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PUERTO RICAN HERITAGE MONTH KICK-OFF CELEBRATION 
KICK-OFF EVENT
BY INVITATION ONLY

The Comité Noviembre Puerto Rican Heritage Month kick-off event usually takes place each year on the last Thursday of October. At this event, Comité Noviembre honors Puerto Rican community heroes through Lo Mejor de Nuestra Comunidad Awards, unveils its annual poster and distributes its journal calendar of event. This event is free for the community. Over 300 key community and business leaders as well as elected officials attend this very festive, musical and cultural event.

  • Get Adobe ReaderBecome an exclusive Sponsor of the 
    2009 Comité Noviembre 23rd Anniversary Puerto Rican Heritage Kick-Off event.     (Deadline: September 29, 2009)
    Download Sponsorship Package.

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CN ANNUAL GALA BENEFIT 
GALA BENEFIT
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2009
NY HILTON
7PM – COCKTAILS, 8PM – DINNER

The Comité Noviembre Annual Gala Benefit was instituted in 1996 at its tenth anniversary to raise funds for its scholarship awards program. To date the event has continued to attract key leaders of New York’s Puerto Rican community and Corporate America. The annual gala benefit is scheduled each year on or around the second Thursday of November.

Since the inception of this event, the musical entertainment has drawn and generated much excitement beginning with salsa sensations Victor Manuelle in 1996, Tito Nieves in 1997 and 1999, El Gran Combo de Puerto Rico in 1998, George Lamond and Brenda K. Starr in 2000 and most recently Frankie Negron in 2005, Luis Fonsí in 2006, Yolandita Monge in 2007 and Melina León in 2008.

In 2001, because of the tragic event of September 11th, CN decided to hold a luncheon instead of a dinner which continued until 2005 when the event moved back to an evening event with a spectacular gala at the world famous Copacabana.

Over the years, CN has been honored with the presence and support of celebrities like: Actors Rosie Perez and Jennifer Lopez, Danny Rivera, On-air radio personality Polito Vega and many more. The gala has also showcased new talents and ventures. Most notably in 1997, Marc Anthony, Ednita Nazario and Ruben Blades made a special appearance and performed several songs from the Broadway show Capeman. 

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FOURTH ANNUAL COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE
PUERTO RICAN ARTISANS FAIR & EXHIBIT
&
FIRST ANNUAL HEALTH FAIR
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
Eugenio Maria De Hostos Community college
hostos performing arts center
bronx, ny 10AM – 7PM

In keeping with its mission to promote Puerto Rican culture and art as well as to commemorate its 23rd anniversary, Comité Noviembre will be inviting Puerto Rican artisans from Puerto Rico and the United States to participate in its Fourth Annual Puerto Rican Artisans Fair & Exhibit. CN envisions the same festive atmosphere of the fiesta patronales that takes place in each town of Puerto Rico. CN will transform the venue into a typical Puerto Rican plaza with artists, sculptors, vejigante mask makers etc. promoting and selling their wares while typical Puerto Rican food is sold from kiosks and musical acts entertain throughout the day. Workshops for children are being planned, like mask making, the history of the three kings’ celebration, and much more!

CN will work with local media, (print, radio, television), to attract the community to this event. Additionally, the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, el museo del barrio and the Association of Hispanic Arts will outreach to artists on the island and mainland to participate in this event.

  • Get Adobe ReaderBecome an exclusive sponsor of the Fourth Annual Puerto Rican Artisans Fair & Exhibit (Deadline: October 24, 2009)
    Download Sponsorship Package

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FIRST ANNUAL COMITÉ NOVIEMBRE HEALTH FAIR
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2009
Eugenio Maria De Hostos Community college
hostos performing arts center
bronx, ny 10AM – 7PM

The Health component of the Fair was added because of the great number of residents concentrated in the Bronx and neighboring boroughs with chronic diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity. CN board member and health professional Henry Cruz will Chair the Health Fair Committee and was instrumental in the decision to create this Health component.

Since its inception in 2006, the Artisans Fair has boasted an attendance of over 5000 people from the tri-state area with numbers growing steady from year to year. With this proven track record of attracting substantial community participation CN believes that it will be saving lives by adding this Health segment to the Fair.

