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Darien Family Hosts Garden Party To Benefit Orphans International

DARIEN, Conn. -- Susie De Rafelo and Jan Ivarsson celebrated 15 years of working with Orphans International Worldwide with a seaside garden party at the home of Karin and Lennart Mengwall in the Tokeneke neighborhood of Darien.

Susie De Rafelo of Greenwich addressing the guests.

Susie De Rafelo of Greenwich addressing the guests.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Conor Grennan, of New Canaan with his book “Little Princes,” and Jim Luce of New York introducing him.

Conor Grennan, of New Canaan with his book “Little Princes,” and Jim Luce of New York introducing him.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Lennart Mengwall of Darien & Penny Glassmeyer of Darien.

Lennart Mengwall of Darien & Penny Glassmeyer of Darien.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Ronnie Maher of Nicaragua, Susie De Rafelo of Greenwich, Wendell Minnick of Greenwich and Jim Luce of New York.

Ronnie Maher of Nicaragua, Susie De Rafelo of Greenwich, Wendell Minnick of Greenwich and Jim Luce of New York.

Photo Credit: Contributed
Lynne-Marie Paquette of New York, Jan Ivarsson of Greenwich, Nicole Zahour of Rye, Mangala Weerasakera of Sri Lanka and Lennart Mengwall of Darien.

Lynne-Marie Paquette of New York, Jan Ivarsson of Greenwich, Nicole Zahour of Rye, Mangala Weerasakera of Sri Lanka and Lennart Mengwall of Darien.

Photo Credit: Contributed

The garden party was the final event of the Orphans International Worldwide national fund and awareness raising campaign of the summer. It featured Jim Luce, founder of Orphans International Worldwide and the James Jay Dudley Luce Foundation. 

Jim Luce, who writes the Stewardship Report and its corresponding column in the Huffington Post, funneled all proceeds from this event to Next Generation Nepal, a U.S.-based charity that works to reform orphanage practices in Nepal. 

Conor Grennan, author of "Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal" and founder of Next Generation Nepal, represented the organization at the event. He lives in New Canaan.

Susie De Rafelo, of Greenwich, organized the event to raise funds and awareness for these organizations, and in keeping with the work of "The Stewardship Report: Connecting Goodness," invited others in the area to participate. 

Jan Ivarsson is also a Greenwich resident.

De Rafelo is a humanitarian field-worker as well as the founder of Hands In, a company dedicated to providing a fair trade marketplace for goods produced by indigenous cultures the world over, and S-3 Works, a sustainability consulting concern. 

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