Florida Agenda

By Dale Madison

When Robert Boo was Director of Development for what was then called the Gay and Lesbian Community Center (GLCC) of Fort Lauderdale, he added a number of important programs, working in tandem with thenexecutive director Paul Hyman, who had served in that post for nearly a decade. Boo left his position to work in the private sector in Miami, but somehow, that just didn’t work for him. When Hyman decided to return to his native New York, Boo thought the time was ripe for his own kind of return. Hired to succeed Hyman as Executive Director of the nowbranded Pride Center at Equality Park, he found a whole new “beast” waiting for him.

“With the move to the new campus (located at 2040 North Dixie Highway, Wilton Manors), there were a number of changes, and lots of additional programs that we were offering with increased services,” Boo explains. “I knew that I was going to have some very big shoes to fill, as Paul had done an incredible job. Of course, coming back to a non-profit in this economy is not easy. People have had to tighten purse strings at a time when we are expanding service,” he notes. “I can’t see us cutting our services—there are too many people who depend on us.”

One of the Pride Center’s biggest “nuts” is its Capital Campaign, which Boo says is the agency’s efforts “to raise money to help pay off the mortgage, so that we can once again increase our service potential.” Enter local pharmacist Ken Goss, who moved here several years ago from Boston, where he had served on the board of a non-profit, The Attic. “When I moved here, I wanted to get involved,” Goss relates. “I went to the [Pride Center], and saw the incredible work they were doing. One of the first projects that I was involved with was acquiring backpacks for underprivileged kids.”

Goss’ work with the Pride Center inspired him—in his own words—to “really get more involved with the community.” Just how involved wasn’t apparent until he called the agency’s new executive director and requested a meeting. Goss said he wanted to present the Pride Center with a check for its Capitol Campaign—in the amount of $50,000. Boo says that he was in a state of shock.

On Sunday, September 30, Boo and the Pride Center will hold an invitation-only brunch, to say “Thank You” to Goss, and to the board of directors of the agency. “If it were not for having a working board, so much of the services we provide would have to be curtailed,” Boo says with emphasis.

“I never want to see that happen.” For more information on the Pride Center at Equality Park’s Capital Campaign, or its many community services, visit pridecenterflorida.org.

If your non-profit organization is not listed in the Agenda Non-Profit Services Directory, please send your information to Dale Madison at
dalemadison@guymag.net.

Dale Madison

By: Dale Madison

Canadian-born R&B singer/ songwriter and actress Deborah Cox left rehearsals for the national tour of “Jekyll & Hyde: The Musical,” and flew from Manhattan to Fort Lauderdale last week as the special guest of the Break the Silence Campaign. The non-profit organization, founded by Logan Voxx’s Positive Young People (PYP) Foundation, hosted a cocktail event at the waterfront home of Ben Lap, raising nearly $10,000 for PYP.

The organization has earmarked the money for a grant to the Pride Center at Equality Park of South Florida, and its new pilot program providing comprehensive services to women with HIV in Broward County. Cox, who celebrated her 38th birthday at the event, pledged to make herself available at any city visited during her upcoming 26-week pre-Broadway tour with “Jekyll & Hyde,” to help publicize Break the Silence, an organization dedicated to refocusing awareness on the continuing HIV pandemic.

“As I travel from city to city, you will have whatever time you need,” she told the assembled group of 85 donors attending the “Cocktails for a Cause” event. “You already have my heart.” The PYP Foundation’s new executive director, Irwin Drucker, who introduced Cox, presented the grant to Kristofer Fegenbush, the Pride Center’s Deputy Director. The Pride Center was also represented at the function by Board President Richard Stoll, and board members Jim Walker and Chris Caputo.

Also in attendance: Lois Frankel and Patrick Murphy, candidates for the newly redrawn Florida 22nd and 18th Districts, respectively, in the upcoming Democratic Congressional primaries; Michael Kennedy, executive director of the not-for-profit group Florida Together; Keith Blackburn, CEO of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce; Lee Rubin, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force board member; David Guzman and Justin Hill, of Wells Fargo Bank; Edi Mulyanato, owner of Dapur Asian Tapas, which supplied food for the event; Christopher Dunham, owner of PYP Corporate Sponsor Dunham Insurance Services; and Peter Jackson, owner of Push Fitness.

The PYP Foundation was founded several years ago by 24-year-old Logan Voxx to change the way America thinks and talks about the HIV pandemic. It is a grassroots social movement centered on creating public service announcements in a multi-media platform marketing and outreach effort. Donations may be made through the Break the Silence website at www.breakthesilencecampaign.org. Any donations made before August 16, 2012 will be earmarked for The Pride Center at Equality Park of South Florida. The Break the Silence Advisory Board consists of Nikki Haskell, Great HealthWorks spokesperson and socialite; public relations guru Gabriel Serrato-Buelna; non-profit financial development executive Steve Wozencraft; Hollywood writer Wes Ferguson; and HIV and Breast Cancer activist Gary Fowler, in addition to Voxx. For more information visit pypfoundation.org.