“The Police Benevolent Association approached me for a donation,” said Chris from Steel, “and I replied back, 'I can do you one better, I can throw you a benefit and raise you more money.' That's basically how it all came about.” That is how Steel became the first gay nightclub in our area to host an event for the Police Benevolent Association, which will be held on Saturday, August 23rd at 10 pm.
“I think it's going to be great,” Chris added. “We've got over forty sponsors from throughout the community. I'm really excited about it. Both gay and straight have come together for this to raise money for the PBA. The staff is really excited about it also. They're pushing their tickets for the raffle; we are doing that night. They always look forward to the benefits we do here [at Steel]. For whatever organization we choose they always look forward to it. It's always a fun, exciting night for everybody. “
“Russ and I see this as a great opportunity for the gay community to shed the image some would like the world to think of us by raising a large sum of money and showing the compassionate side of us to the officers who risk their lives every day to make sure all of Broward County is as safe as they can make it.“
Hotspots' own DJ Ryan Morales, entertainer Rod Stevens, the South Florida Bondage Club and others will provide entertainment that evening. The theme for the event is “uniform” but, as always, everyone is invited to attend. The entire entry fee and other fundraising throughout the night of the event go to benefit the PBA.
Though this benefit could be described as history making, it's hardly the first benefit held at Steel. “When Jackhammer [their forerunner to Steel] opened its doors seven years ago, we wanted to create a bar for the entire community instead of just a segment,” said Russ. “I've been in the bar industry for nineteen years and Chris has been involved for seventeen years. Another goal of ours was to use our club as a way of giving back to the people who have supported us for so long. All of our fundraisers have been hosted with a 'theme party' to support the benefit.”
Within their first six months of business they did their first benefit for Tuesday's Angels. The theme was “Heartbreak Hotel” and the entire front and inside of the bar was made to look like a hotel. Since then they've done benefits for almost all of the South Florida-based clubs and charities.
When Jackhammer merged with Steel, they decided to move their fund-raising efforts to a higher level by having a large event once every four months. Due to the lack of support by the state and federal government for the needs of our community, they decided to increase their fundraising efforts to one every other month of the year.
“We like to stick to fundraisers where the money goes to a local charity thus keeping the money here in South Florida to benefit our customers in many ways,” said Russ. “Our bar has participated in outside fundraisers as well, such as for the Leather Archives in Chicago and one even held at Elements for Hurricane Katrina victims.”
“We just did one for Broward House on the Fourth of July,” added Chris. “We do a lot for Care Resource. We've done one for Bound South. We've done them for the Winter Party. We've done them for Tuesday's Angels. We've raised a lot of money for the community over the years. A couple of years ago we had planned to do about four a year but it's turning out to be more like one every other month for one organization or another.”
“This year was a little taxing on us, but it's fun and we're glad we're able to pull the community together to raise some kind of money for whatever organization we do it for. Whether it be $2,000 or $5,000 or $50,000, we can honestly say that every little bit helps.”
Chris and Russ have been working with R.J. from the Police Benevolent Association a lot since June and “…he's pulled a lot together in the community for this and the community itself has come together for this,” said Russ. “I hope we raise them a lot of money.”
Steel's next event will be the first Folsom Street Southeast to benefit the AIDS Task Force, to be held the same Saturday as Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.
