City Year Miami Annual Red Jacket Ball
Saturday, March 24, 2012; 7:00 pm
J.W. Marriott Brickell
1109 Brickell Avenue
Miami, FL

Red Jacket Ball tickets and sponsorships are still available. Individual seats cost $300 and tickets for the ‘After Hours Gala Post Party’ are $50. Event sponsorship levels begin at $5,000.

To RSVP, visit www.cityyear.org/miami/redjacketball.
For questions about sponsorships, contact Angelica Bertot at abertot@cityyear.org or by phone at (786) 406-7902.

Hundreds of South Florida’s most influential corporate, political and community leaders will come together in support of City Year Miami at the nonprofit organization’s annual Red Jacket Ball on Saturday, March 24, 2012. Widely considered one of the most high-energy, highly-anticipated events of Miami’s benefit season, the Red Jacket Ball celebrates the work of 134 City Year Miami ‘corps members’ and raises funds for the organization’s In School, On Track initiative.

This year’s event begins at 7:00 pm at downtown Miami’s J.W. Marriott Brickell Hotel, located at 1109 Brickell Avenue. A special ‘After Hours Gala Post Party’ hosted by Miami Dolphins football star Davone Bess will follow. Univision TV news anchor and EMMY-award winner Maria Elena Salinas and Miami-Dade County Public School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho will both be honored for their longtime support for City Year Miami. Businesswoman and philanthropist Ravneet Chowdhury is serving as this year’s Red Jacket Ball committee chair.

“City Year Miami’s impact within the Miami-Dade County Public School system has grown exponentially in recent years, and we have bold plans to expand our reach even further in 2012,” said Saif Ishoof, Executive Director of City Year Miami. “The financial support we receive through our Red Jacket Ball will provide the funding necessary for recruiting additional corps members and entering new schools next year. That involvement will make a direct, positive difference in the lives of students attending at-risk schools across our community.”

The Red Jacket Ball is City Year Miami’s largest fundraising event of the year, with 80% of all event revenues going directly to the organization’s programs. City Year Miami’s corps currently includes 134 members at 13 schools across Miami-Dade County; plans are underway to expand to 195 corps members in 16 schools in 2012. Corps members provide academic support, mentoring, and after school programming, as well as lead community-based service initiatives.

“We are turning around the lowest-achieving schools in our community, and we could not do this without City Year,” said Assistant Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools Nikolai Vitti. “Through our partnership with City Year, attendance is climbing, student attitudes are improving, and grades are rising. The culture of entire schools is being transformed by their can-do spirit.”

This year’s Red Jacket Ball Gold Sponsors are CSX, Beasley Broadcasting Group, Lovett-Woodsum Family Foundation, Brad and Cori Meltzer Charitable Trust, Miami Herald, Pasha’s Healthy Mediterranean Cuisine, and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd. Silver Sponsors include Bank of America, Miami Dolphins, T-Mobile, and Becker & Poliakoff. The gala committee includes Ivette Arango, J.C. del Valle, Gloria Fonts Suarez, Will Freyre, Dr. Anthony Japour, Cristina Llorente, Ben Moss, and Gillian Smith.