Press

Event Now Under the Leadership of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force;
100% of Net Proceeds Will Go to the Miami-Dade Gay Community

MEDIA CONTACT:
Roberta Sklar, Director of Communications
media@theTaskForce.org
646.358.1465

MIAMI, October 5, 2004 — A proud tradition of raising money for the Miami-Dade lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community will continue on Tuesday, November 9, with the Eighth Annual Recognition Evening the Miami City Club, from 7pm to 9pm. This year’s event is being sponsored by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and 100% of the proceeds will go to Miami-Dade gay organizations.

For the past seven years, the Gay & Lesbian Foundation of South Florida (formerly the Dade Human Rights Foundation) produced the annual Recognition event as well as the Winter Party, held every march on South Beach. Over the years, the events generated $1.2 million in grants to organizations serving Miami-Dade's LGBT community.

With the Foundation planning to formally dissolve in the near future, the Task Force — the oldest national gay rights organization — has assumed responsibility for continuing both events.

The event will honor Alicia Apfel, Founding Chair and Chair Emeritus of the Women's Community Fund and the organizations that have received grants from the recognition event and the Winter Party in past years.

“For years, these events have provided a steady stream of income to LGBT organizations which have benefited tremendously from it,” said Jerry Chasen, Co-Chair of the Recognition Evening Steering Committee. “On November 9, our community will come together to reflect with pride on all of the good that resulted from the Foundation's grants and celebrate the fact that this stream of income will continue for years to come through the good work of the Task Force.”

“We are honored to be continuing these wonderful events and proud to preserve their heritage of generating money for our community in Miami-Dade,” said Matt Foreman, the Task Force's Executive Director.

Foreman said that even though the agreement covering the acquisition of the events allows the Task Force to keep one-third of the events’ profits, it was donating its share of the Recognition event to SAVE Dade. The other two-thirds will be distributed to local LGBT organizations by the Dade Community Foundation, which is creating a special fund and grants advisory committee comprised of well-respected and experienced LGBT leaders and activists to review applications and recommend grant amounts.

“I know there's a feeling out there that national organizations come into local communities, take the cash, and run," Foreman said. "That’s not who we are as an organization — our mission is build grassroots strength, not drain it.”

Tickets for the event are $100; VIP tickets are $250. Individuals interested in purchasing tickets or sponsoring the event can visit www.thetaskforce.org/events and click on “8th Annual Miami Recognition Evening” or click here. Because of an abbreviated time frame for planning this year’s event, the Eighth Annual Recognition Evening will be a cocktail reception rather than a sit-down dinner. A seated dinner will resume next fall.

Additional questions can be directed to our local event coordinator, Michael Bath, at (305) 796-7057 or mbath@thetaskforce.org.

*The Winter Party is a registered trademark of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

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The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build the political power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community from the ground up. We do this by training activists, organizing broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance pro-LGBT legislation, and by building the organizational capacity of our movement. Our Policy Institute, the movement’s premier think tank, provides research and policy analysis to support the struggle for complete equality and to counter right-wing lies. As part of a broader social justice movement, we work to create a nation that respects the diversity of human expression and identity and creates opportunity for all. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., we also have offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and Cambridge.