Mister D: Becca from NYRP contacted me about the Bette “Happy Birthday Fundraiser” in June. I first started promoting it in September until I got sick and had to go into the hospital, then The Bette-Midler Fan Site was kind enough to take over the promotion. So many kudos to them! Anyway, read the directions and give what you can. Thank you!
Thanks for the Art Work Charles Little!
From NYRP:
We are doing a special project again this fall, but not specifically for Bette’s birthday. We’re really excited about it ”“ it’s taking what we did last year one step further. As you remember, last year it was all about surprising Bette by bringing the beauty of our gardens out into the surrounding streets.
And as thrilled as Bette was with the results, she was even more thrilled when she found out that it sparked a much greater chain reaction: when community members saw what we were doing in and around our gardens, they were so excited that they started asking our crew for help with other spaces where they saw potential.
We ended up receiving so many requests that we decided to create a brand new program. We named it “Gardens for the City,” and we’re going to help communities transform open areas into gardens and productive green space by providing NYRP’s resources, from building and plant materials to expertise and labor. For this pilot season, we’ve chose these 5 projects that we hope to complete this fall:
Ӣ A vacant lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, completely overgrown and filled with garbage, stymieing the efforts of a neighborhood working so hard to revitalize itself.
Ӣ A juvenile detention center for 12-17 year-old boys and girls in Brownsville striving to plant the spiritual seeds of hope and rehabilitation that will help these kids find a reason to rise above awful circumstances and make better choices for their lives.
”¢ A low-income housing development in the Bronx with the desire ”“ but not the resources ”“ to provide their residents with a safe and healthy backyard they can take pride in.
Ӣ An elementary school in Brooklyn hoping to reclaim an incredible but run-down and unusable greenhouse and create a space for education in biology, botany and the environment.
Ӣ A psychiatric center in Queens Village working to give patients and their families a space for tranquility amid beds of growing flowers and vegetables.
As you can see, it’s a really wonderful program!
Mister D: And this is where we, The BetteHeads, come in. NYRP has asked us to earmark our donations to this fabulous new program for Bette’s Birthday. And since NYRP is her pride and joy (besides me, of course!) I told them we would help, no probs.
You can donate any amount starting with a minimum of $10.00. It’s also worthy to know that $35.00 will buy you an annual membership to NYRP. Otherwise, the amount you give is totally up to you.
By using a credit card or paypal to make your donation make sure at the end of the process to write in the message box:
Happy Birthday Bette – Bette’s Gardens for the City
That way NYRP Knows to earmark the donation for Bette’s special project.
To make the donation: Click Here
The birthday fundraiser will run up to December 31, 2011, so you have plenty of time. But if I were you I’d get it done so I didn’t have to worry about it.
Love, Mister D
And Something I Find A Tad Immaturish And Appalling At The Same Time, the “HAPPY BIRTHDAY BETTE MIDLER!!! Group” Or Why Do You Have To Pass The Facilitator’s Make Believe Qualifications to Join A Group In Order To Donate Money To Bette’s Charity?
Well, it does seem wrong to discriminate against people if they want to give to Bette’s birthday, but unfortunately this has been the M. O. of this facilitator for as long as I’ve known him. And I’m sure this secret society has a lot to do with me, but it will effect anybody he deems as one of my friends as well. This has been going on for almost 10 years and his paranoia gets worse additional. It would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad. From what I hear from his friends he openly hates me. Hates a strong word to me, so I don’t go there, but my feelings are just kind of neutral.
I think this “new” feud started up when I started doing a birthday fundraiser a few years back. It pissed “J” off because he said I stole his idea (which he hadn’t used in a couple of years), but I really wasn’t thinking of his idea because it had been so long since I had contributed to it. Of course he got some friends of his to write me nasty emails…he’s never man enough to do it himself. Anyway, to give him the benefit of the doubt i called NYRP like an idiot thinking that “j’s” birthday charity was going to be “THE ONE”….boy was I wrong….first, they didn’t know what I was talking about, it wasn’t the first birthday charity, it wasn’t the last, in fact there were hundreds of birthay charities for Ms. Midler….so, in effect, like I thought, not such an original idea.
After thinking this through, who cares how many birthday fundraisers there are? To me, the more the merrier and probably more money for Miss M. That is, unless you’re trying to get noticed! Hmmmmm! Let’s pause and think for a minute….could that be the problem “J”?
The people in the group, you may not like me either, but who wants to stay in a club that discriminates against who can or can not give money to a charity or to be picked through and chosen like cattle?
Mister D
