Holiday Letter from FACT President, Louis Licitra
Dear friends and families, a lot to say, because we have so much to give thanks for…
FACT Bucks County has had a great year for growth and support. The FACT Board of Directors would like to take this time to thank each and every one of you that have supported us and volunteered at events throughout the year.
Our quarterly BINGO events are almost always sold out and generate about $35,000.00 annually. The 2013 New Hope~Lambertville AIDS WALK brought in over $65,000.00 from walkers and sponsors. FACT has also been recipients of some grants and joint event funds in 2013 totaling over $20,000.00; these funds coming from the David Steinberg One Man Show at the Bucks County Playhouse, the John Lennon Artwork show and sale, Broadway Cares/EFA grant, a special grant from the Bucks Motorcycle Club/Santa Saturday event held in Asbury Park, and various other grants and donations that we receive throughout the year. We have some more joint events coming in 2014 and we hope that you will join us for them as well.
We are excited to announce our new Student Scholarship Program with various grants to be awarded. Two of the grants have been named in honor of Rick Shaw, past president of FACT, and Eddie Coogan, past board member of FACT. If anyone wishes to make specific donations to these memorial Scholarships, please be sure to make a notation on your checks. FACT also has a donation link for easy, safe, on-line donations and you can place a comment with the donation to specify these funds (here’s the link: http://www.factbuckscounty.org/donate/ ). You can also designate FACT Bucks County as a recipient when you donate to the United Way.
FACT not only distributes assistance to people in our local communities living with HIV~AIDS in need of financial help, but a big part of what we do is in granting funds to non-profit organizations to assist in education and prevention. If part of your gift giving this Holiday Season is to charitable organizations, please remember FACT and our holiday donation link ishttp://www.firstgiving.com/FACTBucksCounty/holiday-spirit-and-joy Your donation will assist us to continue to give support to those in Bucks, Hunterdon and Mercer Counties who need our help.
We have eliminated our membership program and will instead focus on raising funds through our events and team efforts.
Our web site is constantly being updated and our INFACT newsfeed not only lists event information, it also has information on National and International HIV~AIDS news. We have teamed up with Brett Palmer, MEd, at the US Dept. of Health and Human Services in Philadelphia, to get the most up-to-date information possible. Several items have recently been posted at INFACT including recent research and breakthroughs in HIV-AIDS . http://www.factbuckscounty.org/in-fact-news/
We will be adding some new web pages in 2014. Our Grant Program for non-profit organizations will now have a complete on-line listing of what criteria is needed to apply for funds from FACT for education and prevention purposes. We are also in the process of compiling an Endowment Program; with that information to be listed soon. We are updating our Outreach Program for better communication to health providers; a new on-line application will also make it easier for providers to request funds for clients. This past year FACT has been pleased to be able to give HIV~AIDS education, prevention and testing program grants to HiTOPS, LifeTies, and Planned Parenthood Keystone.
Please remember to give what you can to your local charities. If you have time to volunteer, there is nothing more rewarding and we are indebted to and rely on our great volunteers to move us forward.
FACT Bucks County wishes all of you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!
SAVE THESE 2014 DATES.. 