Thus, I think it is important to change the meaning of the ‘A’ in CAFE.

Last night at the Chat-n-Chew we discussed the CAFE a bit and I was asked what the hardest part for Simone has been in coordinating all of our previous dinners.  My impression has been that it has been difficult to find presenters that want to compete for the money.  A couple of the people in attendance at the Chat-n-Chew said the reason they have heard people give them for not presenting is that they didn’t feel what they were doing was artistic enough.  No amount of convincing would change their mind and thus they steadfastly refused to submit their project to present.
That’s  a shame because some of those projects probably could have won.  Even if they hadn’t they would have benefited from the exposure that comes from presenting at CAFE and from meeting other creative (not necessarily artistic) people.

I really think we need to change the ‘A’ in CAFE.
So I’m changing it.

After talking with Simone we’ve settled on “ACTION”  so it is now  Creative Action Funding Endeavor.
Therefore if you have a project or an idea that you think is just a little bit creative but not artistic at all don’t fear submitting it for a chance to win a CAFE Grant – you’re eligible and we want to help you make your project a success!

We never have one in November due to conflicts with Thanksgiving. We also don’t have one at the end of December due to Christmas. Thus we have a special Holiday CAFE in early December. We hope to see you there!

It will be in the Downtown Library December 4th at 6pm.

Project Importance:
The RHFC provides a unique perspective to community and economic development in northeastern Kentucky. Having an office space is crucial to the growth of the RHFC. The RHFC is creating some of the first programs of its kind in the region; programs that include, school gardens, local food conferences, and summer concert series. The success of an office space starts the success in growth as an organization.

How Money Will Be Used:
Sought out funding includes investment in office supplies, a sign, office furniture, and supply stands for a small local music, arts, and crafts gift shop.

3 Month Goal:
The office supplies will assist in grant writing and record keeping and the local gift shop will not only provide some financial support to RHFC, but it will also give community members access to buy local music, art, and crafts. In addition, moving into the Camayo Arcade will make the RHFC more accessible to the community, specifically in terms of fundraising events, donations, and special meetings concerning the RHFC programming.

Project Importance:
FSTC serves the community with musical and non-musical quality amateur children’s theater. Your support would allow us to continue to provide an educational, developmental and nurturing atmosphere that promotes self-image and self-esteem for the children that participate in these programs. This is an enrichment program that helps children of any income or background with developing expertise in acting, singing, dancing, lighting and sound, set design, choreography, stage management, stage production, public speaking, writing and other forms of expression in the performing arts.

Without the support of the community, including parents, schools and patrons of the arts such as Cafe Huntington, there is no way that FSTC could continue to provide such experiences for local children.

How Money Will Be Used:
FSTC would use the proceeds towards production expenses of upcoming performances of Fall 2012 show – Little Mermaid, Jr. FSTC is a non-profit children’s theater open to any child 4-17, regardless of family income. By charging nothing to participating children, FSTC covers production expenses solely through grants, charitable donations and ticket sales.

3 Month Goal:
FSTC is currently advancing the production expenses for the Little Mermaid, Jr. After the months of set-building, costuming and practices, the performances will be held in late October at the Renaissance Center in Huntington, West Virginia. There are 50 children cast, many of whom have no prior experience in children’s theater.

Because there is no participation fee to the children (in order to maintain our mission of universal availability), all costs must be recouped by ticket sales and charitable donation. If FSTC receives the Cafe Huntington grant money, such funds will immediately go towards those expenses being currently incurred.

If you would like to compete for this months grant please apply as only the first five applicants are accepted. Just click on the big “Submit Your Project” box to the right.

This is our second anniversary of starting the events and we’re excited to be back at the park where it all started. Please join us for a beautiful evening in a wonderful park while we celebrate and encourage creative projects in and around Huntington!

We love the Wild Ramp so much that we make a concerted effort to get our dinner ingredients from them if possible. You may not know it but all of the food we serve is provided by volunteers; volunteers who buy the food, cook the food, and then typically buy a ticket to go to the dinner and eat the food and vote on a project. These volunteers could buy their food from anywhere but they try to shop at the Ramp. It’s awesome. Plus, The Wild Ramp tries to make it easier on our volunteers pocketbooks by accepting in store donations of money that can be used toward buying our ingredients. So, the next time you’re in The Wild Ramp please consider dropping a dollar or two into our food fund to help make our future dinners a success.

