[Dance Spree] Fw: IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Forbes Magazine Spotlights Freedom Center, Celebration Planned for 9/20

[Chaya Grossberg]

--- On Sun, 9/7/08, Oryx Cohen <oryxcohen at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Oryx Cohen <oryxcohen at gmail.com>
> Subject: IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Forbes Magazine Spotlights Freedom Center, Celebration Planned for 9/20
> To: "Oryx Cohen" <oryx at freedom-center.org>
> Date: Sunday, September 7, 2008, 8:14 PM
> Please forward far and wide and consider making a donation
> today!
> 
> FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - September 8, 2008
> 
> FREEDOM CENTER'S "HEALING VOICES" TOP STORY
> ON FORBES.COM
> 
> "Lucky 7" Anniversary Celebration Planned
> 
> Media Contacts:
> Oryx Cohen: 413.561.3269
> PJ Moynihan: 413.265.9833
> Chaya Grossberg: 917.974.1876
> 
> NORTHAMPTON, MA:  Forbes, a leading international business
> magazine, has
> chosen the Northampton, MA based Freedom Center, an
> alternative mental
> health organization run by and for people diagnosed with
> psychiatric
> disorders, to be featured as their charity of the month in
> September.  From
> August 29th through the end of September, Forbes is
> highlighting the Freedom
> Center's work through its website, www.forbes.com. 
> Included in Forbes'
> "Philanthropic Pitch" campaign to support Freedom
> Center is a five-minute
> video along with a written story called "Healing
> Voices" about one of
> Freedom Center's Co-Founders, Will Hall.  For the first
> four days of the
> release, "Healing Voices" was the top rated story
> on the Forbes website, and
> it has consistently remained in the top ten since.  To
> access the "Healing
> Voices" story and video, you can visit
> www.freedom-center.org and follow the
> direct link to Forbes.
> 
> To celebrate the honor of being recognized by Forbes, and
> its seven-year
> anniversary, Freedom Center will host a special event to
> screen the video at
> its "Lucky 7 Psychosocial" party on September
> 20th at 6 pm, at the World War
> II Club, 50 Conz St., Northampton, MA.  The celebration
> will also include a
> hula-hooping performance by the Noho Hooperstars, live
> music by "Bucket
> Benny," and a dance party hosted by DJ Black Angus
> until midnight.
> Screening of the short film will begin at 7pm.  There will
> be a cash bar,
> and the event will be catered by the Alternative Food
> Company.  Suggested
> donations are $10 at the door, however nobody will be
> turned away for a lack
> of funds.
> 
> "Forbes contacted me a few years ago for an article on
> alternatives to
> anti-depressant medications," said Freedom Center
> co-founder Will Hall.  He
> said the Forbes editor was so moved by the story of the
> Freedom Center that
> the group was chosen for this special fundraising
> opportunity via the Forbes
> website.
> 
> Local filmmaker PJ Moynihan, of Digital Eyes Film, produced
> the 5-minute
> Freedom Center video that appears on the Forbes site.
> "I have a personal
> connection with the subject matter," said Moynihan. 
> "This is a tremendous
> opportunity for the Freedom Center story to begin making
> its way out into
> the world as a model for change."
> 
> Mary Clare Higgins, Mayor of the City of Northampton,
> describes Freedom
> Center as "a valuable option for many of our
> residents. It is a welcome
> addition to services available to citizens of our
> city."
> 
> Freedom Center is currently funded solely by individual
> donations and small
> grants, which include monies from Resist, Inc. and the City
> of Northampton's
> Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG).  "It
> demonstrates how a
> small group of dedicated folks can initiate change as well
> as a whole new
> way of seeing and doing things," says Northampton CDBG
> Administrator,
> Michael T. Owens.
> 
> Freedom Center is a volunteer, peer-run group that supports
> informed choice
> and self-determination regarding medication, other
> psychiatric treatments,
> and holistic alternatives.  Freedom Center incorporates a
> Harm Reduction
> philosophy and supports people's choices in their own
> mental health recovery
> and in their own lives. Freedom Center offers yoga,
> acupuncture, writing
> groups, support groups, educational events and volunteer
> advocates for
> rights protection.  Freedom Center is volunteer-run and
> offers all its
> services for free. Donations are tax-deductible and can be
> made to Freedom
> Center/CHOICES and mailed to P.O. Box 623, Northampton, MA
> 01061.
> 
> Forbes.com is the single largest economic portal on the
> Internet, with an
> estimated 15 million visitors per month.  Initiated by
> Forbes Senior Editor,
> Richard Morais, the Philanthropic Pitch is a unique feature
> that, each
> month, promotes a charity in an effort to encourage
> philanthropic giving.
> The Freedom Center Philanthropic Pitch will be featured for
> the month of
> September, after which it will be archived at Forbes.com.
> - - -