April 2008

TO:  Old and New Friends

FROM:  The Planning Committee of the Ninth Annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, a regional celebration

SUBJECT:  We need your help!

The Ninth Annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival

will be held Saturday, November 22, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

at the Charlotte County Sports Complex

located at 2300 El Jobean Rd/SR 776 in Port Charlotte.

Please help celebrate the splendor of the natural environment of Southwest Florida

by sponsoring, exhibiting, volunteering and promoting this event.

This invitation is available as an easy-to-print PDF file.

Become an exhibitor or vendor by completing the online form.

The Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, a regional celebration, is a family-friendly event where people can learn about topics affecting the natural environment of southwest Florida. This includes our estuaries, native plants and animals, fossils, wildlife rehabilitation, water conservation, marine life and much, much more. This is accomplished through a wide variety of activities for both adults and children, which include guided walks in Tippecanoe Environmental Park, guest speaker presentations, hands-on activities, exhibits and vendors, music, a Children’s Discovery Zone and more. A committee of volunteers, who represent a diverse group of organizations, is dedicated to making this Festival exciting and informative. Admission and parking are both free.

The Festival has had as many as 60 exhibitors and more than 4,000 people attending! From one review of the cars we know visitors traveled from 13 counties in Florida, 17 states and Canada. This special occasion provides exceptional opportunities for environmental education and we need your help to make it a continued success. The Festival has become an indispensable showcase of our region’s activities and it is a great opportunity to spread your message, advertise your business, demonstrate your accomplishments, build your constituency, and sell your creations!

We hope that you will participate in the Ninth Annual Charlotte Harbor Nature Festival, making it bigger and better than ever. Thank you for considering these requests.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: Become a sponsor by completing the online form. The Festival is possible because of the generosity of sponsors and volunteers. The Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program is pleased to again support the Festival as the event’s main sponsor. To cover all festival expenses, $30,000 must be raised.[1] This includes the cost of a benefit added this past year – a tote bag given away to the public. The quantity of tote bags will depend on funds available after other festival expenses are met.

Sponsorship opportunities begin at $100. This year, the Planning Committee hopes to be able to provide everyone who attends the festival with the free tote bag. All sponsors who give $1,000 can give an additional donation of $250 and have their company name added to the bag or can give an additional donation of $500 and have their company logo added. We’re happy to accept sponsorships of all amounts! (Raffle items are considered a separate and additional donation from sponsorship donations.)

Please respond by August 1, 2008, so that you will be included in the early promotional material.

EXHIBITOR/VENDOR: Become an exhibitor or vendor by completing the online form. An exhibitor or vendor can be any type of organization as long as it relates to the natural environment of Southwest Florida. Exhibitors and vendors with information on other topics are not invited to participate. If there is a question on whether your exhibit would be considered acceptable for the festival, please contact Maran Hilgendorf.

Free Space: All exhibitors and vendors receive free space again this year; however, we request that you donate item(s) with a $25 minimum value to the Festival raffle. Exhibitors and vendors who donate items to the raffle will be acknowledged during the raffle. Guidance on how to make these donations will be posted on the website. Final deadline for exhibitors and vendors will be October 30, 2008, space permitting.

Set-Up: Exhibitors and vendors may set up the day of the Festival beginning at 7 a.m. All exhibitors and vendors must be set up no later than 9 a.m. and we require that exhibitors and vendors stay for the entire Festival. Due to stadium renovations, exhibits will not be placed around the stadium concourse. Exhibitors and vendors may bring their own tables, chairs and tents but tents must comply with county requirements.

VOLUNTEERS: As a volunteer you can join the planning committee, help promote the Festival, or volunteer the day before and day of the event.

PROMOTION: We need everyone to help promote the Festival and its goal of educating the public in the stewardship of our natural resources. Your promotion of the Festival may include coverage in your organization newsletter, website or correspondence – or any way that is available to you. The committee would like to recognize vendors who help promote the Festival so please send details to CHNEP.

MORE INFORMATION: The website at www.CHNEP.org includes online forms, additional festival history, the planning committee, promotional material including this letter, sample press releases and other important information. The most up-to-date information about the Festival will always be available on the website. To ease communication for additional event information, participants are encouraged to provide an email address if available.

Please note that there is no rain date. Updates on the status of the festival due to weather conditions will be available by calling 866/835-5785 x 240.

If you wish to talk with someone about the festival, please contact Maran Hilgendorf with the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program (866/835-5785 x 240, mhilgendorf@swfrpc.org)