Fashion and Food Featured at SoMi Talk of the Town Rooftop Party #Parks #MIami-Dade

(MIAMI, November 1, 2011) – South Miami’s favorite fashion boutiques and restaurants are coming together all in one location for another rooftop party – SoMi Talk of the Town, showcasing great food and fine fashion, benefiting the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade and the Million Trees Miami Project. SoMi Talk of the Town will be on Saturday, November 19, from 6:30 p.m. – 11 p.m. on the rooftop deck of the parking garage, located at 5829 SW 73 Street (above RA Sushi and across from Bougainvillea’s). Click here to go to the event on Facebook. 

Guests will enjoy live music by popular local bands the Mojo Scoundrels, Cat Shell and the Vibe, sample some of the finest foods from area restaurants, and enjoy a fashion show by local fashion boutiques competing for “Best of” in four categories – SoMi Chill (Casual), SoMi Style (Chic), SoMi Exclusive (Most Unique), and the coveted “SoMi Talk of the Town” award.

Zoo Miami’s very own Ron Magill returns as master of ceremony for the evening.

Advance ticket costs are $30 general admission per person, $50 general admission per couple, and $50 VIP per person for the VIP Package which includes a special seating area and complementary cocktails, in addition to the samplers and beer and wine. To pre-purchase tickets online, please visit www.mdparks.org. There will be an additional surcharge of $10 at the door the night of the event.

Parks Foundation members can receive one free general admission ticket to the event, or a $30 credit towards an upgrade to a VIP ticket, but must RSVP online at www.mdparks.org and enter their membership code to receive their ticket.

“We are excited to host another great evening event after the overwhelming success of the July 9 SoMi Taste of the Town where restaurants competed for the Taste of the Town award,” said Allison Diego, Executive Director of the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade. “This time around the restaurants will be supporting the area merchants that will showcase their latest in fashion and accessories competing for the Talk of the Town award. The evening promises to be bigger and better than the first, and all for a worthwhile cause.”

Sponsors include Big Cheese, Casa Lario’s, Chamber South, Community Newspapers, Fox’s Lounge, Red Sunset Merchants Association, Miami Disc Golf Association, South Miami Hospital, SoMi Magazine, and United HomeCare.

Participating restaurants and retailers include Casa Lario’s and Fox’s Lounge hosting the VIP tent, A Venue Boutique, Aurum Collections, Bougainvillea’s Old Florida Tavern, Cervezas, Co-Sign of the Times, D Find at Sunset, Fresh Beer, Gardner’s Market, Gold Coast Beverage Distributors, Massage Envy, MD Ageless South, Outback Steakhouse, Roaster’s n Toaster’s, Secret Vanity Boutique, Shula’s 347, Si Belle, Sports Grill, Swensen’s, Tastie Treats Café, Teleboro Wireless, The Boston Beer Company, The Irish Times, Wok Master, and more.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade and the Million Trees Miami Project.

About the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade
The Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization supporting the Miami-Dade Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department’s efforts to further develop Miami-Dade County’s world-class parks system for residents and visitors. Its mission is to create a healthier, more livable and sustainable Miami community by ensuring the implementation of the Parks Open Space Master Plan and the development of year-round park and recreation programs for local children, adults and people with disabilities.

Monies raised through membership and fundraising efforts help fund: scholarships for disadvantaged children to attend after-school and summer camp programs; recreational and community programs, such as disability services and health and wellness initiatives for people of all ages; and Parks Open Space Master Plan initiatives, such as the development of trailways, bikeways and safe access to parks and open spaces throughout Miami. For more information on the Parks Foundation, please visit www.parksfoundationofmiami-dade.com.

About Million Trees Miami Project
Million Trees Miami Project Campaign is a community-wide effort to plant one million trees by 2020 in order to achieve a thirty-percent tree canopy cover for Miami-Dade County. The campaign was developed by the Miami-Dade Community Image Advisory Board and was born of the idea that a healthy and sustainable urban forest provides significant social, economic, and environmental benefits that foster a high-quality, livable, vibrant, and beautiful community. In order to reach our urban tree canopy goal of 30%, everyone needs to participate.

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Why support the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade?

