LGBT Community Center Awareness Day Tuesday, September 15 10am-8pm Created by CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers, Center Awareness Day (CAD) is an annual day of awareness promoting the vital services offered by community centers and the central role they play in local communities. The LOFT, now in its 26th year of service is proud to be a member of CenterLink and looks forward to representing the lower Hudson Valley on this important day. On Tuesday, September 15, CenterLink will hold “LGBT Center Awareness Day,” a first-ever national day of action focused on awareness around the work of LGBT community centers everywhere. The day was planned to help bring national attention to the Community Center Movement within the LGBT movement, which serves over 40,000 people weekly, and highlight the ways that people can get involved or utilize their local centers. On CAD, The LOFT will be hosting a special open house being called “Help Keep The LOFT, Aloft!”. This phrase was coined by 16 ½ year LOFT volunteer veteran Al Raymond and it encourages our community members to come together in order to make our center thrive. Drop-in anytime between the hours of 10 am – 8 pm to The LOFT’s new location at 252 Bryant Avenue, White Plains, NY. During that time we will have volunteer projects large and small that will all contribute to the greater good of our center and help us carry out our mission of Education, Advocacy and Celebration. CenterLink’s theme for the 2009 LGBT Center Awareness Day is “My Community Center Changed My Life” and will focus on the vital role that community centers play in the health, empowerment, and unity of LGBT communities. Participants in The LOFT’s CAD event will have an opportunity to take part in CenterLink’s “Share Your Story” campaign. “Share Your Story” invites community member to submit their center-related stories, to be published and promoted on the website MyCenterLink.org and on YouTube. On Sept 15, The LOFT will be collecting both written and video accounts from participants who have a story to share. Also, participants can enter the Center Awareness Day Vacation Contest to try and win a trip in the U.S. One lucky winner will win two round-trip tickets on Northwest Airlines and a two-day pass to stay at a Kimpton Hotels property, featuring luxury hotels in 19 U.S. cities In order to enter to win: visit The LOFT or any other participating CAD Center on September 15 and register on the CenterLink entry form, and you will be entered to win the vacation package. We hope you can join us at The LOFT on LGBT Center Awareness Day on September 15! Remember our center is more than just a place, it's a community!