Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 22, 1994 TAG: 9411220102
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Unlike most 5-year-olds, however, First Fridays at Five has had a tremendous impact on its community, affecting charitable organizations, quality of life for young professionals and other activity seekers, and economic development in the Roanoke Valley.
At the party Monday evening marking the event's fifth full season, the organization planned to give an additional $3,600 to each of 14 charities it had sponsored during 1994. Board of Directors president Richard Beard explained the windfall.
"People pay a $2 entrance fee. After the event the door proceeds are immediately split 50-50 between the two charities benefitting from the event. At the end of the year, we clean the books and redistribute any remaining net proceeds. So the charities receive two checks from us each season," Beard said.
Total net proceeds for 1994 were $50,400, with an average attendance of 2,500 people at each of seven events, compared with $5,400 net proceeds in 1989. Eight hundred and fifty people turned out for the first event and paid $1 just to find out what it was about, Beard recalled. "We never envisioned that it would grow the way it has today," he said.
Beard has been with First Fridays since after its first informal planning session. A native of Greensboro, N.C., Beard said he often heard but disagreed with complaints about a lack of activities in the Roanoke Valley. When his friend Barry Simmerman came up with the brainchild of putting on entertainment events that would provide something to do and also benefit local charities, Beard bought it. The events, for which the respective charities provide manpower, initially targeted young professionals working in downtown Roanoke but have since expanded to attract a more diverse mix.
Organizations that apply to First Fridays for sponsorship submit a financial statement and explain how the charity would use its First Fridays money and what impact that use would have specifically on the Roanoke Valley. A committee, to which Beard does not belong, chooses the recipients. Some charities have been sponsored twice, but in order to give as many organizations as possible a chance to benefit, recipients must wait one year before reapplying for funding.
Beard said 41 applications were received for 1994. The recipients were Special Olympics, the Marrow Donor Center of Virginia, Virginia Amateur Sports, Multiple Sclerosis Society of the Blue Ridge, the League of Older Americans Area Agency on Aging, the Court Appointed Special Advocate Program (CASA), the March of Dimes - Blue Ridge Chapter, Roanoke Area Ministries, Habitat for Humanity, the Northwest Child Development Center, Camp Virginia Jaycee, the Jefferson Center, the Star City Wheelchair Athletic Association and Mill Mountain Zoo.
Organizations that wish to participate in 1995 should request an application by writing to First Fridays at Five Inc., P.O. Box 21071, Roanoke, Va. 24018. Requests must be made on the organization's letterhead before Jan. 1.
Over the years, the number of benefitting charities has grown from four, and First Fridays, the event, has outgrown its original location at Century Square and moved to First Union Plaza. It even paid for some of the sod at its new, recently constructed site because, as Beard explained, "It's important that the event remain downtown in order to be successful and maintain its economic impact."
Beard, whose paid job is as a marketing representative for Roanoke Valley of Virginia Economic Development Partnership, said, "My job is to sell the Roanoke Valley to new industry. When downtown is full of life, it's an easy sell."
by CNB