Picture Slideshow from Annual Breakfast

First Place Annual Fundraising Breakfast was April 29, 2009 at the Westin Hotel in Downtown Seattle. The event featured Linda Byron from KING5 News, Dr. Leon "Skip" Rowland, Executive Director of the Urban Enterprise Center at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Tod Leiweke, CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment, Dr. Doreen Cato Executive Director of First Place, and two very special students, Ifrah and Marcelus.

View the Slideshow -- Photos by Ben VanHouten of VanHouten Photography.



If you missed the event you can still make a donation through our Virtual Table page.

Thank you to the event committee, staff, event coordinators and board members who helped plan the event.

Thank You to our Sponsors:
Presenting Sponsor:Leadership Sponsor: Pepsi Starbucks Partnership

Table Sponsors: The Boeing Company, Brettler Family Foundation, Safeco Insurance, Seattle Children’s, Western Union and Antioch University Seattle.

Seahawks/Sounders FC Challenge Match Donors: Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC, Tom and Sonya Campion, Lucky Seven Foundation and Wells Fargo.

Special Thank You: Sound Mental Health, Print Solutions and Consulting, Julie Gauntt, Seattle Westin, The Beta Society, and VanHouten Photography.

High School Auction to Benefit First Place

The students at Big Picture High School invite you to join them at a Benefit Auction for First Place this Friday, May 15, 2009.

The community is invited to attend the event which is Friday, May 15, 2009 at 7pm at Big Picture High School, 2450 S. 142nd St., SeaTac,WA 98168. There is no cost to attend and no reservation required.

Thank You to the students at Big Picture High School for planning this event and for choosing to support First Place!

Seattle Channel Features First Place Panel Discussion

On April 29, 2009, immediately following the First Place Annual Fundraising Breakfast, we hosted a panel discussion featuring local individuals and businesses making big change toward ending homelessness.

The panel featured:

• Bill Block, King County Committee to End Homelessness Project Director
• Tod Leiweke, CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment
• Thach Nguyen, Realtor, Developer and Philanthropist
• James Sun, CEO & Founder of Zoodango.com, Finalist on NBC's "The Apprentice"
• Evelyn Brown, Owner of Xazz Salon and community volunteer
  
• Anne Keeney, Executive Director of Seattle Jobs Initiative
• Moderated by Linda Byron, KING 5 News
  

We are excited to share with you that the Seattle Channel filmed the discussion as part of its Town Square program. Watch it online right now, or on TV the following dates and times:

Seattle Channel 21:

Thursday, May 14, 2009	5:00 p.m.
Monday, May 18, 2009	6:00 a.m.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009	2:30 a.m.
Thursday, May 21, 2009	4:30 p.m.

First Place hosted this panel as way to further engage individual and businesses in getting involved in ending homelessness. We hope when you watch this, you will be inspired to find a way to get your business or organization involved in social change.

Panel attendees received a packet of information to take home with them, which included facts on homelessness, a 'Take Action' sheet, a copy of the Washington State Report Card on Family Homelessness and a few other informational papers. If you are interested in a copy of this packet, contact Chris Cooper, Director of Marketing and Development at 206-323-6715 ext. 1301.

Over the next few weeks we want to feature a few companies on our blog that do some creative fundraising for First Place. First on our list to share is Car Toys.

Beat the CFO! The employees of Car Toys have a long-standing tradition of supporting the many vital programs of First Place. Every fall Car Toys employees break out of the office for their annual stress reliever "beat the CFO". For a small donation to First Place employees compete against the CFO in a high-tech virtual golf game, or in years past have taken their chance at hitting a target to dunk the CFO in a less than warm pool. Car Toys CFO Robert Jensen continues to take his dedication to ending family homelessness to a new level. “Keep up the great work,” Jensen tells us, “and we will keep coming up with other ways to help.”

Thank you to the Seattle Channel, our panelists and companies like Car Toys!

The Music Project Foundation comes to First Place!

The Music Project Foundation is a local organization that ties the study of music with a performance experience to create a unique program that empowers students. This school year they have working hard raising extra funds to bring their program to First Place to work with our students at no charge to First Place.

In order to fund their work with First Place they are hosting a fundraiser on May 26, 2009 featuring a few music icons such as Sonny Turner of The Platters, Theo Peoples of The Four Tops, Sanjaya Malakar, a former American Idol contestant and Bernadette Bascom.
First Place is excited and thankful for the opportunity to work The Music Project Foundation and the talented musicians who are working with our students.

