United Roots Participates in Actual Cafe Bingo Fundraising Series – Every 4th Thursday from 7-9pm

Actual Cafe launches BICYCLE BINGO: a weekly fundraising event benefiting Local Nonprofit Partners including United Roots. Every 4th Thursday, from 7-9pm, all proceeds raised at Bicycle Bingo will benefit United Roots. Please come out and support United Roots’ Bicycle Bingo event on Thursday February 23rd from 7-9pm at Actual Cafe (6334 San Pablo Ave, Oakland, CA 94608).

Actual Cafe is excited to announce the launch of a new fundraising event and party, starting this February. Bicycle Bingo is a weekly bingo game, hosted at Actual Cafe, and benefiting several not-for-profit organizations active in Oakland. The event beneficiary – United Roots – will co-host the event. Sponsors of the event include Trumer Brauerei, New Belgium Brewing, Lagunitas Brewing, and Chinook Book. All ages are welcome, and there is no cover charge for the event.

The event will feature the area’s only bicycle-driven bingo ball machine, and will be MC’ed by local entertainer and charmer, Steffy Sue on the Uke (www.steffysue.com). Bingo cards will be dispensed for a suggested donation of $3 each, 2/$5, or 5/$10. Cards can be played all evening long, so starting early means getting more chances to win on each card. Prizes will be donated by Actual Cafe, sponsoring breweries, Chinook Book, other Golden Gate neighborhood businesses, local bike shops, and more. All bingo card proceeds go directly to the benefiting organizations, along with 10% of the cafe’s revenue for the evening. Event sponsors and other cafe vendors will offer additional donations for certain items sold during the event.

Representatives from each benefiting group will be present at each event, to introduce the organizations to attendees and talk about how their work improves the lives of people in Oakland and the Golden Gate Neighborhood.
Beneficiaries were selected for their relevance to the Golden Gate Neighborhood:
- East Bay Bicycle Coalition (first Thursdays, starting 2/2) advocates for bike lanes and roadway maintenance, holds bicycle safety classes for new urban cyclists, and generally promotes bicycle culture in Oakland and the greater East Bay
- Rebuilding Together Oakland (second Thursdays, starting 2/9) Rebuilding Together Oakland provides free home repairs and safety modifications to economically disadvantaged clients, especially the disabled and older adults. They organize neighborhood-wide maintenance days across Oakland, including in the Golden Gate neighborhood in October 2011. Their office is in the Golden Gate District.
- East Bay College Fund (third Thursdays, starting 2/16) provides College Guidance Services in High School, Scholarships, Mentoring, and Career Development for College Students for underrepresented students from Oakland public schools.
- United Roots (fourth Thursdays, starting 2/23) provides exposure to, support of, and training in arts, design and media for Oakland Youth ages 13-24. They offer youth leadership training, career & workforce development and support many important community campaigns.

“We like games and parties, and we like to support organizations who do good work in our own backyard, so this event is a no-brainer,” says Sal Bednarz, owner of Actual Cafe. “We want to help these organizations find a wider audience, and make it easy and fun for folks to give them some support (and maybe win a prize!).”