Speaking of donations. The Wild Ramp is running a cool and creative fund raising campaign to help finish building their shop and getting some key furnishing (such as a produce scale). They are attempting to raise $11,500 via an online fundraiser known as a KickStarter. KickStarter’s are an all or nothing thing; so if they don’t reach a goal of $11,500 in pledged donations they won’t get any of the money pledged (nobody will be charged for their pledge). Thus it’s a pretty audacious effort and it gets everyone who has donated to go out and advocate to get others to donate. They have reached about 30% of their goal so far – but they need more help and we hope you’ll be part of that. We need places like The Wild Ramp to be successful and we really want The Wild Ramp, specifically, to succeed. So please take a moment and visit their page and donate however much you can. Not only will you be helping The Wild Ramp, you’ll be helping us continue to provide tasty and healthy dinners, and you’ll get a cool thank you gift from The Wild Ramp if they reach their goal.

The Wild Ramp is located at Heritage Station (210 11th Street, aka Veterans Memorial Blvd, Suite 13) in the lower level.  If you have accessibility issues you can call in advance and they will bring food up the stairs for you to choose from.  Their phone number is 304-523-7267 (RAMP).

Project Importance:
Without a POS system, tracking inventory will be cumbersome, time-consuming, and possibly even at times inaccurate. For the store to succeed, volunteer labor is essential -due to the purpose of our proceeds to the Nicaraguan orphanage. A POS system will not only make sure we are using the monies we have raised efficiently, but also that we maintain accurate inventory and run a better business, not to mention aiding the staff of volunteers in simplifying transactions.

How Money Will Be Used:
To purchase a point-of-sale (POS) system

3 Month Goal:
We hope to open October 13, and the first three months are the most critical of the year. Fourth quarter and holiday shopping are often the “make-it-or-break-it” time in retail. It is essential we hit the ground running and not lose time keying in a multitude of numbers–especially when a computer and bar code scanner cuts that work easily in half.

How I Heard About Cafe Huntington:
A friend from church owns Bottle & Wedge, and he alerted me!

Project Importance:
FSTC serves the community with musical and non-musical quality amateur children’s theater. Your support would allow us to continue to provide an educational, developmental and nurturing atmosphere that promotes self-image and self-esteem for the children that participate in these programs. This is an enrichment program that helps children of any income or background with developing expertise in acting, singing, dancing, lighting and sound, set design, choreography, stage management, stage production, public speaking, writing and other forms of expression in the performing arts.

Without the support of the community, including parents, schools and patrons of the arts such as Cafe Huntington, there is no way that FSTC could continue to provide such experiences for local children.

How Money Will Be Used:
FSTC would use the proceeds towards production expenses of upcoming performances of Fall 2012 show – Little Mermaid, Jr. FSTC is a non-profit children’s theater open to any child 4-17, regardless of family income. By charging nothing to participating children, FSTC covers production expenses solely through grants, charitable donations and ticket sales.

3 Month Goal:
FSTC is currently advancing the production expenses for the Little Mermaid, Jr. After the months of set-building, costuming and practices, the performances will be held in late October at the Renaissance Center in Huntington, West Virginia. There are 50 children cast, many of whom have no prior experience in children’s theater.

Because there is no participation fee to the children (in order to maintain our mission of universal availability), all costs must be recouped by ticket sales and charitable donation. If FSTC receives the Cafe Huntington grant money, such funds will immediately go towards those expenses being currently incurred.

Project Importance:
I believe this project is important because we are in the beginning stages of creating an event in Huntington that has the potential to grow into something quite large. It all depends on how the festival is received in it’s founding years to see if we can grow it into the size we see it becoming in the future. That’s why these first few years are crucial and I’m very happy with how they have gone so far. Events such as this one in other cities can draw in 10 to 30,000 people for a weekend. So with continued support we can make Huntington Music & Arts Festival another great staple of Huntington.

How Money Will Be Used:
There are many costs that go into a festival of this size such as rental fees, insurance, Police officers, other security, and sound reinforcement. As well as all the advertising needed to make sure the word gets out including radio, posters, handbills and fliers..etc. This money will also help with providing food, drinks, and t-shirts to bands and volunteers for the festival. As one can see there are many expenses to an event like this so whatever part of the festival the grant would go towards would be greatly helpful.

3 Month Goal:
The grant money will greatly assist the funding aspects of the festival in the final countdown to the date, as well as all post expenses. We are planning on releasing a DVD with different clips of the prior festivals. So this will be an ongoing event after the festival date has passed. Obvious costs are people to do the actual video recording and editing. Then there are the production costs of obtaining the physical copies. We really hope to make the DVD this year to give patrons a great keepsake and to give people who couldn’t make it a way to experience the festival themselves.

Learn more at http://hmafestival.com/blog/