ACT NEEDS YOUR HELP

Dear Friends and Families,

We are excited to announce that Arlington Children’s Theatre will be celebrating 30 years in 2021! We are grateful to all of you for your support of quality children’s theater over these many years. Live theater is something that we are all missing during this pandemic. We continue to look forward to a future that includes a return to in person youth productions.

I am writing to you now, to ask for your help. Like many small businesses, Arlington Children’s Theatre is suffering from the devastating economic impact of the COVID pandemic. The ACT Board and Interim Artistic Director, Anthony Bruno, are meeting regularly and taking steps to lead ACT through this crisis, into our 30^th year and beyond. While our virtual programming was well attended this summer, and earned rave reviews from participants, we are feeling the loss of our live show registration and performance revenues. We have taken steps to reduce our overhead costs and decrease our operational spending. We have applied for grants and COVID small business loans. We have opened registration for our fall programs, including limited enrollment in person programming, and are planning for the winter season. We are monitoring COVID safety guidelines, and will continue to look for opportunities to provide dynamic theater education and safe in person opportunities for our young ACTors. Despite these efforts, we continue to be concerned about how we will fully meet the organization’s $125,000 annual budget costs.

If you, or your children, have benefitted from ACTs quality programming and dynamic productions, if you have proudly watched your excited children perform on stage, if you have been an enthusiastic audience member supporting live children’s theater, we are asking for your donation. To give you some context for how your money will be used as we stay the course towards our 30^thyear:

$100 will pay for a month of storage to protect the set pieces that enhance your child’s live performances.
$500 will cover the cost of marketing a season of our workshops to ensure that enrollment for the program your child is interested in is full.
$2000 will bring in your child’s favorite director or virtual instructor for one program.
$2500 will ensure that your child’s indoor rehearsal space is protected by covering a month of rent for ACT at Trinity Baptist Church

Almost 30 years ago, Arlington Children’s Theatre began as a place where parents and adult volunteers helped children to create live theater. Prior to the first artistic director, hired in 2012, and for more than half of its history, ACT was a solely parent driven organization. To this day, we depend on the efforts of parents and supporters to ensure the success of the organization. With your donation, together we will ensure that Arlington Children’s Theatre will weather this storm and EMBRACE, ENRICH, EDUCATE, ENTERTAIN, and ENCOURAGE children for the foreseeable future.

Thank you for your support.

Ann Horgan, Board President, Arlington Children’s Theatre