les pensées insouciantes

Hey all-

B-day coming up, though as I have a wedding the actual weekend of said b-day, I will be marking the occasion a week prior on Saturday, December 5th.

Around 10 PM-ish.

Back room at Lunasa. 126 1st Ave bet 7th St. & St. Mark’s. NYC.

Map: http://bit.ly/7SIjmX

Lunasa’s a chill place. No pretensions.

Come. No big whoop.

Now, here’s the fun part:

Instead of buying me a round or a shot as friends are wont to do, I would very much appreciate if you donated that money to a cause near and dear to me.

For this year’s shebang, please consider giving to Operation Gratitude:

http://www.opgratitude.com

About:

Operation Gratitude seeks to lift troops’ morale, and bring a smile to their faces by sending care packages to service members deployed overseas. Operation Gratitude care packages contain food, toiletries, entertainment items and personal letters of appreciation, all wrapped with good wishes of love and support. Through Collection Drives, Letter Writing Campaigns and Donations of requested items or funds for shipping expenses, Operation Gratitude provides civilians anywhere in America a way to express their respect and appreciation to the men and women of the U.S. military in an active, hands-on manner. Operation Gratitude is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, volunteer corporation, funded entirely by private donations.

Since 2003, Operation Gratitude has sent nearly 500,000 care packages overseas.

FIVE. HUNDRED. THOUSAND.

It costs just $11 to send a package.  Feel free to give whatever you can.

Be a champ. Drop by the bar. Say hello. Make a contribution.  I’ll be taking a collection the night of.

If you can’t make it, or are as tired of people over the age of 8 feeling compelled to celebrate their birthdays and guilting you into coming out to some fakakta lounge (again, know that Lunasa is not “that” place) and disrupting your Saturday night plans as I am, I understand.

Please consider donating to Operation Gratitude on your own time, then.

Take $11 out of your Black Friday fund.

It’s amazing how powerful a small gesture like this can be.

Donation link here:

http://bit.ly/8gQxj6

More info about the group:

Read the latest appeal and an incredible story about how a beanie baby from a care package saved lives in Iraq here:

http://bit.ly/68QZoq

Watch an interview with the group’s founder, Carolyn Blashek (She’s an absolute STAR), here:

http://bit.ly/2Jkx9S

Thanks in advance.

Hope to see you on the 5th.

-Matt

h/t to @rachelsklar and @sloane for the inspiration.  You’re both rock stars.