Opinion Article
Thank You
Thousands of people in the Charlotte community work to make this region a more interesting, prosperous, livable, compassionate and optimistic place for all of us. Thanks to those on these pages for their contributions. They represent many others who are equally deserving of our gratitude in 2008. May their examples inspire us in 2009.
Jen Band and her Playing For Others group
Jen Band is a 20-something theater educator at the Children’s Theatre of Charlotte who three years ago combined her love of the arts, teens and special needs children. The result: Playing for Others, a nonprofit group for middle- and high school students that each year raises money for a designated agency that helps children, with the teens having special-needs “buddies” from the agency. This year it’s Easter Seals/UCP. (The Playing for Others members and their buddies are pictured here, with Band at far right.)
Here’s the key: The teens are learning how nonprofits work. They find corporate sponsors, ask friends and family for money and put on each year’s fund-raising theater and arts event. This year they’ll produce the musical “Honk” in March, and while they’re at it they’ll be absorbing deeper lessons on becoming the community service leaders of tomorrow. As Band puts it, “You’re teaching these teens about changing the world.” To be more accurate, she is.
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PFO “Buddy’s up” WITH DOWN SYNDROME ASSOCIATION OF CHARLOTTE
Playing for Others (PFO) selected the Down Syndrome Association of Charlotte (DSAC) as its beneficiary for 2007-2008. PFO is an organization of more than 50 theatre-minded teens who utilize their creative talents to create change for a local non-profit that directly impacts children. Each year the group partners with a different non-profit organization that serves children with special needs, actively volunteering with the group and raising funds to meet a specific need. Throughout the nine-month program, PFO members will serve as buddies to children with Down syndrome and will raise funds to help the DSAC build an endowment for its summer camp program.
Participating teens are paired with a buddy from the DSAC. The partnership kicked off on a recent Saturday morning with PFO kids and families meeting their DSAC counterparts for a morning of fun and games at Myers Park United Methodist Church. Future activities offer themes of music, art and movement. At the annual DSAC Buddy Walk on October 6 at Freedom Park, the teens provided face painting, puppet theatre and other fun.
“Seeing teenagers give of their time and talent so unselfishly is wonderful,” says Founder Jen Band. “They are seeing the power of the gifts they have to offer and in the process, realizing that it is not about them. And the powerful lesson learned–they have the ability to change lives every day.”
The culmination of the PFO season is a live production of “A Year with Frog and Toad” slated for March 28 and 29 at the Neighborhood Theatre in NODA. These young adults are involved in every phase – raising funds while working on a committee coordinating one aspect of the production. Only PFO participants can audition to be in the show, and everyone plays a role in the final product — from ticket sales to marketing and promotion to coordinating a silent auction. Their goal is to raise $25,000 for the DSAC.
“This program provides an extraordinary opportunity for everyone involved and it’s the depth of the experience that makes it so unique,” notes Mitzi Corrigan, a DSAC parent. “These teens learn to embrace people’s differences – a lesson with lifelong impact, while our kids find joy in being accepted for who they are.”
PFO was created in 2006 and in its inaugural year, partnered with Lifespan, a non-profit that serves the needs of children and adults with developmental disabilities. Members volunteered at Lifespan’s Circle School and raised $22,426 for the organization and its programs, including a $5,000 grant from Fight Night for Children, which was awarded to Lifespan in honor of PFO’s efforts.