NFCA To Host Special Olympics Fundraiser Set..

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Thrilled to have Tamburaski Sastav Ponoc to entertain NFCA Event Friday June 2nd CFU headquarters to benefit Special Olympics-Croatia NFCA To Host Special Olympics Fundraiser Set For Friday, June 2nd Wine Tasting Event at the Croatian Fraternal Union Headquarters  Dear Croatian Friends and NFCA Supporters! Hope everyone is well and here’s a few Croatian American meetings and events coming up within the next month and for your immediate attention!   Also, in Chicago at the ACAP meeting, NFCA Board Members Andrea Novak Neumann, Bernadette Luketich-Sikaras, Dr. Steve Pavletic, John Kraljic and myself who will be there to salute about a dozen of the “40 Under 40” winners will be honored at the May 12th Friday gala dinner.   Below is the recent press release and more details about the upcoming Special Olympics fundraiser and the next NFCA annual meeting in Pittsburgh PA! Please let us know if you are a NFCA dues-paying member and want to attend this Pittsburgh meeting as an at-large delegate.   You are invited to a special music and wine tasting event on Friday, June 2nd to benefit the wonderful Special Olympics organization in Croatia. The welcoming reception for the National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation (NFCA) and co-hosted by the Croatian Fraternal Union (CFU) is set for 7-9 pm at the CFU Headquarters in Monroeville PA and will feature beautiful Croatian music and Croatian wines to include Posip, Grasevina, Malvazija, Babic and Plavac Mali.   Tamburaški Sastav Ponoć, or TS Ponoć for short, plays a wide variety of music from Eastern Europe and mainly focus on music from Croatia and BiH. From traditional bećar songs to modern pop, love ballads to furious instrumentals, TS Ponoć with band members, Peter Kosovec, John Huckle, Mark Stafura, Ben Wagner, Nikola Vranesevic will truly entertain you and lift your spirits and all for a good cause. It so happens band member Peter Kosovec was one of the recently honored “40 Under 40” rising  stars chosen by the NFCA to highlight younger Croatian Americans making their mark within the Croatian community and as role models within American society or the professional world within the USA! There will a tribute to several other “40 Under 40” winners in attendance on Friday night.    For your information, the Special Olympics in Croatia, with forty affiliated chapters brings fifteen different sports to 1,300 Croatians with intellectual disabilities.  As Eunice Kennedy Shriver succeeded in creating a worldwide organization that has grown over the years and is now in over 150 countries.  It has created opportunities in sports for so many individuals excluded before and it is all about fun participation. The one very popular Special Olympics quote goes, “Let me win. But if I can not win, let me brave in the attempt."   The tickets are $25 per person and again all the proceeds will benefit the Special Olympics organization in Croatia. There will be light snacks, cheese, crackers, soft drinks and cookies besides the fine Croatian wine. Please RSVP to Bill Vergot at billvergot@hotmail.com or Steve Rukavina at sjrukavina@gmail.com and all attendees can pay at the door and with any checks made out to the NFCA CF.   The National Federation of Croatian Americans will be holding its 24th Annual Assembly of Delegates with a private Board of Directors and Delegates meeting from 8:30 am to noon on Saturday, June 3rd at the CFU facility.  For all local Croatian Americans in the Pittsburgh area, there will be a NFCA public session in the cafeteria from 1:00 to 4:30 pm that afternoon with specials guests from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. There will be a serious focus on the challenges facing the Bosnian Croat community in BiH and the Washington, DC activities of the NFCA to be an advocate for the BH Croat community. All NFCA dues-paying members are eligible to apply to be an at-large delegate at the annual meeting.   Mark your calendars and the event again is 7 pm to 9 pm, you don’t want to miss this outstanding Croatian musical fundraiser on June 2nd. Thanks and all the best, Steve Rukavina President National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation (NFCA) email: sjrukavina@gmail.com www.nfcacf.org Twitter  @StevenRuksj PS. For those last minute Chicago leaning registrants, here's the link to the ACAP meeting:  www.croampro.com and the web site to register! Give Today to the NFCACF The Croatian Embassy in the US held a reception to welcome Peter Galbraith, the first United States Ambassador to Croatia from 1993 to 1998.  NFCA Treasurer Eric Gregrich, NFCA’s First President Ed Damich, George Huff, U.S. Ambassador Peter Galbraith and NFCA Member Tom Steich shown here with Croatian Ambassador Josko Paro.

The Mission of the National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation: The National Federation of Croatian Americans Cultural Foundation (NFCA) is a non profit 501 (c) (3) organization dedicated to promoting the interests of the Croatian American community and embodying the heritage of culture and language, integrity in human rights and equality in self-determination, advancing economic development, democracy and freedom from persecution for Croatians especially, in the Republic of Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  The NFCA is dedicated  to promoting the interests of the Croatian people and to enhance the relations between the United States and Croatia through educational advocacy, public policy and political projects and overall media relations. It is a national umbrella organization established in 1993 for Croatian Americans, representing individuals and related professional associations, national groups, metropolitan groups and even fraternal lodges that collectively represent approximately 90,000 members.