, we’re grateful to share the wonderful events that have been bringing our Brendan Sailing family together! This past month, we had a successful time at the Annapolis Boat Show, thanks to the dedicated volunteers who joined me at the booth. Their support helped us share Brendan Sailing’s mission with even more people. A heartfelt thank you to each of you for your time and enthusiasm!
We also recently mailed out our annual appeal, sharing stories of our impact with everyone. And right now, we’re thrilled to announce that METCOR is offering a special double matching campaign for Learning Disabilities Awareness Month. With METCOR’s generous match, our goal is to raise $37,500 – and thanks to the incredible support so far, we’re already 46% of the way there! There’s still time to make a donation and amplify your impact, so every gift goes three times as far toward empowering youth with learning differences to grow their self-confidence.
Another recent highlight was the beautiful Woodwind Cruise we enjoyed with our campers and their families in September. There’s nothing like being on the water together to celebrate the confidence, joy, and friendships that being a part of the Brendan Sailing family brings.
Your support continues to make all of this possible, and we are so thankful for each of you. If you haven’t yet, please consider joining us in the double match campaign – together, we’re building life-changing experiences for youth with learning differences.
With gratitude and warm wishes,

Jane Millman
Executive Director
Brendan Sailing

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​Brendan Sailing at the Annapolis Boat Show
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At this year’s Fall sailboat show, we shared Brendan Sailing’s mission with thousands of visitors who stopped by our booth daily.  Our volunteers, who included campers and their families, spent 5 action packed days in the booth talking about their experience at camp and introducing the Brendan Approach to guests from all across the country.  A special thank you to Ryan Blomeley, Michael Blomeley, Beth Berry, Will Rineholt, Melanie Doucette, Magy Gibbons, Aidan Ference, David Li, Lili Tian, Gabi England, Jeff England, Griselda Baquedano, Marc Apter, and Syd Millman for all their hard work during the show.  We’re looking forward to doing it all again for the spring show!

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​Navigating Differences Symposium Rescheduled to 2025
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​Camper Reunion Aboard the Woodwind!
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On Sunday September 8th, we had the opportunity to take Brendan Sailing campers and their family member sailing on the Woodwind schooner here in Annapolis. We had the most beautiful morning with a crisp fall breeze and the bluest sky you can imagine. There was a photographer onboard to take photos of the campers and their experience while sailing, please enjoy the photos he took along with some that I took in the album linked below. ​

Woodwind Photos

​A big thank you to Brendan Sailing Board Member Susan O'Brien and her husband Mark for joining us! It was wonderful to connect with the campers and their parents again and I was able to ask them a few questions in how they feel Brendan Sailing has made an impact on their child. Their responses were wonderful and echoed from family to family, that Brendan Sailing has made such a positive impact in their child with learning differences. Whether it was the newfound independence from our St Mary's overnight camp or the friends their child made while at the Annapolis camp and seeing their child's face light up when they saw their friend was onboard the Woodwind on that Sunday. It was a really cool experience to see the campers open up and start talking with one another after the initial ice breaker of hosting the mainsail by three of our campers. By the time we pulled back into the dock, every camper that wanted to drive the schooner was able to and the joy on deck was palpable.  
 
Enjoy the photos and we look forward to more camper meet-ups in the future.

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Show Your Support for our Annual Appeal
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It’s thanks to generous donations from sponsors and grantmakers that we are able to offer Brendan sailors an outstanding learning and growth experience each year.

Now, Thanks to the generosity of METCOR, any donation you make today will be double matched. This means that for every dollar you give, two additional dollars will be donated, TRIPLING the impact of your contribution. 

Please consder making a donation today!

Donate Today to Triple Your Impact