Support Black Tornado Theater

[Original Campaign]
Our school district got a large amount of money in the 2008 cycle to overhaul every single building, district-wide. As a result, my high school has a beautiful and versatile set of theater spaces.

At the same time, program and activities budgets have diminished and we can't fund actually using the spaces to the extent our program enrollment and district contract expectations would dictate.

A paid extra duty position went unfunded for five seasons, forcing us to compensate designers, choreographers, and accompanists from our activity fund. Attendance has declined as discretionary income stagnated in the recent economy. The number of participant students requiring some financial assistance for activities has gone up while outside funds to support that assistance have declined and in some cases vanished.

As a result, our program has gone from a shoestring surplus into debt and now needs money to support our current and future seasons.

This campaign will send money to the local foundation dedicated to supporting programs in our school district, specifically earmarked for us. Your contribution will be shared in small proportion with their general fund with 95% of proceeds going to Black Tornado Theater and 5% to Medford Schools Education Foundation. We receive grants from the general fund for our guest artist program, so be assured, we are effectively getting a little bit more than you are donating.

[UPDATE January, 2015]
You can see we have some specific WISH LIST items: 

We've never stopped needing finanical assistance for the activities and events our students participate in. Average costs for these events run about $50 per day and most kids take part in 4 days worth (regional and state Thespian festivals). About half the particpant students need some financial help, so we realistically would make use of $1500 per year.

Musicals are significantly more expensive to produce. Several of the big ticket items associated with our musicals are on the list. This year's production of "The Sound of Music" has a draft budget of nearly $8000, with just short of $2700 needed just for the rights and rental of scripts and score.

We are still in debt (as detailed in the initial campaign description from over a year ago). Retiring that debt is critical to the program's viability going forward.

ALL WISH LIST DONATIONS of $50 or more will ALSO generate 10 tickets given to local elementary schools for students to see performances for free. Wish List donations of that size or greater also receive a cast and crew signed poster from the show.