Could your business donate items, gift certificates, or services that could be given away as prizes?

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1 August 22, 2010 Dear Business Owner: On Saturday, October 23rd, 2010, FIERCE will proudly present the fabowlous Face/OFF, our third annual Bowl-A-Thon Fundraiser. We are thrilled to be reaching out to your business about this exciting opportunity. The bowl-a-thon is a youth-organized grassroots fundraising event that brings together over 200 community members who raise pledges and bowl in support of FIERCE. We rely on the support of businesses like yours to make this event a success. Prizes are awarded to participants as incentives to fundraise; they play a critical role in helping us raise our goal of $25,000 to support FIERCE s programs. Could your business donate items, gift certificates, or services that could be given away as prizes? By donating to our event, information about your business will not only reach event attendees, but will also reach over 2,000 people through our website, list serves, and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. We hope you ll see this as a great opportunity to get the word out about your business and support a cause you believe in! FIERCE is a membership-based organization building the leadership and power of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color in New York City. We develop politically conscious leaders who are invested in improving our communities through youth-led campaigns, leadership development programs, and cultural expression through arts and media. Our youth-led campaign address issues of homophobia, racial profiling, and creating safe spaces for LGBTQ youth in the city. We hope you can join us by donating prizes for the fabowlous Face/OFF. Attached you will find a prize donation form for your convenience. Please return the form by Friday, October 8 th, You may contact Azriel Morales or L.S. Francois at (646) ext. 208 or bowlathon@fiercenyc.org for any additional information. Thank you for your support, Azriel Morales & L.S. Francois, Bowl-A-Thon Youth Organizers Ellen Manny Vaz, Communications Director Rickke Mananzala, Executive Director PS. Thank you for consideration to support our Bowl-A-Thon Fundraiser! We look forward to hearing from you. Stay FABULOUS!

2 2010 Prize Donation Form Company/ Contact Information Company Name: Address: Contact Person: _ City, State, ZIP: Title: Phone: Fax: Signature: I would like to support The fabowlous Face/OFF by donating a prize! Item(s) Donated Quantity Value Total Value of Prize(s) Donated: Donations from businesses and organizations within the New York City area may make arrangements to have their donations picked up. If you prefer, donations may be shipped to the following address: FIERCE Attn: Azriel & Francois 147 West 24th Street, 6th Floor NY NY Thank you for your contribution to the fabowlous Face/OFF! Remember: the value of all contributions are Tax-Deductible to the fullest extent of the law! If you need additional information you can call Azriel and Francois at x208 or bowlathon@fiercenyc.org FABOWLOUS FABOWLOUS FACE/OFF No goods or services were exchanged for this donation. Tax ID: Rickke Mananzala, Executive Director Fabulous Independent Educated Radicals for Community Empowerment 147 West 24th Street, 6th floor New York, NY

3 Bowl-a-thon Contacts: Azriel & Francois, BAT Fellows Ellen Vaz, Communications Director x x209 Why FIERCE? Why Now? Founded in 2000, FIERCE is a membership-based organization building the leadership and power of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth of color in New York City. We develop politically conscious leaders who are invested in improving ourselves and our communities through youth-led campaigns, leadership development programs, and cultural expression through arts and media. FIERCE is dedicated to cultivating the next generation of social justice movement leaders. FIERCE came about because there was no organization in New York City poised to respond to the urgent needs of LGBTQ youth, who are more often perceived and treated like victims or criminals in many of the institutions that are mandated to serve us. While many organizations provide opportunities for youth to become involved in community organizing, none serve as a citywide avenue for LGBTQ youth to direct our own social change agendas. Organizations whose focus is primarily LGBTQ youth tend to do service-oriented programming. FIERCE was founded on the principle that LGBTQ youth must realize and manifest our own social and political power to change our conditions, to shape our futures, and to become effective agents of change in our communities. FIERCE continues to serve as one of the nation s few whose mission is to engage LGBTQ youth in community organizing (as opposed to advocacy or direct services). Our unique contribution is our focus on collective action through leadership development and base-building with some of the most marginalized youth in New York City: primarily low-income and homeless LGBTQ youth of color. Major Accomplishments: Leadership Development: FIERCE has intensively trained over 250 LGBTQ youth of color leaders through the Education for Liberation Project (ELP). Our leaders have inspired thousands of homeless and low-income LGBTQ youth in New York City into collective action. Many of our members have gone on to become leaders and organizers in other multi-generational social justice organizations in New York City and across the country. Base-building: FIERCE has reach thousands of homeless and low-income youth, many of whom have become members, making FIERCE one of the only membership-led organizations of LGBTQ youth of color in the United States. FIERCE s growing membership base and leadership development efforts made it possible for FIERCE to leverage our crucial campaign victories over the last nine years. Our current membership base exceeds 1300 youth, making FIERCE one of the largest membership-led youth organizations in the country. Campaign Development: FIERCE has prevented the displacement of LGBTQ youth of color in historically safe spaces in the West Village amidst rapid redevelopment in the neighborhood. Our efforts have also ensured that more City resources are directed specifically to the needs of homeless and lowincome LGBTQ youth. Our campaign victories over the years have proven that FIERCE has built sufficient power to impact public policy and the allocation of City funding. (Continued)

4 FIERCE Campaigns Safe Spaces Saves Lives Campaign FIERCE launched the Safe Space Saves Lives Campaign to ensure that the needs of LGBTQ youth of color were not forgotten in the wake of developments on the Christopher Street Pier. FIERCE demanded that Community Board 2, the Hudson River Park Trust, and West Village residents acknowledge that LGBTQ youth of color are an important and long-standing part of the West Village community and to allow for their voices to be heard in the pier development process. The campaign has been endorsed by 21 LGBTQ organizations across NYC. Accomplishments to date include: Eliminating a $25,000 fee charged to mobile service vans doing outreach on the pier Securing LGBTQ programming on the pier, including the first-ever Global Warming Ball that drew over 500 LGBTQ youth and featured performances by Vogue Evolution Stopping the proposal to shut down the pier at 10pm Preventing the barricading of LGBTQ youth from Christopher Street at 1am Our S.P.O.T. Campaign In June 2007, FIERCE launched its newest and boldest campaign to date. Our Safe Place to Organize Together (S.P.O.T.) Campaign is working to establish a 24-hour LGBTQ youth center on Pier 40. Through consistent attendance at Community Board 2 meetings and building relationships with LGBTQ organizations and West Village residents, FIERCE has achieved significant accomplishments around Pier 40 s redevelopment, including: June 2007: Campaign demands were supported by the Pier 40 Working Group and Community Board 2 Waterfront Committee March 2008: Defeated proposal for privately developed mega-entertainment complex dubbed Vegas on the Hudson January 2008: Developed a plan for a 24-hour LGBTQ youth center on Pier 40 March 2009: Released policy recommendations to keep the piers a safe space for the surrounding community, while also increasing the voice and power of the community in decision-making processes. Our White Paper: Expanding Access to Public Space at the Hudson River Park provides guiding principles for making changes to the Hudson River Park Act. September 2009: Voted by HRPT Advisory Council members to be an organizational member in the Council; HRPT Board officially approved the Advisory Council s recommendation in December 2009 October 2009: Appointed to the NYC Commission for LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth To learn more about FIERCE Campaigns, visit (End)

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