Friends of the Raymond Need You!

posted by Ross Melnick on September 18, 2002 at 11:53 am

PASADENA, CA — The Friends of the Raymond desperately need your help!

If you can donate even one dollar (or pound or looney or shekel or franc) to help save this beautiful 1927 movie palace, please consider taking the time to send a donation to the group which is in desperate need of $3,000 within the next 12 days.

We just received this urgent email from Gina Zamparelli of the Friends:

We are truly in critical need for donations! I am working non-stop to raise the money we need to continue our effort to preserve The Raymond Theatre. I am sending donation mailers, asking local
businesses for assistance, applying for grants, putting up ebay auctions, selling raffle tickets, and it’s still not enough to keep up with the consistent flow of money needed for to keep our lawsuit ongoing.

I need to be honest with everyone… We have a $5,000 legal bill due on Monday, Sept. 30th. To continue our lawsuit we need to raise $3,000 by the end of this month. We also have another legal bill for $5,000 plus, due in exactly one month and three weeks. We also need to stage a fundraiser in November to raise the final $5,000 payment for our lawsuit.

We need a bare minimum of $2,000 to $3,000 to produce a benefit large enough to raise the money we need. We need a down payment on the venue next week. What does this all mean? We have some large legal fee’s ahead. Most critical, we need to raise $3,000 by the end of the month. If we fall short in paying our Attorney, the lawsuit will stop. If this happens, The Raymond Theater’s future will be in serious jeopardy.

I am starting a two-week campaign to see if we can all pull together and raise enough to keep our lawsuit ongoing and make our next payment by Sept 30th. I hope everyone will consider giving something. Even the smallest donation means a great deal to this effort. Everyone can spare $1 or $5. If you can give $25, $50, $100, $250, $500 or more, it would make a substantial difference in our effort.

FACTS ABOUT DONATING TO FRIENDS OF THE RAYMOND:

• Your donation is tax-deductible.
• You can donate anonymously. Just be sure to state your wishes along with your donation.
• We can also except money as a loan. This means that if we win the lawsuit, and you so request, we will send you back your money however the court awards it back to us, in full or pro-rated.

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN DONATE:

Donation: A gift of any amount would be appreciated. You can send your donation to our P.O. Box or donate online by Pay Pal (see information below).

You can also purchase raffle tickets:

The raffle prizes are as follows:

1st: 3 days/2 night vacation for two at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada
2nd: $500 in cash
3rd: Go-Video Duel Deck DVD/VCR Player
4th: 2 Adult Passes to Disneyland, Anaheim, CA
5th: $50 Starbucks Coffee Gift Certificate

Suggested donation:

$1 for 1 ticket
$5 for 6 tickets
$10 for 12 tickets
$20 for 25 tickets
$50 for 60 tickets
$100 for 125 tickets
$200 to $500 + donation – One raffle ticket for every dollar you donate!

Drawing will be held October 12, 2002

Winners need not be present to win.

SEND YOUR DONATION TO:

Friends of the Raymond Theatre
PO Box 91189
Pasadena, CA 91109-1189

or

You can also donate or purchase raffle tickets online by PayPal at: www.PayPal.com. Our e-mail address for PayPal is: .

Just send us a note and let us know if you are sending a donation or requesting raffle tickets! Please send me an e-mail and let me know if you can donate to help us through this critical time. Together I know we can do it! I will keep everyone posted on who has donated and how much we have raised in the next two weeks.

For more information on the Raymond Theatre, please visit their website. This is a beautiful movie palace that deserves to be saved.