Save the Philadelphia Irish Center
SAVE THE IRISH CENTER: HELP US CONTINUE
We love it here. It is our community home. It brings people together in the name of all things Irish in Philadelphia. It is costly to run and because of recent additional expenses and the general cost to run the place, we need help from you to ensure we can keep the doors open for another 50 years.
About the HEARTBEAT OF OUR COMMUNITY
Located in the Mount Airy section of Philadelphia, the Irish Center is the heartbeat of the Philadelphia Irish community. Known formally as the Commodore Barry Club, this home of ours is a place to enjoy all things Irish: starting with good company and rounding out with fabulous live music & dancing, rich history, Irish sport, and more.
PRESERVING CULTURE
At the Irish Center, generations of families and friends have been enjoying important (and fun) aspects of Irish culture. The Irish Center is also the home to an impressive and robust historic library, which allows the preservation and exploration of our heritage and ancestry.
LABOR OF LOVE
The people who run the Irish Center do so with their hardworking hands and minds, but mostly with their heart. The building is ripe with rich and old beauty. For more than 50 years, the elegant ball room, with its larger than life dance floor, has provided a platform for thousands of step dancers, jivers, ceili dancers and waltzers. The cozy fireside room with its warm flames and stone hearth, welcoming bar, and dance floor is second to none!
THE PEOPLE ARE THE CENTER
More important than beautiful rooms or the building itself, are the PEOPLE -- the people who dance, who sing, who listen, who watch. Those who volunteer to spruce the place up, those who come in to watch a close Gaelic final, who stop in once a year, or those who stopped in once in their life for an unforgettable event. Those people are the Irish Center Family and that's what makes this place so special!
For those of you who've never been, what we have here is really special. There is a certain magic you can sense by photos and stories. All are welcome to enjoy, so, stop by sometime! There's always something on and it's likely you'll meet a friend (or a cousin) shortly after walking through the doors.
HELP US CONTINUE OUR TRADITIONS at the IRISH CENTER
To continue to operate our beloved Irish Center, we need help from everyone who has ever appreciated what The Irish Center offers, and those who like what they read here.
DONATE TODAY
Each dollar raised will help cover the expenses to run the Irish Center, thus helping us to continue the traditions.
Here's insight to just some of those expenses:
Annual taxes = $16,000
New range hood = $25,000
Regulatory and Insurance Fees = $14,000
Monthly Utilities = $4,000
Yes, you are reading correctly! There is a high cost to running the Irish Center, but no monetary price can be placed on the culture and history that we are preserving and continuing in this special place.
We aim to raise $50,000 this year to get us a head start on our next 50 years.
Hundreds of thousands of people and families who have enjoyed and grown to love our Irish Center. We hope that whatever program or event that brings you there today or whatever Irish Center memory you hold in your heart, inspires you to help us in this serious PLEA for financial support. We are also calling on those who may have been to the center just once, or those who never stepped through the doors, but like what you hear or read about our special place.
Fundraising will continue through September 1, 2014.
Please spread the word. SAVE OUR PHILADELPHIA IRISH CENTER: THE HEARTBEAT OF OUR COMMUNITY