Request for Sponsorship: Elephant Parade London 2010 / May 3^rd- June 30th 

          In November of 2009, I was selected to be an artist in the Elephant Parade London 2010, a charity event for the endangered Asian Elephant, and the largest art exhibit in the history of London, England.  www.elephantparadelondon.org

          I am one of six Americans in the show of over 250 international artists and designers. The other five American artists and designers are: Tommy Hilfiger, Alberta Ferretti, Diane von Furstenburg, Issac Mizrahi, and Bruce Weber.

          I am a Middle School Art Teacher, teaching 6^th, 7^th and 8^th grade Art at Gainesville Middle School in Gainesville, Georgia.  I am also an Artist and have exhibited in local Art Shows (paintings and sculptures). The Elephant Parade is my largest show and artistic accomplishment. 

When I was selected I was informed of the fee to participate: 4000 British Pounds = $6400.00.   My wife and I arranged a fund raiser and contacted as many people we knew to help us participate in this charity event.  We ultimately decided to take a loan to cover costs involved, as we did not reach the amount in the timeframe required.

In December of 2009 I flew to London to paint my fiberglass elephant.  I painted 10 hours a day for 7 days, 70 hours total to complete my design entry. My Elephant will be in a great location in London: London Eye, the giant Ferris wheel on the River Thames across from Big Ben and Parliament. The London Eye has about 38,000 visitors per day, so we are very excited about our location, and the potential exposure!

On May 3^rd, over 250 fiberglass elephants will be placed across London. An expected 9 MILLION viewers will experience the Elephants, raising awareness of the endangered Asian Elephant.  A selected number of Elephants will be available for purchase as miniatures, sold at Selfridges Department Store in London.  I am happy to report my elephant made the selection and will be offered in 2 sizes: 20 cm and 30 cm. All sales of these miniature elephants will go to the Elephant Family charity.

Finally, on June 30^th, the elephants in the exhibit will be auctioned off by Sotheby’s. The financial goal for the Elephant Parade is to raise over 2 MILLION British Pounds to go to the Charities involved in saving the Asian Elephant. www.elephantfamily.org

Our request is to find a sponsor who would like to help us financially cover some of our expenses, receive acknowledgement from Elephant Parade, attend the Invite only Auction Night, and be known as a key person in saving the Asian Elephant. 

I look forward to hearing from you, and I will answer any questions or concerns you may have.

Very Respectfully,

Mitch Freeman