We know this fundraiser will be a great success!

Join us at "A Vegas Evening"
Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at the Triple Door

Tickets: $50 per Person
VIP Tickets: $150 per Person
VIP Tickets Include: Private Reception w/the Stars, Hors D’oeuvres, Hosted Bar & 1 Drink Ticket, and Premier Seating

Purchase Tickets Online
by Phone: 206-838-4333
In Person: triple Door Box Office 216 Union St., Seattle

View the event flier (pdf).
Learn more The Music Project Foundation

Keeping Students Healthy

With the recent school closings due to Swine Flu (H1N1 flu) First Place wanted to share with you what we are doing here in our building to make sure everyone is safe and healthy.

We sent a letter home with every student on April 30, 2009 along with two attachments -- the Homeless Health News from the Heath Care for the Homeless Network and also the Preparing for Pandemic Influenza Family Guide from the Washington State Department of Health. Because of the unique nature of our school, the teachers, case managers, nurse and school psychologist are in constant dialogue about the health of our students.

Students experiencing symptoms are being referred to the nurse and sent home from school. We are keeping up on our regular practices of washing hands regularly, using hand sanitizer and keeping school surfaces clean.

For 20 years First Place has been working with Health Care for the Homeless, Odessa Brown Children's Clinic and Seattle Children's to take care of the health needs of the children who attend school at First Place. Through this partnership First Place has access to a nurse Monday through Friday and provides us with a nurse on-site three days a week year-round.

The staff is keeping updated through multiple sources and this is a top concern at the agency.

If anyone has any concerns about what First Place is doing to prevent our school from closing, please call Chris Cooper at (206) 323-6715 ext. 1301.

Join us at our Virtual Table

This morning, a very special event is happening for First Place. Our Annual Fundraising Breakfast. Just in case you weren't there with us, we wanted to include you at our virtual table.

Here are the highlights of today's program:

We're 20 year old!

This year marks our 20th serving children and families. Our successes just keep on growing.

Most recently, First Place was able to move a mother and her two children from living in a van to living in a two bedroom apartment in First Place transitional housing!

First Place serves over 1,000 individuals each year - and we celebrate each new success as if it is our first.

First Place graduate Marcelus will now share his story with you about how he came to First Place.

Listen to a story aired on KUOW last summer (Real Audio). Click here for additional listening options.



Current First Place student Ifrah has also written a speech to share with us today.

"When I first came to First Place. I lived in a shelter. I was scared for no reason at all. In my second year I was in foster care for 15 days because my mom was ill. The staff members and kids were really caring because they knew what I was going through.

I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters and we were all seperated because noone wanted to take care of 7 kids except my mom. I was worried because I did not see them at school."

Read her entire speech here.

And now, we would like to ask you to make a gift to First Place in honor of Marcelus, Ifrah, and of all the children and families touched by our program. All gifts given will count toward our event goal.

Give online through Network for Good.

Download the event pledge card and send by mail (pdf).

We encourage you to invite people to sit at your virtual table by fowarding this email to your friends, family and colleagues who you know will be touched by the stories shared here.

Our warmest appreciation for your support.

Dr. Doreen Cato, Executive Director

Announcing The Seahawks/Sounders FC Challenge

First Place is excited to announce a Challenge Match Fund for the Annual Fundraising Breakfast! Keep Reading....
Please join us on Wednesday, April 29, 2009

7:00 a.m. - Networking and Breakfast
7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. - Stage Program Featuring

• Two First Place students speaking about their personal experiences.
• A poem performed by current students
• Keynote Speaker Dr. Leon "Skip" Rowland
• The Seahawks/Sounders FC Challenge - A challenge match presented by Tod Leiweke, CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment
• Emcee Linda Byron from KING5 News.
• Dr. Doreen Cato, Executive Director of First Place

Seattle Westin located downtown at 1900 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98101. View Directions.
RSVP by April 21, 2009. Register online today!

What is the The Seahawks/Sounders FC Challenge?
During the event, Tod Leiweke, CEO of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment (Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders FC) will speak about his organization's commitment to end family homelessness. He will also announce the The Seahawks/Sounders FC Challenge - which is a pool of money donated to First Place to match donations from all new donors, and all donations which are increased over last year's gift. Every person in the room will have an opportunity to have their gift matched.

THANK YOU TO THE SEATTLE SEAHAWKS AND SOUNDERS FC!

More information can be found on the First Place website.

Want to bring friends? Consider hosting a table.