Hello, my name is Brian Garita and I am creating this GoFundMe on behalf of Plaza Proletaria, a mass organization based out of Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Plaza is an organization that spans generations, identities, beliefs, and nationalities, and what unites us is our working-class background. Since Plaza was formed in 2021, it has helped dozens of families and hundreds of individuals. In 2021 and 2022, Plaza organized gatherings and assemblies with social and cultural programming in Sunset Park. People from all across the city and the country came to the Plaza, but unfortunately, the Adams administration and the police shut it down in 2023.

Since then, we've had to find private spaces to carry out our programming. Today, our main activity is among the youth. Over the summer, we ran an 8-week program which doubled as childcare and a youth development program. We traversed the city, worked on their reading, writing, and math proficiency, played sports, and much more. During the academic school year, we are carrying out our youth tutoring/mentorship program where we help youth with their classwork, connect with their teachers, and provide special teach-ins on issues in the world and in their local community, as well as workshops on key skills such as public speaking.

Our basic operation costs include rent for the spaces we carry out our programming in, rent for our storage/studio space, and food and drinks for our members and participants. Then there are other costs that can arise such as material for workshops and art building as well as transportation for participants and material. So far, we have been able to sustain ourselves via contributions from members and smaller fundraising actions. However, we collect just enough to maintain the organization's current activity. This fundraiser is an effort to help sustain our youth programming at least until the end of the school year, expand our programming, and find a place Plaza can finally call home.

For other ways to support Plaza Proletaria, follow our Instagram @Plazaproletaria, Facebook: Plaza Proletaria, and TikTok @plazaproletaria. In terms of how we will manage post-GoFundMe, we hope to attain grants for some of the work we do.

Thank you for your consideration.