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Birthday Blow-Out: make connections at Pgh 250 culminating event at Carnegie Science Center

Did someone say semiquincentennial?

This year we've collectively hopped into a time machine to celebrate the city's firsts and favorite daughters, histories and hallowed halls, artists and entrepreneurs, and legends and laborers. This Monday, as we set our sights on 2009, check out 100 projects that helped make the region sing this year, help close out the city's birthday bash and make some new, and lasting, connections of your own.

An ambitious anchor to the city's ongoing birthday bash has been Community Connections, a grassroots initiative that supported projects centered around civic engagement. This Monday, join Community Connections co-chairs—Aradhna Dhanda of Leadership Pittsburgh, Inc., Cathy Lewis Long of The Sprout Fund, and George Miles of WQED Multimedia—for a celebratory year-end event at the Carnegie Science Center that will look at the effort's innovations, accomplishments and next steps.

As part of the anniversary festivities, more than 500 applications for funding were submitted by individuals, community groups and organizations to support projects that celebrated the theme of pride and progress. Guided by a region-wide decision-making process, 100 projects were selected to share $1 million in funding for events and activities that occurred during the 2008 birthday bash.

Showcasing the ambitious projects that took place throughout 14 counties, the event will provide community organizers, artists, friends, and funders alike with the chance to reflect on the year's highlights and challenges, meet some of the makers behind funded projects and recharge the city's collective creative battery. Not-to-be-missed is the event's 251 roll call, a rapid-fire showcase of 15 funded projects that have leveraged Community Connections support to continue their activities beyond 2008. 

The program starts at 3 p.m. and will be followed by a networking reception at 5 p.m. Please R.S.V.P. to CommunityConnections@sproutfund.org or 412-325-0646.

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