SFPA's Thanksgiving Charity Drive and Dinner for WINGS South Florida

The SFPA Board of Directors are pleased to announce that we will be hosting a special Thanksgiving charity drive and dinner for WINGS South Florida. Formerly known as Women in Need of Greater Strength, WINGS South Florida is a Miami non-profit community-based program for at-risk adjudicated young women ages 14-19 who are pregnant or already mothers. The program provides an opportunity for these girls to remain with their babies instead of being separated from them as they would be in a regular juvenile justice facility. WINGS FL is one of 57 programs in 8 states affiliated with AMIkids which is headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Their Personal Growth Model of service delivery combines education, treatment, behavior modification and experiential learning opportunities to provide a holistic, comprehensive approach to the needs of young women. These efforts have resulted in over 95% of program participants experiencing a successful transition back into their community.



The Thanksgiving dinner event is being held on Friday, November 18, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. and we are asking that you consider joining us for this special event either in person or through your contributions. The Thanksgiving dinner will take place at WINGS South Florida, located at 11000 SW 220 Street, Miami, Florida 33170. You can register online to personally participate at: http://www.sfpa.info/Default.aspx?pageId=392141&eventId=402984&EventViewMode=EventDetails. If you cannot attend personally and would like to make a donation of needed items (see list below) we have four convenient drop off locations:

Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP Attn: Vivian Fusco, CP 100 SE Second Street Suite #3800 Miami, Florida 33131	Marcos Rothman Scharf Valdes Nguyen & Goldstein, P.L. Attn: Karen R. George, FRP 7633 S.W. 62nd Avenue Miami, FL 33143
Santini Law Attn: Jessica A. Giraldo, Paralegal 1200 Brickell Avenue Suite 950 (The Morton building) Miami, Florida 33131	Duane Morris LLP Attn: Lisa Vessels, CP, FRP 200 South Biscayne Blvd. Suite 3400 Miami, FL 33131

There are currently 16 teen girls and 10 babies residing at this facility. If you like you may donate much-needed such as: baby toys, diapers, Good Start formula, baby clothes (new and gently used), bottles, nipples, pacifiers, alcohol free wipes, wash clothes, bathtubs, towels, big foam changing pads for the changing station, diaper bags, Boppy pillows, breast pumps. The teen mothers could use accessories, shoes, purses, sneakers in various sizes, bath towels, colorful youthful twin sheets and beddings. Other fun ideas include: gift certificates from stores, gift certificates for hair and nails, passes or tickets to shows, or parks, like the Metro Zoo, Coral Castle, South Miami Dade Cultural Arts Center, http://www.smdcac.org/, or the Adrian Arsht Center http://www.arshtcenter.org.
Monetary donations can also be made payable to: SFPA, and mailed to: SFPA, C/O Thanksgiving Event, P.O. Box 31-0745, Miami, Florida 33231-0745. Your donations will be used to purchase needed items and given to the residents at the Thanksgiving dinner. Please submit your donations prior to Wednesday, November 16, 2011.
More information about WINGS South Florida can be accessed through their website at http://www.wingsslf.org.
On behalf of SFPA’s Board of Directors, thank you for your consideration and we hope we can make this event a joyous occasion for the residents and their young babies as they begin their journey to a new life.
Vivian Fusco
Thanksgiving Event Chair
vfusco@sfpa.info