Tampa Gala Raises Over $70,000!

Tampa Gala Reaches New Heights
Smashes Goal by Raising $70,575

Wow! Last Saturday night's Tampa Gala was absolutely amazing. Tom Hall and Kenneth Jewett opened their fabuluos home to hundreds of Equality Florida supporters. The catering was elegant and delicious (Thank you Streetcar Charlie's for all the food and drinks and thank you Mise En Place and Georgie's Alibi for helping with our staffing).

And the crowd - what can you say? Overwhelming. Perhaps the largest LGBT Political fundraiser ever in Tampa Bay. We made many, many, many new friends during the Gala. And what a powerful show of VIP's - our Tampa Mayor, Pam Iorio; Florida CFO Alex Sink; our hero, Commissioner Kevin Beckner; the last two Florida Democratic Gubernatorial candidates, Jim Davis and Bill McBride; state senators, city counselors, county commissioners, and so many more.

And now for the very important measurable... The 2009 Tampa Gala smashed through our goal, raising $70,575. Special thanks Ed Lally and Phil Dinkins for heading up the host committee, and to Robert Sanderson for issuing a very generous challenge grant for new Florida Council Members.

We owe the entire success of this event to our all-star host committee. We organize fundraisers from one end of Florida to the other, and without exception it is the strength of our volunteer host committee that makes the difference. They should all be beaming with pride today.

If you'd like to be on our host committee for the 2010 Gala, contact [email protected]. As a host, you help build our invitation list, reach out to our guest speakers, broadcast our event to your friends, and help manage the event details that add up to a wonderful experience for our guests.

If you'd like to help ensure we meet the full amount of our challenge grant, it's not too late to contribute.

The feedback we heard from our guests was extremely positive - it was quite a party. Tampa Bay is so critically important in our work to win Equality in our state, and Saturday night we took a giant step forward to fully engaging and empowering our home town team.

Thank you all - you make everything we do possible.

Stratton Pollitzer
Deputy Director

PS. We plan to begin holding quarterly social gatherings for our Tampa donor community - we want to build on the great momentum from the Gala and give our members many opportunities to dive into this year's very exciting Equality Agenda. Stay tuned for details.

Sponsors:

Platinum:

Gold:

Governor's Club: $10,000+
Amy Mandel

Florida Senate: $5,000 - $9,999
Tom Dilling
Robert Sanderson and Dyce Craig

Florida House: $2,500 - $4,999
Thomas Hall and Kenneth Jewett

Florida Council: $1,200 - $2,499

Greg Arbutine & Alan Johnson
Kevin Beckner & Gil Sainz
Liane Bennati & Teri Bennati
Lisa Boeving & Sandy Learned
Chuck Cave & Jeff Hartley
Philip Dinkins & Ed Lally
Donald Ebbert
Chad Fulwood & Todd Kjeer
Gregory Gaar
Andrea Graham & Geoffrey Simon
Jim Harper
Harold Harkins & Will Perras
Charlie Hounchell & Stephen Gay
Darla Hutton & Jennifer Browning
George Korones & Nathan Bays
Jim Kovacs & Alberto Murillo
Susan Lee
Henry Lewis
Burton Mulford
Joe Redner
Julie Rochman & Sandra Kay Palmer
Sara Scher & David Scher
Jim Shepard & Mark Weimer
Brian Winfeld and Kim Byrd
William Zewadski

Friend: $500 - $1,199

Charlotte Anderson
Russell Blain & Jeff Otterman
James Brewster
W. Dennis Facciolo & Larry Mee
Kenneth Hardin & Armando Maiques
Dedra Hern & Lorrie Brown
Len Kizner & Jeff Tucker
Michael Klimis
Seth Nelson
Cheri Pachell & Jennifer Hayes
Ken Pages
Andy Patten & Jerry Scharba
David Provencher & Randy Glover
David Purnell & Steve Johns
Linda Scarritt & Tom Scarritt
Todd Smith & Ben Hood
Rick Woods & Terry Knight
Thomas Yarranton

Host Committee:

Greg Arbutine & Alan Johnson, Kevin Beckner & Gil Sainz, Dallas Coffield & Michael Eachon, Ana Cruz, Ileana Devin & Jeff Devin, Philip Dinkins & Ed Lally, Andrea Graham & Geoffrey Simon, Thomas Hall & Kenneth Jewett, Ken Hardin & Armando Maiques, Robert Hardin,Jim Harper, Jeff Hartley & Chuck Cave, Charlie Hounchell & Stephen Gay, Darla Hutton & Jennifer Browning, Len Kizner & Jeff Tucker, Amy Mandel, Linda Scarritt & Tom Scarritt, Todd Smith, Rick Woods & Terry Knight, Brian Winfield & Kim Byrd, and William Zewadski