Thank you for your interest in making a donation! Please read the following letter to better understand why we need your help and how to make your donation.

Dear Sponsor,

We write to you on behalf of Silvia’s Gymnastics Parents Association with an opportunity for your company to gain free publicity, reach potential new national and international fans while assisting a group of talented USA gymnasts compete in a “once-in-a-lifetime” goodwill competition in South Africa during the Thanksgiving season. 

We are writing to ask you to sponsor members of our gymnastics team with a tax deductible donation. We are a 501(c) (3) organization. Our Federal tax ID number is: 68-0572836. 

Here’s why:  we are trying to raise at least $20,000.00 for the cost of an 11-day trip to Johannesburg, South Africa to compete in the South African Gymnastics Safari.  We are scheduled to depart November 21 and return December 1, 2008.  The cost of airfare for the team members and coaches are preventing us from making our final travel plans.  While in South Africa we will be living with host families, which is a huge cost savings for all of us.  We will be training and competing with some of the best gymnasts in the world represented by South Africa and Russia.   In addition, we will experience the culture and beauty of South Africa by traveling to Sun City, the Lion Park near Lanseria and competing in Pretoria.  Most of our time will be spent training with our new friends from South Africa and Russia as well as rehearsing and participating in press conferences.  The South African Gymnastics Safari is going to be a televised event on SABC’s “Above the Bar” and on E-TV which is a 24-hour news channel.  We are hopeful that one of the national USA television channels or one of the local TV stations will also broadcast the competition upon our return.  You can’t even imagine how excited we are about this incredible opportunity!!!  

The relationship between the South African Gymnastics Team and the coaches from Silvia’s Gymnastics is one based on the love of the sport and the love of the human spirit.  Wessel Ossthuizen, who is the organizer of the South African Gymnastics Safari, along with his daughter Heidi-Marie Oosthuizen herself a South African and African gymnastics champion, came to the assistance of Miss Silvia and her mother Miss Maia during a time of true heartbreak and desperation.  In 1993, six months after Miss Silvia competed in the 1992 Olympics representing her home country of Bulgaria, she broke her neck while training.   Miss Silvia was paralyzed in the accident.  After a series of surgeries, including a fusion done from the back of her neck, she slowly started to walk again.  However, she still required additional surgeries.  After a series of political rejections which included traveling to Paris to see a neurosurgeon, Miss Silvia received an invitation from the Oosthuizen family in South Africa whom she had only met briefly a few years prior.  She was granted a 3-month stay in South Africa and was met with open arms by a family she barely knew.  Miss Silvia walked with a distinct spastic limp and needed the assistance of Miss Maia’s arm for balance.  Her head was slightly forward and there was a knob at the back of her neck.  She possessed no feeling in her hands.  The Oosthuizen Family arranged for Miss Silvia to see one of the top neurosurgeons in South Africa.  The result was an immediate corrective cervical fusion as the disc between the two vertebrae was penetrating her spinal cord.  Through the efforts of Wessel Oosthuizen and his family, he was able to secure sponsors to cover all of Miss Silvia’s medical fees.    Miss Silvia recuperated and recovered at the Ossthuizen home.  Ten weeks after she arrived in South Africa, she and Miss Maia returned home to Bulgaria.  Miss Silvia regained the feeling in her hands and was able to walk unassisted thanks to the kindness and unconditional love of people she barely knew, in particular the Oosthuizen Family, for which she will always be indebted.  

You can understand why it is so important for Miss Silvia to accept the invitation to the South African Gymnastics Safari.  She is proud to showcase the talented gymnasts who are members of the Silvia’s Gymnastics Team and the gymnasts are proud to represent her!   This Goodwill competition will continue next year, as we plan to host our new friends and competitors from Russia and South Africa.  We will certainly let you know when our plans are finalized for next year, so you can join us in welcoming them to the United States.  

This is NOT a traditional fundraising campaign.  We know that no one likes being asked to buy products, so we’re not selling anything.  Your monetary donation no matter how large or small will help us pay for a trip of a lifetime.  Your sponsorship will inspire us to train harder, stronger and with greater confidence knowing that individuals are committed to our success.  

When you send your tax-deductible contribution you will be listed as a sponsor in the program book distributed at the South African Gymnastics Safari.  As a business sponsor, we would be willing to wear your logo on our equipment and/or apparel during our travels.  Additionally, your business name/logo will appear in the sponsor credits featured on the SABC-TV broadcast.   We will also list your name and/or business on the Silvia’s Gymnastics website as another way to express our thanks and gratitude. Upon our return, you will want to view to the website for pictures and highlights of the competition.  

Any amount of contribution is greatly appreciated.  Checks should be made out to:  Silvia’s Gymnastics Parents Association (SGPA).   In the memo, please write South Africa.   We are enclosing a self-addressed envelope for your convenience.  If possible, please send your donation by August 1, 2008 so that we can monitor our fundraising efforts and make plans to pay for our airline tickets. We will issue you a receipt with our tax ID on official letterhead. We will also donate 15% of what we raise to the Jakaranda Kinder Huis School in Pretoria, South Africa. Jakaranda Children's Home has been caring for disadvantaged children since 1987. The main goal is to uplift all traumatized children and fulfill their basic needs such as; security, stability, health care, food, clothing and affection. During the time in South Africa, Silvia’s gymnasts and their parents, plan to visit the Children’s Home and put on a gymnastics demonstration for them. This is our way to give back, especially during the Thanksgiving season in which we will be traveling.

Please use this form and be sure to indicate if you want to have a special message written in the program book and on the website.  Enclose a copy of your logo so we can have embroidered patches made for our competition gym bag or placed on a t-shirt.  

Thank you in advance for your kindness and support.  For further information on Silvia’s Gymnastics, please log onto to: www.silviasgymnastics.com .  Please direct all questions regarding this fundraising campaign to: Annette Lambeth at: alambeth@boyertownasd.org or 484-686-0285.    

Best wishes,
Annette Godfrey Lambeth
Silvia’s Gymnastics Team Travel Coordinator