Special Art Auction supports "Five Talents" important work to eradicate poverty - Join in the work with just a click of your mouse!

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Vienna, Virginia – This month, you can help eradicate poverty in developing countries around the world with the click of a mouse. Five Talents International, a non-profit organization that fights poverty using small loans and business training, will establish The Knippers Education Fund with “A Helping Hand: Artists’ Exhibition and Sale,” an online and silent art auction. The fund is being created to honor Diane Knippers, a Five Talents founding board member, and her passionate commitment to empower the poor in developing countries.

Starting Tuesday, Oct. 17, bids for paintings, sculptures and original prints will be accepted online at www.fivetalentsauction.org. Featured art will include the works of nationally recognized artists such as Sandra Bowden; Tim Botts; Tanja Butler; Bruce Herman; Ed Knippers; Dean Larson; Nathaniel Mather; Dorsey McHugh; Sam Nash; John Olsen; Ted Prescott; Karen Swenholt; and David Zuck, among others. Works by Marc Chagall, Otto Dix, and a page from the Nuremberg Chronicle will also be included.

The online auction will close at 5 p.m. EST on Friday, Nov. 10, and culminate with a silent auction and reception on Saturday, Nov. 11, at the Foxhall Gallery, 3301 New Mexico Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. The auction and reception will be from 5:30 to 9 p.m.

All online bids will be unsealed at the close of the silent auction. The exhibition, organized by Edward Knippers, Sandra Bowden and Jerry and Twila Eisley, will be on display to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 8-11 at the Foxhall Gallery.

“I have had the privilege of supporting Five Talents for many years and am supporting this effort to honor Diane and to empower the poor through economic development,” Ed Knippers said.

Time magazine named Diane one of the 25 most influential evangelicals in the United States in 2005. That list also included preacher Billy Graham; Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship International; and Rick Warren, pastor and author of “A Purpose Driven Life.”

The Knippers Fund will provide scholarships for the next generation of church leaders, missionaries and poor entrepreneurs, who are living or working in developing countries, with business and management tools needed to transform their communities and churches. Scholarships will be provided in four categories:

• Local or international certified courses in microenterprise development;
• Intensive training for management and staff of Christian savings and credit projects;
• Leadership and entrepreneurship training courses;
• Research on church-based savings and credit programs.

Established in 1999, Five Talents International has provided funding for business training and for thousands of loans, ranging from $50 to $300, in 12 countries across Africa, Asia and Central and South America. Each loan finances a mico-business that in turn employs at least five other people. A majority of the loan recipients are women.

Five Talents’ ongoing ministry, which combines business micro-lending with spiritual development, is supported by a staff based in Vienna, Virginia and an office in London. Hundreds of volunteers across the United States and UK participate in the ministry. For more information, visit www.fivetalents.org.

Five Talents International
P.O. Box 331
Vienna, VA 22183
www.fivetalents.org
Contact: Nancy Green, Director of Development, (703) 242-6016 or nancygreen@fivetalents.org