Larkin Street's 2009 Paving The Way Gala February 21, 2009

The Paving the Way gala, now in its seventh year, will bring together more than 400 Larkin Street supporters, donors, volunteers and high-profile community leaders in San Francisco who have "paved the way" for Larkin Street since the organization's founding in 1984. The event will celebrate Larkin Street's achievements over the last 25 years in helping thousands of San Francisco's most vulnerable youth ages 12-24 exit street life-while also celebrating the next 25 years of the organization's future plans.

This year, Paving the Way will honor Sen. Dianne Feinstein with the Anne B. Stanton Award for Extraordinary Leadership and Dedication to Bay Area Youth. Sen. Feinstein, who plans to attend the event, was an early supporter of Larkin Street. As Mayor of San Francisco, Sen. Feinstein secured critically important city funding and a federal demonstration grant to enable the organization to begin offering services. She also attended Larkin Street's opening in 1984. In her State of the City address that same year, then-Mayor Feinstein highlighted Larkin Street's initial success in changing the lives of homeless and at-risk youth in San Francisco and urged the city's board of supervisors to approve additional funding to ensure continuation of Larkin Street's innovative programs.

In 2008, Paving the Way raised more than $550,000 in support of Larkin Street's 25 programs including emergency, transitional and permanent housing, outreach, health, education and job assistance services delivered across 13 different sites in San Francisco. This year, Paving the Way organizers hope to cover all the event costs through individual and corporate sponsorships, so that 100 percent of the event's proceeds can support Larkin Street's programs for homeless and at-risk youth.

Individual Ticket: $300. Sponsorships Range from $1,000 to $50,000.

Official Website: http://www.larkinstreetyouth.org/