For the past three years, CN has invited artisans from throughout the US and Puerto Rico to participate in this Fair. The number of participating artisans has increased from 40 to over 60.  Over the years, CN has transformed, Hunter College West Building and the Church of St. Paul the Apostle into a typical Puerto Rican plaza with a fountain, palm trees, piragua and coquito carts and artists, sculptors, vejigante mask makers promoting and selling their wares while musical and cultural acts entertained throughout the day.  Additionally each year, CN conducts workshops for children and adults, like mask making, the history of the three kings’ celebration, Taíno storytelling in order to make sure that our youth learn about our culture. 

This year the Fair will be advertised as an opportunity to kick-off the holiday shopping season and at the same time kick-off the New Year healthy.  As a sponsor of the event you will be able to conduct workshops and screenings for diabetes, high blood pressure, cholesterol and other tests, in Hostos’ state-of-the-arts Nursing Program facilities, distribute educational and preventative information, enroll and/or gather a list of potential customers. This Health Fair is specifically geared to allow you to outreach to this underserved community and market your goods and services. CN will continue to work with local media, (print, radio, television), to continue to attract the community to this event. 

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FIFTEENTH ANNUAL CN DAY OF COMMUNITY SERVICE 
AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
IPRHE UPACA SENIOR CENTER
1940 LEXINGTON AVENUE, EL BARRIO, NY
11AM – 4PM

For the past fourten years, Comité Noviembre has set aside the Sunday before Thanksgiving as a day of community service and social responsibility in commemoration of November 19th, traditionally known as Puerto Rican discovery day or as we like to call it Puerto Rican “encounter” day. During this day people participate in several volunteer efforts that aid the Puerto Rican community and its organizations. The purpose of the day is to show the spirit of commitment and the power of action. 

Over the years, this event has been a great success and organizations throughout the city have benefited from this collaboration, including homeless and battered women’s shelters and senior centers as well as individual families. Through this effort, Comité Noviembre has collected coats, clothing, and toiletries for these organizations. In recent years, CN has conducted a food drive of non-perishable foods to create Thanksgiving dinner baskets for the poor of New York. CN has also worked with local supermarkets and business leaders to provide turkeys to each family. The food baskets are distributed by volunteers the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to needy families. This event will be spearheaded this year by ASPIRA of New York.

  • To volunteer for this event please contact:
    Hector Artiles
    ASPIRA of New York, Inc.
    520 Eighth Avenue, 22nd Floor
    New York, NY 10018
    (212) 564-6880 ext. 115, (212) 564-7152 (fax)

  • Get Adobe ReaderBecome an exclusive sponsor of the Fifteenth Annual Day of Community Service & Social Responsibility 
    Download Sponsorship Package.

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CN COMMEMORATIVE CALENDAR JOURNAL

Comité Noviembre's commemorative journal calendar becomes a collector's item each year because of the articles and historical information that it provides. These essays and articles are published annually in several newspapers ranging from The New York Daily News, El Diario La Prensa, HOY, as well as the San Juan Star and El Nuevo Día in Puerto Rico. The calendar is developed by disseminating a questionnaire to Puerto Rican organizations throughout the tri-state area and other states throughout the country to acquire information about their November activities. The journals are distributed to educational, cultural and community organizations. Over 250 events and activities are sponsored and held by community based organizations, cultural institutions and government officials throughout New York alone. The journal articles are written by community activists, educators, artists and CN members.

Comité Noviembre would like to urge you to plan an event during November in celebration of Puerto Rican Heritage Month’s 23rd anniversary and to keep our theme in mind. This year’s theme: Puertorriqueño… de nuestras raíces nace un pueblo, speaks to the strong foundation of the Puerto Rican community around the world, of our perseverance, ingenuity, pride and achievements.  The theme explores and examines our unique ancestral roots and the very fabric that makes us Puerto Rican.  It calls for us to take ownership of our culture and heritage to promote and protect it.  Everyday as a community, we contribute to the development and success of this city, state and nation. The theme challenges us to learn about our pioneers, feel proud of our history and commit ourselves to promote and teach others about our culture, traditions, heroes and the great contributions Puerto Ricans have made to this country. If you have already planned an activity for this occasion, we would like to include it in the Puerto Rican Heritage Month Calendar of Events.

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