Help over 10,000 children at our event this August at the Amway Center, home for Hope Now and the NBA All Star Game 2012

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2. www.hopenowinternational.org
To Whom It May Concern:
HopeNow International is proud to present to you our 7th annual Back To School Bash. The 2012 Back to School
Bash, Florida’s largest back to school charity event, will be held at the Amway Center–August 2012. We encourage
you to join Orlando business and healthcare executives including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Pepsi, Paul Mitchell, and
many other organizations to make this event a success. Last year’s Back to School Bash event experienced over
30,000 Floridians in attendance. Over 10,000 school children from Central Florida Schools attended and received
over 10,000 backpacks, school supplies, free immunizations, free hair cuts, dental and vision screenings and much
more.
This year our projected attendance is growing every day. Please note news coverage below from media outlets
such as ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Telemundo, Univision and the Orlando Sentinel. We are asking you to join the Wal-Mart,
Pepsi and the Orange County School Board as a financial sponsor to help Orlando’s kids start their school year off in
a successful way. We are currently accepting new sponsors to contribute to this event. There are several ways that
you or your company can participate. We offer financial sponsorships, exhibitor space and more. Your sponsorship
will help us to provide over 15,000 backpacks and school supplies at the event. If you would like to join us and
help your community then please contact the executive planning committee by dialing the “Back to School Bash”
hotline at 1-877-812-0008. We also anticipate offering attendees, information on community resources, valuable
health information, free school supplies, free haircuts, free backpacks, fun activities, live entertainment, free im-
munizations and so much more!!!
Sincerely,
Michael J. Radka
President, HopeNow International Inc.
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3. Sponsorship Opportunities
Backpack Sponsor: $60,000
• Designation as a presenting sponsor.
• Branded luggage tags on all backpacks.
• Printed Materials and Promotional Items placed in each backpack.
• 10 invitations to our Sponsor Appreciation Reception.
• 20 complimentary T-Shirts.
• Complimentary premium exhibit space..
• Your Company name and logo featured on the participant t-shirts, on the sponsor banners, on all event-related printed
materials and newsletters.
• Logo on PSA’s and Media recognition.
• Recognition during the event announcements.
• A commemorative item & photo.
• 10 Reserved Parking Spaces
Platinum Sponsor: $50,000
• Designation as a Presenting sponsor.
• 10 invitations to our Sponsor Appreciation Reception—20 complimentary T-Shirts.
• Complimentary premium exhibit space.
• Your Company name and logo featured on the participant t-shirts, on the sponsor banners, on all event-related printed
materials
and newsletters.
• Media and event recognition.
• A commemorative item & photo.
• 10 Reserved Parking Spaces
Gold Sponsor: $25,000
• Designation as a Partner sponsor.
• 10 invitations to our Sponsor Appreciation Reception—20 complimentary T-Shirts.
• Complimentary premium exhibit space.
• Your Company name and logo featured on the participant t-shirts, on the sponsor banners, on all event-related printed materials
and newsletters.
• Media and event recognition.
• A commemorative item & photo.
• 10 Reserved Parking Spaces
Silver Sponsor: $10,000
• Designation as Silver sponsor.
• 6 invitations to our Sponsor Appreciation Reception—10 complimentary T-Shirts.
• Complimentary premium exhibit space.
• Your Company name and logo featured on the participant t-shirts, on the sponsor banners, on all event-related printed
materials
and newsletters.
• Logo on PSA’s and Media recognition.
• Recognition during the event announcements.
• A commemorative item & photo.
• 4 Reserved Parking Spaces
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4. Sponsorship Opportunities
Bronze Sponsor: $5,000
• 4 invitations to our Sponsor Appreciation Reception—8 complimentary T-Shirts.
• Complimentary preferred exhibit space.
• Your Company name and logo featured on the participant t-shirts, on the sponsor banners, on all event-related printed
materials and newsletters.
• Recognition during the event announcements.
• A commemorative item & photo.
• 2 Reserved Parking Spaces
Benefactor Sponsor: $2,500
• 2 invitations to our Sponsor Appreciation Reception—4 complimentary T-Shirts.
• Complimentary preferred exhibit space.
• Your Company name and logo featured on the participant t-shirts, on the sponsor banners, on all event-related printed
materials and newsletters.
• Complimentary exhibit space
• A commemorative item & photo and a Reserved Parking Space
Additional sponsorship opportunities available.
Please contact our funding committee 1-877-812-0008 to inquire.
