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Youth Charity Jeopardized by Theft
0% complete
$2,165 raised of $18K
23 donations
What Happened
As many of you know last week our van and its contents were stolen in Queens, NY. This is a terrible situation and a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone. What makes matters worse is that this van is the lifeline of our non-profit organization. Without this vehicle and the items taken along with it, our charitable organization, which focuses on delivering positive and empowering messages to America’s children, simply cannot operate.
Since we posted this news on social media we have been flooded with an overwhelming amount of people offering their support and asking, “What can I do?” Well…truth be told we weren’t sure what there was to be done. We are optimistic that things will work itself out and still know that stranger things have happened than our van turning up somewhere in the next couple days or weeks even. We haven’t given up hope on that by any means. However, as our season is set to begin with a workshop of our musical, “Pollyanna” (The set that was inside the vehicle when it was taken), in just a couple weeks…we are faced with a bit of a time crunch to make sure that this bump in the road doesn’t manifest into a giant pot-hole that could jeopardize our entire touring season.
Many people have reached out asking if there was any way to help monetarily and suggested starting a fundraising campaign. We have decided that doing so might be in the organization’s best interest.
Stars Within Reach Productions
Over the past couple of years my wife, Casey, and I have built Stars Within Reach Productions, Inc. from the ground up. Something that started as a ‘pie in the sky’ dream slowly began turning into a reality. Our non-profit organization produces educational children’s theatre, providing “enrichment beyond the classroom”. Our musical programming tours across the c ountry with lessons crafted to enhance character education. This past June marked the end of our first official touring season, reaching over a dozen states, more than fifty theaters & schools, and approximately 25,000 students. Next year we are scheduled to bring our educational programming to twice as many schools, theatres and students across the country! This company that was founded to enrich the lives of students and families across the country continues to grow and we could not be more proud of that fact.
As a young, non-profit organization that strives to bring our productions into areas that typically don’t have the means to bring in this type of quality programming, the theft of our company van and its’ contents is a monstrous setback. Before owning this vehicle (just over one year ago) many questions regarding the business were left unanswered, and unfortunately as of this writing we are faced with many of those same unanswered questions once again.
It is tough to ask for charity, even as a charitable organization, as Casey and I take tremendous pride in getting this venture on its feet. But in order to ensure the continued growth of this business and to reach these young audiences our programming is intended for, we need your help.
What You Can Do
We are providing a breakdown of what was stolen, in order for everyone to understand our fundraising goal. With that said, if you feel you do not have the means to make a monetary donation, but you have something on this list that you would like to donate instead PLEASE DO! Even just sharing this information with others you feel may wish to donate, or know people who are in a position to give to charitable organizations such as this, please pass this on.
The overall sense of community we have witnessed in the days since this occurrence has been phenomenal. It would have been easy to lose all hope in doing good after being the victim of this crime, but thankfully you have all proven the importance of what we do; the importance of doing for others and lending a helping hand. Thank you all for your continued support on all fronts.
What Was Stolen
How Your Donation Will Help
As you can see there was a lot of items that were taken. The items inside the van totaled north of $8,000. Unfortunately, the contents inside the vehicle are not covered whatsoever under any of our insurance policies.
While the van is covered under insurance, we still owe the bank that issued our auto-loan $14,000. We are hopeful that the insurance will cover the majority of the remaining balance, but that process will take at least a few weeks.
We are not asking for donors to buy us a new vehicle. We are, however, including in our campaign goal enough to hopefully cover a down payment of $5,000 on another van, in order to keep our monthly payments near what they were previously.
Thank You
Any and all donations (of any kind) will go a long way towards recovering from this difficult loss. Your continued support and generosity mean the absolute world to all of us at Stars Within Reach Productions, and to the thousands of young audiences and families who will continue to benefit from our educational programming. From the bottom of our hearts; thank you.
As many of you know last week our van and its contents were stolen in Queens, NY. This is a terrible situation and a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone. What makes matters worse is that this van is the lifeline of our non-profit organization. Without this vehicle and the items taken along with it, our charitable organization, which focuses on delivering positive and empowering messages to America’s children, simply cannot operate.
Since we posted this news on social media we have been flooded with an overwhelming amount of people offering their support and asking, “What can I do?” Well…truth be told we weren’t sure what there was to be done. We are optimistic that things will work itself out and still know that stranger things have happened than our van turning up somewhere in the next couple days or weeks even. We haven’t given up hope on that by any means. However, as our season is set to begin with a workshop of our musical, “Pollyanna” (The set that was inside the vehicle when it was taken), in just a couple weeks…we are faced with a bit of a time crunch to make sure that this bump in the road doesn’t manifest into a giant pot-hole that could jeopardize our entire touring season.
Many people have reached out asking if there was any way to help monetarily and suggested starting a fundraising campaign. We have decided that doing so might be in the organization’s best interest.
Stars Within Reach Productions
Over the past couple of years my wife, Casey, and I have built Stars Within Reach Productions, Inc. from the ground up. Something that started as a ‘pie in the sky’ dream slowly began turning into a reality. Our non-profit organization produces educational children’s theatre, providing “enrichment beyond the classroom”. Our musical programming tours across the c ountry with lessons crafted to enhance character education. This past June marked the end of our first official touring season, reaching over a dozen states, more than fifty theaters & schools, and approximately 25,000 students. Next year we are scheduled to bring our educational programming to twice as many schools, theatres and students across the country! This company that was founded to enrich the lives of students and families across the country continues to grow and we could not be more proud of that fact.
As a young, non-profit organization that strives to bring our productions into areas that typically don’t have the means to bring in this type of quality programming, the theft of our company van and its’ contents is a monstrous setback. Before owning this vehicle (just over one year ago) many questions regarding the business were left unanswered, and unfortunately as of this writing we are faced with many of those same unanswered questions once again.
It is tough to ask for charity, even as a charitable organization, as Casey and I take tremendous pride in getting this venture on its feet. But in order to ensure the continued growth of this business and to reach these young audiences our programming is intended for, we need your help.
What You Can Do
We are providing a breakdown of what was stolen, in order for everyone to understand our fundraising goal. With that said, if you feel you do not have the means to make a monetary donation, but you have something on this list that you would like to donate instead PLEASE DO! Even just sharing this information with others you feel may wish to donate, or know people who are in a position to give to charitable organizations such as this, please pass this on.
The overall sense of community we have witnessed in the days since this occurrence has been phenomenal. It would have been easy to lose all hope in doing good after being the victim of this crime, but thankfully you have all proven the importance of what we do; the importance of doing for others and lending a helping hand. Thank you all for your continued support on all fronts.
What Was Stolen
How Your Donation Will Help
As you can see there was a lot of items that were taken. The items inside the van totaled north of $8,000. Unfortunately, the contents inside the vehicle are not covered whatsoever under any of our insurance policies.
While the van is covered under insurance, we still owe the bank that issued our auto-loan $14,000. We are hopeful that the insurance will cover the majority of the remaining balance, but that process will take at least a few weeks.
We are not asking for donors to buy us a new vehicle. We are, however, including in our campaign goal enough to hopefully cover a down payment of $5,000 on another van, in order to keep our monthly payments near what they were previously.
Thank You
Any and all donations (of any kind) will go a long way towards recovering from this difficult loss. Your continued support and generosity mean the absolute world to all of us at Stars Within Reach Productions, and to the thousands of young audiences and families who will continue to benefit from our educational programming. From the bottom of our hearts; thank you.