FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Tyler Sminkey or Nicole Kasak
tyler@tspublicrelations.com or nicolekasak@gmail.com (786) 390-8510 or (813) 966-4314

FIRST ANNUAL ‘PHILANTHROFEST’ UNITES SOUTH FLORIDA’S NOT-FOR-PROFIT COMMUNITY AND RAISES AWARENESS FOR LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS

Local Event and Community Networking Gurus, Life Is Art and Miami Crawls, Join Forces to Create Annual Philanthropic Event for South Florida

MIAMI – February 14, 2012 – PhilanthroFest, an event comprised of South Florida’s not-for-profit organizations and community leaders dedicated to promoting and increasing the growth and success of charitable groups, launches its first annual event and community building campaign in South Florida this spring. The event, which will showcase a wide-variety of philanthropic organizations, community resources and cultural art exhibits is offered to local residents to gain insight and learn more about participation while raising awareness of services available to those in need.

The outdoor event is the brainchild of Life Is Art and Miami Crawls, which share years of event production, volunteer management, fundraising and marketing experience. By engaging community partners, PhilanthroFest will deliver a sustainable event that helps educate and support South Florida organizations and the community overall. The large-scale outdoor festival will take place in Mid-Town Miami from noon until 6 p.m. Saturday, April 14, 2012 at the Mid-Town Greenspace, 110 NE 36 St., Miami, FL 33137.

PhilanthroFest was designed with the mission to SUSTAIN the South Florida community by encouraging community investment, ENHANCE the outreach of philanthropic organizations enriching the community, ENABLE opportunities for volunteer and donor base growth, PROVIDE social media education and training to enhance brand awareness, and CELEBRATE art, music, dance and fashion. PhilanthroFest will be an annual community event where South Florida residents of all ages can learn about philanthropic organizations and community resources in a free, family friendly festival atmosphere while enjoying music, art, fashion, food and entertainment with the goal of increasing volunteerism, community engagement and donor investment.

Mayor Regalado supports the event and said, “In these difficult times, when the federal government is cutting funds for social programs funded by local governments, we have to turn to the community to support the children and the elderly. PhilanthroFest 2012 showcases this support.”

“PhilanthroFest is something we’ve been dreaming about doing for some time now,” says James Echols, co-founder of Life Is Art and PhilanthroFest; owner of Soul of Miami. “Through Life Is Art and Soul of Miami we
have had the opportunity to meet the numerous philanthropic organizations that do phenomenal work throughout the local community and beyond. Bringing all of these groups together for one annual event provides an ideal platform to engage the community, while helping the organizations recruit new volunteers and donors.”

Learn more about PhilanthroFest, its participating organizations and vendors by visiting www.PhilanthroFest.com or following PhilanthroFest on Twitter and Facebook for important event updates. You may also join the email list.

About Life Is Art
Life Is Art is a south-Florida based non-profit corporation founded in January of 2009 whose mission is to promote and support the arts and the community in south Florida through events and education. They do this primarily through the production of arts events: Art Shows, Fairs, Parties, Showcases, Networkers, Seminars, Workshops and more targeted at supporting south Florida artists and arts professionals. For more information, visit www.lifeisartfest.org.

About Miami Crawls
Miami Crawls is a socially conscious company that engages neighborhood communities, local businesses, and charities through the promotion of organized events for professionals that live, work and play in South Florida. For more information, visit www.miamicrawls.com.