January 30, 2007
San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee Taking Applications for 2007 Community Grant Program
The Annual Community Partners Program Celebrates a Decade of Giving

San Francisco, CA – 30 January 2007 – Applications for the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee's (SF Pride) grant-giving Community Partners Program are now being accepted for the 2007 event, SF Pride announced today. Non-profit organizations from the nine counties of the Bay Area are invited to apply. Applications are available online on the Pride website at www.sfpride.org.

In 2006, the Community Partners Program gave out $179,330 to 66 different non-profit organizations throughout the nine-counties of the Bay Area. In the ten years since the program’s inception, SF Pride has given out a total of $1,094,768 to Bay Area non-profit organizations. Through the Community Partners Program, SF Pride provides grants to community organizations in exchange for volunteers the weekend of the event; grant amounts are calculated on the basis of the amount of volunteer hours the organization worked.

Over the last decade, these grants have helped support community organizations in numerous ways. For example, SF Pride has helped LGBT sports organizations compete in regional, national, and international events such as the Gay Games and the National Gay Softball World Series, fund organizations that supply veterinary services and food to pets supporting people with HIV/AIDS, provide LGBT seniors with free luncheons, keep HIV/AIDS-based organizations from stopping or interrupting service due to cuts in federal funding, provide funding for drop-in groups for LGBT elders with HIV/AIDS, finance documentaries about immigration issues, support Deaf advocacy organizations, and support breast cancer organizations in educating the public and protecting women from environmental toxins linked to cancer. These are just a few of the many, many tangible contributions made by SF Pride’s Community Partners Program.

Mikayla Connell, Board President:

"It is difficult to measure the vast number of people whose lives have been touched by San Francisco Pride's Community Partners Program over the last decade. Through the program's grants, tens of thousands of people were able to access medical services, food, and education and were able to participate in community groups or participate in the arts. SF Pride’s concerted and diligent efforts to support Bay Area non-profit organizations have become a part of the very fabric of our community and have helped our community flourish and remain a vibrant, healthy one, that all people can participate in and benefit from."

The Community Partners Program is open to any non-profit organization whose mission involves service to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities, people living with HIV, AIDS, or breast cancer, or positive outreach/education to the general public about those issues. The deadline to turn in applications is Friday, March 30, 2007.

All interested organizations can find more information on our website, http://www.sfpride.org.

Lindsey Jones, Executive Director:

“It is our hope that organizations that have never applied to our grant program before will consider doing so this year. It is important to our board and team that the community partners grant program reflect the diversity of our LGBT communities. By continuing to augment the diversity of organizations receiving grant money, San Francisco Pride is working to meet the needs of wide range of communities.”

About San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee (SFLGBTPCC)
The San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee (www.sfpride.org) is a not-for-profit membership organization founded to produce the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration & Parade. With its office located at the San Francisco LGBT Community Center, SFLGBTPCC is dedicated to education, commemoration of LGBT heritage and celebration of LGBT culture and liberation. A world leader in the Pride Movement, SFLGBTPCC is also a grant-giving organization through its Community Partners Program. Since 1997, SFLGBTPCC has granted over $1 million dollars from proceeds of the Pride Celebration and Parade to local not-for-profit LGBT organizations and those organizations serving the HIV/AIDS and breast cancer communities.

About San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration & Parade
This year marks the 37th anniversary of the San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade. This year’s theme is “Pride Not Prejudice” and the event will be held over the weekend of June 23 and 24, 2007. With over 200 parade contingents, 300 exhibitors, and 18 entertainment stages and venues, San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade is the largest LGBT event in the nation. For more information please visit our website at: www.sfpride.org.

 
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For Further Information Please Contact:

Lindsey Jones
Office (415) 864-0831
Cell (415) 596-8780
Email: Lindseyj@sfpride.org

San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration Committee
1800 Market Street, PMB #5
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone (415) 864-0831 Fax (415) 864-5889