Dear members and friends of the American Italian Heritage Association and Museum,  As you know, on Thursday, September 12^th, our gala dinner will be taking place at the Empire State Plaza Convention Center. The event is a mere three months away. We are putting together a dinner committee to help pull together the details to make this a spectacular happening we will all remember for a long time to come. We want this to be our biggest fundraising event ever for our museum.
 
Our friend Marc Gronich was brought on board as a planning manager to lay the groundwork and to set the plans in motion for this dinner. He has done a superb job with the little assistance we have given him. He has been working vigorously these last few months in lining up the honorees, sponsors, the venue and so much more.  
 
It is not right, however, for an outsider to do all the work without some of the members of the organization being involved, especially if they want a discounted ticket price. Now is the time for our members to step up and become invested to show we care just as much as Marc does about having a successful outcome.
 
If we do not hear from any members about taking on some of these tasks the Association is going to be forced to hire more people to pick up the slack and carry out the tasks listed. The more our volunteers are not pitching in to help, the more the expenses this dinner will incur and the less net profit we will make.
 
The Dinner Co-chairs are two esteemed members of our organization, Ron Canestrari, Assemblyman (1989 – 2012) and Victoria Graffeo, Associate Justice, NYS Court of Appeals (2000 – 2014) and currently a partner with the Harris Beach law firm.
 
We are currently looking for suggestions for a female Co-chair for the Honorary Committee (Albany County Legislator Frank Mauriello is the male Co-chair.) and a female Co-chair for the Ad Journal Committee (Marc Gronich is the male Co-chair.)
 
But now as the clock approaches we need to energize ourselves and we need you, our members to offer your valued skills by volunteering to head a committee or be a member of a committee. By offering your valued skills we can ensure that this will be a great success.
 
We need to energize ourselves, we need to work together. I know we can do this. Finally, as a bonus, when you volunteer you will receive a significant discount on your gala tickets price and a complimentary eighth page ad in our dinner journal.
 
Below are some of the specific tasks you can volunteer for. Please reply to [email protected] or [email protected] to offer your valuable skills.   Its just for a few months until this event is over.
 
 As for the Dinner Committee, the responsibilities that we need to fill include the following:
 

• Secure an instantaneously recognizable Italian entertainer such as Paul Sorvino or Marisa Tomei.
• Line up the protocols for the dinner program:

Set up dinner line up program
Help in directing the honorees to the podium
Help in ensuring a smooth flow of the evening

• Set up appointments with big donors
• Keep track of ticket sales
• Floral arrangements
• Decorations
• Sound system
• Photographer, videographer, social media entries
• Pre-dinner reception plans
• Dessert plans
• Catering options
• Send out thank you letters shortly after the event

Thank you all for your consideration and help you can give.