Dear Friends,

My name is Steve Hauck and I am the owner of the Latte Café on 5th Street. I would like to invite any and all faculty, parents, students, groups, clubs, etc. who are interested in raising money to help fund children’s programs within the Gonzales community to participate in a very rare fundraising opportunity. In this very tough economic time, I have chosen to partner with the community in which I do business. I am offering to donate all profits generated at the Latte Café until March 21, 2011, to the Gonzales Rotary Club. The funds will then go directly to various children’s programs within the community. I will continue to run my business as efficiently as possible and make every effort to ensure the success of this fundraiser. I will not take any pay during this offer. In order to maximize the profits, I encourage all who are interested to get involved as soon as possible. This offer will end on March 21, 2011. To further encourage the continued support of the citizens and leaders of the Gonzales community, I will continue to donate 20% of the gross profit from the Latte Café to the Gonzales Rotary, for the same purpose, for as long as I own the business. The funds will be collected and issued to the Gonzales Rotary on a quarterly basis. The Rotary will in turn issue the funds to the chosen programs. This will include and not be limited to: sports, academic, arts, science, music, other. Since time is of the essence, I suggest creating wish lists within your departments, programs, etc. This will help generate interest and momentum among all groups within the greater Gonzales community.

The Latte Café is very capable of generating tens of thousands of dollars for the children of Gonzales over the next year, and in the years to come. All that is required is to encourage as many folks as possible to dine at the Latte Café. Ways we can generate support may include:

1. Sports teams and families dining before and after the game
2. Student art exhibits
3. Both student and professional music performances
4. Hosting other fund raisers
5. Hosting sports team sign-ups
6. Parking lot fairs, shows, and festivals
7. Volunteer book reading hours for the little kids during the day (could be ESL related material?). This would also give parents a gathering place to talk over food or beverage while their kids are preoccupied with the book reading. Win-win. Kids would be offered a small snack for participation.
8. Movie night
9. Pro athlete autograph days (a friend of mine is a former Raider and has offered to come down along with a few other former players)
10. LEADERSHIP CLUBS – notify members and make and place banners in locations with the greatest visibility both on campus and within the community.
11. BOOSTER CLUB – notify members about the fundraiser and sponsor and promote patronizing the Latte Café in support of the fundraiser.
12. ATHLETIC DIRECTOR – encourage pre- and post-game activities among all sports teams.
13. ART & MUSIC DEPARTMENTS – coordinate art exhibits on the walls of the Café, and encourage and organize live music shows performed by the students.
14. PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENTS – encourage all schools to make morning public announcements regarding the promotion and success of the fundraising effort. Encourage all schools to periodically include information about the fundraiser and any upcoming activities hosted by the Latte Café in any take-home flyers distributed for the parents. Make periodic phone calls to the families of students in the district to notify and remind them of the fundraiser as well as any upcoming student activities hosted by the Latte Café.
15. AFTER SCHOOL STUDY AND TUTOR PROGRAMS – promote after-school student study programs. Encourage college bound students to volunteer and offer tutoring at the Cafe. Let students know that there is free wi-fi at the Café.

I plan on redecorating the interior. I am also working with the city regarding fundraiser signage and the placement of fundraising awareness banners. I would like to include student/faculty/parent participation in the interior decorating as well as banner creation. I am open to suggestions as far as which students or faculty might be available to help with this project. Perhaps a club (spirit, leadership, art) will be interested? I will provide my business as a means to benefit the children of the Gonzales community. I will continue to provide food and beverages of the highest standard at the lowest price possible. I am open to suggestion about running incentive specials for particular days or times of day to help welcome whole community participation. I may add menu items as necessary or by popular demand, and I am open to suggestions about that as well. I have mentioned this idea to a friend at NBC Bay Area, and she really liked the story and will produce it. She has said that it is genius because it creates a win-win situation for everyone involved. I am fairly certain that if we get television coverage in the Bay Area, it should spill over into the South Valley too. She added that it is not a story until the first check is written and can be shown to have gone toward a good cause. This is a reasonable request. It makes sense that the sooner we can write this check, the sooner we get exposure to the traffic on HWY 101 coming from the Bay Area through television coverage.

We need the support of the community to make this proposed partnership a success. Our combined efforts can and will produce tens of thousands of dollars for the children of Gonzales if we all get behind this fundraising effort. If we can build this partnership together as a community, the community will see the direct benefit—not just in the short term, but for years to come. Our Community is Our Strength.

Sincerely yours, Steven A. Hauck Owner Latte Café