March 4, 2011 

Dear Friends of Our Parks, 

Every great community has a great park system: Boston, Chicago, New York, Seattle and Miami-Dade. We are lucky to have one of the most unique and diverse park and recreation systems in the world and I would like to share some of those features that make ours unique: 

The accredited Miami-Dade Park & Recreation Department is the third largest county park system in the country: 263 parks; 12,848 acres of land; serving 2.5 million residents; and 10 million annual visitors. The quality of its facilities, programs and services have been recognized with the NRPA's National Gold Medal Award and the Florida Governor's Sterling Award for excellence in management and operations. Crandon and Haulover parks and their beaches, Greynolds and Amelia Earhart parks, Zoo Miami, the Miami-Dade County Auditorium, and Deering Estate at Cutler are just a few of Miami's gems comprising this impressive system. 

The Parks Department is improving the quality of life in Miami-Dade, transforming it into a more livable, enjoyable and sustainable place to live. Parks play a vital role in the community's health, environment, social well-being, and economic prosperity, daily. Everyone has a memory of a great experience in a park from the last family picnic to the "big game" that created bragging rights, and even the good times spent at the beach building sand castles. 

Here are some of the ways our parks and recreational programs are essential to this community: 

Health and Social Benefits for Kids and Adults: Over the last two decades overweight adolescence nationwide has doubled according to the Center for Disease Control (Miami Herald, Feb. 2, 2010). According to research by the Miami-Dade County Children's Trust, local students trail the nation in physical exercise. The Parks Department aggressively addresses this problem, offering its Fit To Play Program, after school and in summer at 50 recreation centers throughout the county, that teaches kids about healthy nutrition and gets them physically active. We create healthy habits. 

While working parents aren't home to supervise their kids, Miami-Dade Parks programs provide juveniles with fun, wholesome activities to participate in during the critical 3-6 p.m. hours, when school-age kids are most likely to commit or be victimized by crime; to smoke, drink or use drugs; or to get involved in gang-related activity. According to the Census Bureau, at least 7 million children go home to an empty house after school, because their communities do not offer affordable out-of-school programs. 

As Marjory Stoneman Douglas properly observed: "Child welfare ought really to cover all sorts of topics, such as better water and sanitation and good roads, and clean streets and public parks and playgrounds". 

Adults need recreation, social interaction and relaxation to counteract the stresses of life and work. All three lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, control weight, anxiety and depression, according to a Curtin University of Australia survey. Benefits are amplified by safe, natural, tranquil settings like parks. 

Economic Benefits: Park and recreation facilities and associated operations in Miami-Dade County are responsible for creating nearly 10,000 jobs annually. Employment associated with park operations is expected to grow to 12,400 jobs by 2017, with 61 percent of those positions created in the private market, as the benefits of having an expanded park network come to fruition and population grows. 

· In 2009, local, state and national parks, including Miami-Dade's, pumped more than $200 million in operating expenditure into the community. This is projected to grow to almost $300 million by 2017. Local businesses from landscaping companies to sporting goods stores, and architectural firms to construction companies, benefit from this investment made in the County's facilities and programs. 

· Investing in residential area parks and open spaces leads to increased neighborhood property values. A recent study of the economic impacts of parks in Philadelphia estimated that there was a 5% increase (5% value multiplier) for homes within 500 feet of parks that were one acre or larger. 

The Parks Department receives 3.51% of the County budget and spends the majority funding local jobs and providing services to residents. 

Stay tuned for more important information about your Park System. Meanwhile, go to our website to learn more about all of these great activities and more at miamidade.gov/parks. We guarantee you'll find something fun and exciting to experience and explore.


Please join us for our next "Come out for Play" social and fundraiser. Click here to visit the invitation on Facebook. 

Warmest regards, 

Jorge Luis Lopez

Founding Chairman

The Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade 


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About the Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade!

The Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade is a 501(c)3 organization which supports the Miami-Dade Park and Recreation Department and its mission to help build a world-class parks system for Miami-Dade County residents and visitors, by creating a healthier, more livable and sustainable community by supporting the Open Space Master Plan vision and principles and year-round local park and recreation programs.

Monies raised through membership and fundraising efforts help fund scholarships for disadvantaged children to attend after-school and summer camp programs; recreational and community programs, such as disability services, and health and wellness initiatives for people of all ages, from the very young to senior citizens; and Open Space Master Plan initiatives, such as the development of Trailways, Bikeways and safe access to parks and open spaces.

We invite you to support our cause and ensure that parks remain for future generations. The Parks Foundation is reaching out to persons who share the same fundamental values of preserving and promoting parks in Miami-Dade County to become members of the Parks Foundation. Membership opportunities range from $99 individual memberships to Donor Circle memberships priced at $249 for Bronze, $499 for Silver and $749 for Gold memberships. Click here for more information or to purchase your memberships.

Please join the Parks Foundation fan page on Facebook by clicking here.

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