GoFund the Fools!
GoFund the Fools in Schools!
If you’ve ever seen us perform, you’ve (hopefully) left feeling full of Foolish mirth, filled with an appreciation for the transformative power of the performing arts.
Now what if ... you could share that magic with a student at a local high school?
Imagine this - a teengaer, bored, apathetic, falling asleep in class at the mere thought of studying Shakespeare. Now imagine further, a Fool bursting into the classroom, ripe with enthusiasm, urging the students to be transported to a fantastical land where Shakespeare can be not only fun, but reimagined in a way that’s relatable to them.
That land? The school gym. The impact? Revolutionary. This fall, we are making those imaginings a reality.
Three Opportunities to Engage!
Over the next three months, we will be hosting three fun-filled fundraisers with all the with all the proceeds supporting our upcoming school tour. Our first event will be a pumpkin carving palooza held just before Halloween. Stay tuned for details about these events - we’ve got plans that will knock your socks off!
Why We’re Asking …
It has been quite a journey since the great upheaval of 2020. We Fools were fortunate to have weathered lockdowns, mass illness, broken ankles, and well, weather (!) as we bravely rejoined an ever-changing world in 2021. However, we also endured our fair share of loss and hardship. Over the past two years while we toured productions of The Tempest and Hamlet across Ottawa, we lost 30 shows due to a wide swath of external factors. Funding for the arts in Ontario has taken a hit as well; we lost over $50,000 in annual funding that we count on to employ emerging artists, and had to find alternative ways to cover those costs (and we did it - but what a workout!)
Acting on our Mandate
As we gear up for our Hamlet School Tour (more about that here), we’re ready to bravely yet humbly, dip our Foolish toes into the warm waters of crowdfunding. Our mission has always been to bring accessible, by-donation theatre to the backyards of folks who might not otherwise see any live performance in a calendar year. In fact, over 20% of our audiences reported just that this past summer. As we continue to navigate a financial atmosphere that is unreceptive to organizations not driven by profit, we must rely on the exceptional generosity of our community of supporters who fiercely believe in our mission.
Please consider donating to the Fools this fall.
We are running this GoFundMe campaign until the end of the year. We are asking our community of dedicated supporters who have followed our journey and believe fiercely in what we do to lend a helping hand to both recoup our losses over the past two seasons and, more importantly, to support our upcoming tour to five local high schools. Do it for the Fools! Do it for the kids! Do it for the ART.
Every donation of $25 or more will receive a tax receipt.
Foolishly Yours,
Nick, Sarah, and Sam (aka the Fools)
