Dan Sinker is Twitter's @MayorEmanuel

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The following is a message from Young Chicago Authors that ChicagoPoetry.com received by email.

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Young Chicago Authors thanks Dan Sinker, Mayor-Elect Emanuel

CHICAGO, IL - March 3rd, 2011 - Young Chicago Authors (YCA) wishes to thank Dan Sinker, the person behind the @MayorEmanuel twitter account, who has chosen YCA as the recipient of a $5,000 charitable donation from Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel. In addition, YCA thanks Causes.com who matched the contribution and WLS 890 AM hosts Roe Conn and Richard Roeper who added $1,000 each.

"Young Chicago Authors would like to thank Rahm Emanuel, Dan Sinker, Causes.com, Roe Conn and Richard Roeper for their generous donations. As we celebrate our 20th year of serving youth from all over the Chicago area, this gift will help us to continue our mission of transforming the lives of young people by cultivating their voices through writing, publication, and performance education," expressed Debbi Welch, President of the Young Chicago Authors Board of Directors.

During the course of 2010-11 mayoral campaign, Dan Sinker, an associate professor at Columbia College, humorously put up tweets posing as @MayorEmanuel. These tweets gained national notoriety for their profanity-laced take on several events surrounding the campaign. Those following the tweets included Emanuel, who promised to donate $5,000 to the charity of the tweeter's choice if he or she revealed who they were.

On Wednesday, March 2nd Sinker and Emanuel met on The Roe Conn Show with Richard Roeper on WLS - 890 AM. Sinker announced that he had chosen Young Chicago Authors as the recipient of the donation. Emanuel praised the decision because Sinker was helping kids "find their voice." Sinker also had high praise for the organization mentioning it's Louder Than A Bomb poetry festival, Saturday Writing Program and "Say What" Magazine which had featured Sinker years ago. Later in the conversation, the Mayor-Elect noted that he had attended Louder Than A Bomb. In fact, he can be seen in the audience of 2008 festival which was recently chronicled in the "Louder Than A Bomb" documentary film.

"As the proud mother of two YCA graduates and now as the board's president, I can attest to the tremendous impact and importance this program can have on young people's lives. Our organization is glad that Dan Sinker, Rahm Emanuel, Causes.com, Roe Conn and Richard Roeper feel the same. If you are interested in finding out more about our organization, we encourage you to visit our website youngchicagoauthors.org or call us at 773-486-4331. Also, please consider making a donation yourself."

Young Chicago Authors transforms the lives of young people by cultivating their voices through writing, publication, and performance education.