Bainbridge Island, WA & Dorset, VT- Hosts from California to Maine cooked up a storm of support for the humanitarian mine action of Clear Path International and the Adopt-A-Minefield campaign of the United Nations Association USA on Dec. 5.

Thirty-eight families, restaurants, churches and community service clubs in Vermont, Washington, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Connecticut and California opened their doors to hundreds of guests who turned out to learn more about mine action and help end the tragedy of landmines in the world.

Last year, four hosts in the Seattle area and on Hawaii helped launch the first Night of 1000 Dinners, an initiative of Adopt-A-Minefield and the Canadian landmine Foundation. Clear Path is one of 10 charter affiliates of the grassroots campaign that raised $1.4 million in 33 countries in 2001.

This year’s hosts included 15 restaurants on the West Coast: Seattle, Bainbridge Island, Berkeley and Oakland, and a bagel chain with six stores in Vermont, Maine, New Hampshire and Connecticut.

“The participation this year was phenomenal,” said Imbert Matthee, Clear Path’s president. “We’re still waiting for all hosts to report and send in their contributions, but we could well hit $10,000, five times what we raised for mine survivors last year.”

Lisa Spivak, a co-hostess in Oakland, Calif., said she liked having a chance to “make a difference by acting on a local level."

“Sometimes, I get caught up in the day-to-day drudgery of work and forget what I am really here to do,” she said. “Last night’s dinner, and seeing that people there were truly concerned for the cause and touched by the fact that I had organized the dinners, was such a lovely reawakening for me. I hope to do more charity events like this in the future.”

The event received widespread media attention, particularly in the Seattle area and in Vermont, Matthee said. The Night of 1000 Dinners was mentioned on KING 5’s Evening Magazine (Seattle) and in the Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly and Bainbridge Review. On the East Coast, the event got coverage on Vermont Public Radio, The Bennington Banner, The Rutland Herald and The Manchester Journal.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) spoke in a videotaped address to dinner participants and called Clear Path International "one of the real treasures we have here in Vermont...a bright, shining path of humanitarianism." (click here to view the video)

Matthee said Clear Path is extremely grateful for the support of this year’s hosts, all of whom knocked themselves out in the coast-to-coast campaign. “The tragedy of landmines is a man-made problem and requires a man-made solution. The Night of 1000 Dinner hosts and their guests are all a very important part of the solution.”

Clear Path International’s 2002 Night of 1000 Dinners Hosts:

St. Barnabas Church, Bainbridge Island
Patty Christensen, Bainbridge Island
Dennis Lacy, Bainbridge Island
Donna Zajonc, Bainbridge Island
Blackbird Bakery, Bainbridge Island
Four Swallows, Bainbridge Island
San Carlos, Bainbridge Island
Simon’s Chinese Cuisine, Bainbridge Island
Emmy’s Veggie House, Bainbridge Island
St. Anthony’s Church, Silverdale
Kim Kelly, Edmonds
Anton Hafele, Seattle
Larry Long, Seattle
Chris Brownlee & Kelly Jackson, Seattle
Ten Mercer Dinner & Drinks, Seattle
T.S. McHugh’s, Seattle
Racha, Seattle
Figaro Bistro, Seattle
Perche ‘No, Seattle
Nonna Maria, Seattle
Floyd’s Place, Seattle
Blue Water Taco Grill, Seattle
Beata Moreno & Connie Cheifetz, Portland
Lisa Spivak and Serena Shaw, Berkeley
Lydia & Robert Feltman, Petaluma
Lucas Hess, Sacramento
Spettro, Oakland
Saigon Restaurant, Berkeley
Dragon Fly Teahouse, Berkeley
Nadia and Paul Woodcock, Bellingham
Johnson State College, Johnson, VT
United Church of Dorset, Dorset, VT
Manchester Congregational Church, Manchester, VT
Sheila Walker, Manchester, VT
Bagel Works, VT & NH
Village Faire, Manchester, VT
Rachel's, Manchester, VT
& our good friends at The Dorset Inn, Dorset, VT