By MICHAEL FRENCH

It’s that time of year again. PRIDE in Fort Lauderdale!

One definition found on the Web, defines “Pride” as “Self-respect and acknowledgment of one’s personal worth.”

That being said, what can we do at HOME to show pride in who we are, and what we represent as individuals and a community?

Pridefest is this weekend, have a party at home to begin the festivities whether you’re planning on going to Pride or not.

A great reason to be proud, to do at home, that will give anyone a well deserved sense of pride, is to make your PRIDE party a charity event. Choose a local charity. HIV, animal shelters, youth centers, gender specific and environmental charities abound. There won’t be any difficulty finding one that reflects a personal passion. Investigate the charity ensuring it is legitimate and it’s revenue is not dedicated to more salaries than benefits to the cause it represents.

Select your favorite non profit cause then contact the charities’ administrators. They have and will be more than happy to give you literature acquainting you with their mission statement and increase awareness of it’s contributions to the community. They may have ideas for you to create a theme for your event relating to the charity.

Invitations. Make sure they announce the charity. Your “cause celeb” should have art work suitable for invitations. Be CREATIVE, adding the important “Spice” of FUN to a purposeful event.

Don’t forget tax benefits! Keep receipts and a detailed record of expenses. Ask a CPA what is tax deductible and what isn’t. One ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. A verifiable record will help you ward off the raised eyebrow of your friendly IRS agent.

Print receipts to give guests for their anticipated generous contribution! Your charity should have a receipt template. Keep a record of guests’ donations made to your charity. Delegate that task to someone you can trust.

Now for the FUN part! An organized, imaginative and talked about party equals a very successful fete! Invitations should include, a theme, dress “code” and if it’s BYOB etc.

Have a raffle. They help create a festive buzz. Get donations from merchants relative to your charity. Delegate the collection of raffle money and awarding prizes to someone else. You can’t be a mingling or networking host if you’re stuck in one place!

Decorating! Let your creative juices flow! Of course the focus is on the RAINBOW!

This doesn’t have to be expensive. A rainbow wall of balloons, strategically draped crepe paper, colored paper plates, and napkins are your most versatile, and most economical decorations. Have a pool? In dollar stores you can find diode lights. Put them in the balloons, weigh them down with a stone, then place them in the pool. This will create a flotilla of rainbow colored orbs! Make a buffet with platters of food dedicated to each color of the rainbow. There’re delicious, healthy, fruits and vegetables in every color. Use vegetable based food coloring and fill bottles with the right colors. Buy bags of colored marbles and scatter them round the tables.

Decorate with people! Yes! Divide the amount of your guests, those who have kindly RSVP’D, by the 7 of colors of the rainbow. If you have 35 guests, you’ll have 7 groups of 5 people. Politely insist each member of a group wear a shirt in the same rainbow color. With all the guests present, create a flag and a group photo all in one swoop. Have a good photographer! What a great souvenir for everyone!

Please, don’t forget to hang at least one Pride flag in a very prominent place. After all isn’t that what the party is all about?

Michael French, is Agenda’s Home
from Home columnist. Contact
Michael at mf7954fla@gmail.com