Save Our Summer, the corporate and foundation reps who have raised $800,000 so far to reopen 16 closed pools and seven recreation centers in the city by mid-June, is holding a Save Our Summer party May 7 at Sanctuary in the Strip District to raise the remaining $50,000 needed for the project.
For "a minimum donation of $10," attendees get free food from Enrico Biscotti, McGinnis Sisters, Atria's, Eat n' Park and Breadworks; prizes from the Pirates and McGinnis; half-price drinks for the party's first two hours and the chance to stay, sans cover, for dancing and free champagne at Sanctuary afterwards.
Near-bankruptcy has its own official cocktail too: the Life Preserver (blue Curacao, Sprite, raspberry vodka and pineapple juice), available for $3 during the S.O.S. event.
The party is sponsored by nearly every young person in the tri-state area, including such charitable and activist groups as GLENDA, Ground Zero, local Junior League and National Association of Women Business Owners chapters, Onyx Alliance, Pittsburgh Cares, Pittsburgh Singles Volunteer Network, PUMP, Pittsburgh Young Professionals, Thursday Night Live and the Coro Center, many of whom work together in the New Pittsburgh Collaborative.
The Collaborative was begun in February, says its president, Kate Whitmore. "This is the first time we've come together for a cause that we believe in," she says, "but hopefully it won't be the last."
