The Yellow Brick Road
by Cris M
(Connellsville, Pennsylvania)
My children attend a very small, Catholic school. Money was very tight, but one of the older students wanted to start a "Performing Arts" Club. The first year, we started with a budget of $0. The first money came from the students who wanted to be in the play. We charged each child $5. This barely paid for the scripts. The first year of the program, we relied very heavily on donations from the volunteer parents. Not just money but materials and time. Local businesses donated paint for the scenery in exchange for a mention in the program. We purchased costumes after Halloween on sale or else people volunteered to make them. The night of the performance, we did not charge admission; however, donations were accepted. We made almost $500 which was put into the budget for the next year.
The second year, we felt like we were rolling in dough!!! We didn't have any "fundraisers" per se for the program because the school had many fundraisers for all of the other activities....we felt it wouldn't be fair. However, we did charge a fee again to students who wanted to be in the play. We found an auditorium close to the school that let us use it for free; however, this did have its drawbacks, such as no heat. It was an old building in really poor condition; however, since it was a larger facility, we put on the performance for two nights and had a larger crowd....which brought in more donations...almost $900 for the weekend. A videographer volunteered his time and we sold CD recordings of the musical for profit as well.
By the third year, we parents were accustomed to asking for donated material and using our collective imaginations to make scrap lumber into something magical. One of the parents had experience in grant writing and we received money and a donation of costumes from Walmart.
This past season, we received a $1500 grant from Target...which paid for much better fliers and advertising....if we put their logo on the materials.
Basically, it has been tremendously rewarding to see just a few people make something out of virtually nothing. We have a balance for next year and a huge supply of costumes, props, lighting and sound equipment...plus the support of the community. It has put the school on the map. We didn't have a single solution. We relied on the hard work of volunteers who brought a unique set of skills. I think it has been so successful because we thought "outside of the box"....we didn't get discouraged...we laughed at ourselves and used the faith that the children had in us to propel us to do better than we ever believed possible