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5. Previous Event Media Coverage
Back-To-School Bash Held At Amway Center
ORLANDO, Fla. — The 7th Annual Hope Now International Back-to-
School Bash will be held on Saturday at the Amway Center in Orlando. Event officials are expecting roughly 30,000
people to attend. The Back-to-School Bash will provide services and goods to thousands of Central Florida students for
free. Some of the free products and services offered for students are backpacks, school supplies, immunizations, and
vision, hearing, and dental screenings. Event officials added an area for teachers this year, where they can enjoy a day
of pampering and get free school supplies. The Back-to-School Bash will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the
Amway Center.
Families flock to Amway Center for free school supplies
By Margaret Kavanagh, Reporter
Last Updated: Saturday, August 13, 2011 2:09 PM
ORLANDO --
Thousands of families from all over Central Florida lined up outside the Amway Center early Saturday morning for a
big Back to School Bash.The annual event, which gives away free school supplies to anyone who needs them, was sup-
posed to start at 10 a.m., but organizers opened the doors 90 minutes early to get the long line of people who showed
up early out of the summer heat.
Organizers gave out 12,000 free backpacks, and gave over 1,000 haircuts and hundreds of vaccines and other health
screenings to students, all in preparation for the new school year. There was even a red-carpet lounge just for teachers.
The giveaway at the Amway Center was just one of several back-to-school events happening all across Central Florida
during the statewide tax-free holiday weekend.
Jump to: Back to School Tax Holiday Weekend Events
Events like this are important to parents who know how expensive back-to-school shopping can be.
“Money, that’s what goes through my mind at the first glance of ‘back to school,’” said Krysi Warr, a single mother of
four. She, along with her boyfriend’s three children, had camped out in front of the Amway Center since 10 p.m. Friday.
“Our income is so low, we did not have the money to buy them for our kids this year,” said Warr. “Very nerve-racking,
not knowing if your kids are going to have what they need, because they want so much stuff.”
“You see the face of the struggle of families that are so concerned about the education and well-being of their chil-
dren,” said Michael Radca, founder of the annual Back to School Bash. “They want to have school supplies, immuniza-
tions and haircuts so their children can start school with a successful foot forward.” And the parents said they appreci-
ate it. “I know they are going to be taken care of, and I know we are going to be going to school with everything we
need,” said Warr.
(continued >>)
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6. Previous Event Media Coverage
More than 25,000–Back to School Bash at Amway Center
Updated: Saturday, 13 Aug 2011, 7:25 PM EDT
Published : Saturday, 13 Aug 2011, 7:25 PM EDT
WOFL - More then 25,000 elementary, middle and high school students and their families piled into the Amway Center,
for the Back to School Bash Saturday.
With the students grabbing one of the free backpacks loaded up with school supplies. Single-mom Crystal Anderson
has two girls going into the 3rd and 4th grade at Pine Hills Elementary. “It’s expensive. Book bags about 25 dollars,
pencils a dollar, so it adds up.” said Anderson.
Hope now started the give-away seven years ago with 100 bags. This year it will top 12,000. The event organizer sees
the need increasing with the struggling economy. “Before you would say low income, but no, we’re looking at a group
of families last year that were here helping us, and now we’re helping them.”
The back to school event includes hundreds of free immunizations for kids that otherwise aren’t covered. Kids also got
a free haircut.
More than 30,000 swarm Amway Center for
free backpacks, haircuts, shots
Some families lined up overnight
By Eloísa Ruano González, Orlando Sentinel
7:51 p.m. CDT, August 13, 2011
Desperate for free school supplies, some families lined up overnight
outside the Amway Center for the largest backpack giveaway in Cen-
tral Florida.
More than 30,000 people swarmed the building on Saturday for the annual Back to School Bash, organized by Hope
Now International. In its seventh year, the giveaway is the biggest one yet.
Volunteers handed out 12,000 backpacks stuffed with school supplies. One thousand children received free haircuts
and 750 received immunizations. Hundreds of kids also got health and dental screenings. This year, more than a hun-
dred teachers received massages and boxes of school supplies.
The event, the largest of three scheduled around Orlando on Saturday, was supposed to start at 10 a.m. However,
doors opened an hour and a half earlier to get people out of the hot sun.
About 2,500 people had lined up by 8:30 a.m., said Brenda Ortiz, Hope Now media coordinator. “The crowd just got too
big,” she said. Martha Gibbs, a single mom of four, arrived shortly before 9 a.m. Unemployed, she said she needs all the
help she can get to prepare her children for school. Because of budget cuts, many teachers are requiring students to
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7. Previous Event Media Coverage
bring in a long list of supplies, including notebook paper, pencils and toilet paper. “School supplies are too expensive
at the store,” said Gibbs, a former assistant loan officer in New York. Unable to find work in the big city for a year, she
moved back in November to Orlando, where she had lived for years. She still has no job. “I’ve been searching… but I
haven’t found anything,” she said. The back-to-school bash is a lifeline, she said. Without the free school supplies and
haircuts, she planned to spend at least $80 for each child. But it’s money she doesn’t have to spend, she said.
