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National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Presents Record-Breaking Donation to the Miami Foundation's GLBT Community Projects Fund:
Proceeds from Winter Party Festival and Annual Recognition Dinner Reach Nearly $1.4 Million in Total Contributions Since 2005
Press Release
Miami, FL — June 22, 2012 —
With more than 100 supporters, volunteers, charity
 representatives and VIPs in attendance, David Price, chair of the
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Board’s Fundraising Committee, presented a giant check in the record-breaking amount of
$211,291 to The Miami Foundation’s GLBT Community Projects Fund. The donation represents two-thirds of the combined net proceeds from the
2012 Winter Party Festival and the 15th Annual Recognition Dinner, both of which are held in Miami Beach. These proceeds will be distributed to local LGBT organizations via Foundation grants with the remainder of the proceeds going to the Task Force’s national efforts to achieve LGBT equality.
The donation amount was announced at a June 14 reception at Bacardi USA’s national headquarters in Miami with Charisse Grant, senior vice president for programs,accepting on behalf of The Miami Foundation. Since taking over responsibilities for Winter Party Festival and the Miami Recognition Dinner, the Task Force has contributed more than $1.4 million to South Florida grassroots LGBT organizations.
“There is something special about the GLBT Community Projects Fund,” Grant said in accepting the donation. “It is not just one donor establishing a Fund. It represents the collective charitable aspirations of an entire community.”
Grant went on to commend the army of volunteers who donate their time, in addition to their dollars, to ensure the success of these two popular events.
“Each one of the more than 100 grants made by The Miami Foundation’s GLBT Community Projects Fund was awarded with an awareness and an appreciation for the passion and perseverance of the hundreds of volunteers who make these two major events - and these charitable proceeds – possible,” Grant said. “We take the Task Force’s efforts very seriously.”
Also in attendance at the reception were several representatives from 2011 grant recipient organizations. These leaders represented organizations as diverse as the South Florida LGBT and allied community itself, including Family Counseling Services of Greater Miami for providing counseling and group support to emotionally battered LGBT youth potentially on the brink of suicide; the Miami-Dade Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce Foundation for building community through the LGBT Community & Visitors Center by giving organizations a place to hold meetings and celebrate cultural and special events; and Temple Israel of Greater Miami, which created Next @ 19th Street, a pioneering program to create a sense of identity and belonging among LGBT people in the Jewish community.
This is the third consecutive year that this special reception has been hosted by GREY GOOSE® Vodka, a National Gay and Lesbian Task Force National Corporate Partner.
The upcoming Miami Recognition Dinner, “Sparkle,” will be held October 6, 2012, at the Fontainebleau Hotel. The 20th anniversary of Winter Party Festival will be March 6 – 11, 2013 at venues throughout Miami and Miami Beach. For more information on these events or on the mission and work of the Task Force, visit
www.thetaskforce.org.
About the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force:
The mission of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force is to build
the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) community. We do this by training activists, equipping state
and local organizations with the skills needed to organize
broad-based campaigns to defeat anti-LGBT referenda and advance
pro-LGBT legislation, and building the organizational capacity of
our movement. Our Policy Institute provides research and policy
analysis to support the struggle for complete equality. 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.
About GLBT Community Projects Fund:
The GLBT Community Projects Fund is a unique partnership between The Miami Foundation and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. In 2005, the Task Force assumed leadership for producing two signature events for Greater Miami’s GLBT community - the Winter Party Festival in the spring and the Miami Recognition Dinner in the fall.
Thanks to the efforts of local GLBT leaders, a share of the proceeds from these events stays in the local community through a Fund established at the The Miami Foundation. In 2011, the GLBT Community Project Fund distributed grants to the following community organizations: American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida, Classical South Florida, Equality Florida, Family Counseling Services of Greater Miami, Florida International University, Florida Together Federation, FUNDarte, MDGLCC Foundation, Miami Beach Gay Pride, Miami Bridge Youth and Family Services, Miami Dade Police Department / Special Victims Bureau, Miami Design Preservation League, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Miami Gay Men’s Chorus, O Cinema, Pridelines Youth Services, Safe Schools South Florida, SAVE Foundation, Switchboard of Miami, Temple Israel of Greater Miami dba Next @ 19th Street, Tigertail Productions, University of Miami and YES Institute.
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