Thursday, April 27, 2006

Men's Rap Group

There is a great and diverse group of guys meeting every Thursday night at The Center Long Beach (aka the gay & lesbian center) at 7:30pm for a men's rap group. According to their web site, they are "a gay and bisexual discussion group that provides a safe place for men to meet, make friends and discuss issues pertinent to the community in a non-threatning environment."

It's a cool way to hear what other people think about various topics and to share your own thoughts. Be sure to connect with them afterwards as they go for coffee after the meeting!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Speak Out Toastmasters

There's a great way for young emerging leaders (as well as anyone else) in our community to develop their public speaking skills at the local Toastmaster's club. It's a really cool club with great friends who are positive and helpful in giving useful feedback on how to improve our communication skills.

They meet every Saturday morning from 10:00 am to 12pm noon at the Long Beach Pride offices on 10th & Obispo. Everyone is welcome there!

Check out the Speak Out Toastmasters web site here!

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Case Statement Completed

I finally finished the Case Statement that I talked about before!

You can read it here!

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Beach Clean Up & Egg Hunt

Every 3rd Friday of the month, Justin Rudd and the Community Action Team organizes a 30 minute beach clean up at Belmont Shore. Today was an awesome time of "affecting" our community as hundreds of people showed up today to pick up trash!

A group of friends of mine from Open Door Ministries (in Long Beach) and Glory Tabernacle Christian Center (aka "The Tab")came out to serve the community together. It was so much fun!

Afterwards, hundreds of kids and adults gathered for an Easter egg hunt on the beach to find about 2,000 plastic eggs filled with candy, coins, dollar bills, tickets, and prizes. Looks like everyone had a blast!

After the beach clean up, we usually go to brunch together at Royal Cup (on 10th & Redondo here in LB) - an awesome coffee shop that serves panini sandwiches (among many other things). It was a great way for everyone to connect after serving the community together. Many of us got to meet new friends and reconnect with old ones.

Friday, April 14, 2006

Operation Easter Basket

Operation Easter Basket is a program of Justin Rudd and the Community Action Team to bring baskets filled with candy, toys, school supplies, and hygiene essentials to hundreds of under-served children in Long Beach. Last year, they provided 750 baskets and this year their goal was to give out 850 baskets. Catalyst sent the word out to all of our friends and together we contributed 97 Easter baskets for children as a part of this operation!

The participating groups in our sphere were:

+Catalyst Long Beach
+Open Door Ministries (Long Beach)
+Glory Tabernacle Christian Center (several cell groups)
+Boeing employees and BEAGLES (Boeing Employee Association for Gays, Lesbians, and Friends) Employee Resource Group
+Boeing's System's Engineering Young Engineers Group (SEYE)
+Several Boeing employees in Irvine
+Crossroads Churches (one house church in a network of house churches)
+Beaumont Mom's Club (Beaumont, CA)

The entire operation was a huge success as individuals, families, and organizations from throughout the community collected a total of 1,100 Easter baskets! See Justin Rudd's web site for a full list of contributors and also a list of which kids received the baskets!

Sunday, April 09, 2006

April Sunday Brunch Bunch

Once a month, Brad Shore organizes a Champagne Brunch on a Sunday to provide an opportunity for people to connect. Today is this month's "Sunday Brunch Bunch"!

According to Brad's April E-Newsletter:

Over Grand-Prix Weekend, give yourself a 3-hour break from the noise, congestion and traffic of the "South Side", and head on over to the "North Side" for Brunch! "North Side" as in Bixby-Knolls, and "Brunch" as in the SBB Champagne-Potluck. Our gathering will be hosted by Brad Duerre & Brad Miyasato on Sunday April 9th from 11:30am to 2:30pm. Come hungry, as you'll have well over 100 choices of hot or cold entree's and/or desserts to dine on...............and come thirsty, with over 100 Champagne bottles being uncorked for Mimosa's and such!

Brad & Brad:

1128 E. Burlinghall Dr.
Long Beach (Bixby Knolls)

Please bring a Potluck entree', plus Champagne and/or the beverage of your choice. If attending please RSVP to Brad Shore at BradPShore@aol.com by April 7th. The "Sunday Brunch Bunch" is an informal, social group open to gay men, women, singles and/or couples. See ya there!

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Case Statement for Support

Well, i've been working on a document called a Case Statement for the organization. It's something that articulates what it is that we're about. It describes the Catalyst vision and mission, programs, and other stuff that will help make the case for why someone might want to support us and help advance the vision. Once this document is done, i'll be able to produce all other materials - brochures, Web site content, letters to donors, grants, and the all important federal application for non-profit status!

Forming a new non-profit organization is both exciting and scary - not to mention costly and laborious. I'm hoping to set the foundation for it in place so that i can share the vision with others and put together a team of people who would do this thing with me! I've already talked to lots of people who are all "in to" this vision for Catalyst.

Earlier this week, I received our first donation check! It's so encouraging to know that people are willing to back what we're trying to do with the needed $$.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

Movie Potluck at Hank's

Here is an opportunity for you to connect!

Hank is a great guy who loves getting friends together to hang out. In so many ways, he is a "catalyst". He's hosting a potluck movie night at his place tonight. Everyone will be bringing some kind of "Texas trailer park" (no offense!) kind of dish - you know, the standard mac & cheese and hot dogs, spam, oreo pudding, bean dip kind of stuff - and we'll all be watching the movie "Sordid Lives" a hilarious Southern movie starring Delta Burke, Olivia Newton-John, and Leslie Jordan. Sounds like a fun theme party and a great way to meet new friends!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Incorporation Day

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women) are created equal . . . .

This is it! April 1st, 2006 marks the official incorporation date for Catalyst Long Beach as a nonprofit public benefit corporation - also known as a nonprofit organization.

We are a grassroots community based organization hoping to catalyze the diverse communities of Long Beach, California - to reinvent the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (GLBTQ) culture here in this city as one that embraces meaningful relationships, community partnership, and resident ownership of the city by promoting healthy social alternatives that lead to trust and friendship, providing leadership development for young adults, and facilitating opportunities of bridge-building, networking, and community service.

Stay tuned as we chronicle our journey!