A Fundraising Appeal from B4U-ACT

Season's Greetings, GC,

You've probably already detected the "'Tis the Season to Patronize Struggling Non-Profit Organizations" tone of this e-mail, but we thought copping to these intentions up front (versus stringing you along with holiday niceties, then bludgeoning you in the final paragraph with the collectors' plate) might improve your chances of reading clear through this appeal with enough charitable intent left over to go diving for spare change.

A brief summary of some of B4U-ACT's accomplishments:

For seven years, B4U-ACT has served as a gateway to the minor-attracted community, providing mental health professionals annual opportunities to workshop face-to-face with these (understandably reclusive) individuals about how to overcome the social and therapeutic barriers to receiving MAPs with compassion. For many minor-attracted attendees, these workshops marked inaugural opportunities to function completely as themselves in mixed company and speak openly to those in a position to help them lead productive, self-actualized lives, while the many clinicians in attendance who'd previously considered the "law-abiding pedophile" a contradiction in terms were afforded fresh perspectives by direct interaction with minor-attracted people.

Shortly after co-founder Michael Melsheimer's passing in June 2010, in the wake of major state funding cutbacks, B4U-ACT joined the endangered species list. For the past year and a half, the organization has subsisted almost exclusively on hand-outs from a few volunteers and supporters...not that B4U-ACT hasn't continued to set precedents:

Shortly before Michael's death, B4U-ACT secured a conference call with the APA-appointed subworkgroup charged with revising DSM's definition of "Pedophilia," to discuss the potential impact of such revisions on the well-being of minor-attracted people. In August 2011, B4U-ACT hosted its first research-oriented symposium -- headlined by Dr. Fred Berlin of the National Institute for the Study, Prevention, and Treatment of Sexual Trauma, and featuring presenters from Harvard University, UT Southwestern Medical Center, University of Louisville, Beth Israel Medical Center, among others -- to discuss issues surrounding the subworkgroup's proposed revisions to this entry. The symposium garnered praise from most of those in attendance, one of whom called on B4U-ACT to help recruit MAPs for a new study comprised of non-forensic research subjects. Within the past year, B4U-ACT conducted two surveys on the complexities minor-attracted people face seeking mental health care, receiving almost 400 [at times painfully] candid responses from self-identified MAPs committed to leading conscientious lives, a sample virtually invisible to the scientific community and general public. B4U-ACT volunteers have also spoken to graduate-level classes in clinical psychology and human sexuality, putting a human face on minor-attraction. Not bad, if I may say so, for an organization on the verge of extinction.

B4U-ACT is currently overhauling its website to better cater to its ever-expanding network of researchers, journalists, and mental health professionals. Meanwhile, as our online peer support group continues to amass MAPs with little where else to turn, a flurry of inquiries from friends and family members of MAPs has B4U-ACT scrambling to broaden its support services to include them.

It may come as a surprise to you that advocating for arguably the most stigmatized minority on the planet tends not to elicit widespread public support (who knew?). B4U-ACT volunteers frequently marvel at the uncommon thinkers who've bravely stepped forward to declare B4U-ACT a worthy cause. As we dip into our hollow pockets to prepare for our Spring 2012 workshop, we implore our supporters to help sustain our momentum with a tax-deductible donation. The unprecedented dialogs between the mental health and minor-attracted communities launched 8 years ago by Michael Melsheimer are at last taking root in the greater public sphere. What a shame it would be to abandon these timely efforts to shift public perceptions just as the conversation is getting good.

To access B4U-ACT's online collection plate, please visit the link below.

You can also donate the old-fashioned way by making your check payable to B4U-ACT, Inc., and mailing it to:

B4U-ACT, Inc.
P.O. Box 1754
Westminster, MD 21158

Thank you for being progressive forces in the world.

Sincerely,

Paul Christiano, Administrative Assistant

B4U-ACT, Inc.
(443) 244-9920
www.b4uact.org