Her story isn’t uncommon. Many parents are unemployed and can’t pay for school supplies and dental and health
exams, Gregg Stewart said, dental director for theCommunity Health Centers. Last year, his volunteers examined 500
children’s teeth. “We expect to top that this year,” he said. Last year, about 25,000 people flooded the old Amway Arena
for free book bags, paper and pencils. The line stretched out for two miles, event founder Michael Radka said. The or-
ganization discussed getting a bigger venue. The new Amway Center was a perfect location for this year’s bash, Radka
said.
LaWanda Lewis had her three children get dental checks. It was her first time at the bash. Although she said there are
people who are worse off financially, she still need the assistance with her third child entering school. He’ll be in kin-
dergarten. “I could handle two. Now there are three,” she said. It’s important for kids to have paper and pencils to excel
in school, said Jeana McMath, a teacher Millennia Elementary School in Orlando. Often, students won’t tell teachers
they don’t have the material needed to do their homework. Last year, she said a student wasn’t doing her spelling as-
signents because she didn’t have paper to write on. “Having stuff like this [helps],” McMath said about the giveaway.
elogonzalez@tribune.com or 407-650-6673
Copyright © 2011, Orlando Sentinel
Thousands Brave Heat, Long Lines For Free Backpacks
ORLANDO, Fla. -- Thousands of people waited in long lines at Amway Arena to get free back to school essentials for
their kids Saturday.
Organizers of the “Back To School Bash” say around 30,000 people showed up to receive free backpacks, school sup-
plies and vision screenings.
The thousands who lined up in the heat was another sign that more families are struggling financially right here in
Central Florida.
The event started at 10 a.m., and by 11 a.m. the massive line was not even through the door yet.
Almost everyone we ran into at the event was just trying to catch a break.
“Just like everyone else, yes we are,” said Sonya Toris, a mother. “And anything that will help us is a great thing.” The
event welcomed children of all ages, according to a release.
Immunizations and physicals were also provided free of charge.
At last year’s event, there were not enough backpacks to go around and several children were turned away. Early in the
afternoon this year, however, there were still plenty of backpacks left, according to organizers. The event was sched-
uled to end at 4 p.m.
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8. Previous Event Media Coverage
Kids Load Up On Supplies At Back To School Bash
Fifth-Annual Event Held Outside Amway Arena In Downtown Orlando
ORLANDO, Fla. -- As the school year begins, many parents are out of work, and getting school supplies can be challenging.
The unemployment rate in Central Florida is at 10.8 percent -- the highest it has been since November 1975, according
to Workforce Florida.
Saturday at Amway Arena, the community came together to provide school supplies, physicals, haircuts and more to
thousands of Central Florida students.
Janie Holmes introduced her daughter, 5-year-old Madeline, who will be starting kindergarten this year.
On the first day of school, Madeline will be prepared. She and thousands of other children in Central Florida are get-
ting school supplies for free.
“We’ve got 10,000 backpacks,” said a Back to School Bash organizer. “We have crayons. We’ve got eyeglass cases. We’ve
got eyeglass cleaners. We’ve got folders. We’ve got notebooks. We’ve got pencils. We’ve got colored pencils. We’ve got
just about everything.”
The students loaded up on supplies with the help of local businesses and nonprofits at the Fifth-Annual Back to School
Bash at Amway Arena. Parents saved hundreds of dollars.
“When you have to consider you have to buy clothes and all this other stuff, that is a shortcut with the supplies,” said
parent Tim Greene. “This is something you don’t have to pay for when you get it for free. This is a good thing. This is a
real good thing.”
“It makes me feel good, like I’ve done my part even though it’s been hard, because I know my kids will have everything
they need when school starts,” Holmes said.
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9. Photos From Our Event
Over–30,000 in attendance, 11,000 FREE backpacks, 1,000 FREE haircuts, 800 FREE Immunizations,
Dental and Vision Screenings at the 2011 Back To School Bash.
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10. Photos From Our Event
(TOP) Main Floor Area, (LEFT) Attendees waiting to enter, (RIGHT) Haircut Area
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11. Photos From Our Event
Volunteers from Central Florida come together to lend a hand and ensure a great experience for all
at the 2011 Back To School Bash.
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12. Photos From Our Event
Through the generous support of sponsors, the “Red Carpet Teacher’s Lounge” was debuted
at the 2011 Back To School Bash.
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