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~ Happy Holidays from 1904 ~
Well, another year has come and gone and those of you who
are reading this are still here supporting our 1904 World's Fair Charitable
Foundation, which helps the beautification program in Forest Park and assists
other local charities in their fundraising efforts. This year, a few of our
members have passed on to the next life...we want to thank them for the precious
time they spent helping us and that we will truly miss them; they know our
prayers are with them.
Not too long ago, many of us were concerned about 'Y2K' and the possibility of a
catastrophe or two hurting us as we entered the new millennium...we made
it through that and all went well.
Then, at the start of a new decade, the market collapsed and the Twin Towers
attack put the USA on 'High Alert' for terrorism. To this day, our national
defense system is doing its level best to prevent another surprise calamity from
happening on our home ground...so far, so good.
Currently, we are all trying our best to deal with this Great Recession and
trying to balance time with our personal, business, civic, political and
charitable endeavors. Charitable donations are down 18% on an average for the
past two years. The good news is that charitable volunteerism is up 22%...much
of this is attributed to the high unemployment rate and people realizing that
helping a good cause may help them feel better, make new friends and find their
next job.
Cicardi and I were recently talking about entering the second decade of this new
millennium. Our last 20 years together and our partnering effort with heavy
involvement in helping raise money for other worthwhile charities in the St.
Louis Region has allowed us to meet some great individuals and help a multitude
of not-for-profits. Many of you who are with us now have been with us since the
beginning and we want to thank you for your continued support. With your help
and as a TEAM, we have raised almost $13,000,000 for local charities, including
the American Cancer Society, the Heritage League Founders, the Judevine Center
for Autism, AMC Cancer Research, ShowMe Aquatics and Fitness and the Forest Park
Flora Conservancy...just to name a few. Just know that we do all of this
a a group...it's been a TEAM effort and will always remain a TEAM effort. There
is no ' I ' in TEAM, but there is an ' I ' in WIN. When we help others, it's a
'WIN - WIN' for both sides. As a team of individual's it makes us feel good to
help others who are less fortunate than we are and it helps the charity of our
choice move forward to accomplish their goal, purpose and mission as an
organization.
Happy Holidays to all of you, your friends and family members...thanks for your
ongoing and untiring support and know that we know that 'you're the best'.
Cicardi Bruce, Chairman
Rich Pisani, President
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