The Springer Joins the Global GivingTuesday Movement to Raise $10,000 for Arts in Education programs
Columbus, GA - This GivingTuesday, the Springer Opera House will inspire generosity by raising money for its Arts in Education program, a vital part of the Springer’s mission. The Arts in Education program provides professional theatre experiences for approximately 15,000 area students each year. For many of these students, attending an Arts in Education performance at the Springer is their first experience with live theatre. The Springer hopes to raise $10,000 on GivingTuesday to help offset the cost of the program.
GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement, unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and their world. GivingTuesday will kick off the generosity season this year by inspiring people to give back on November 30, 2021, and throughout the year.
Approximately 15,000 students attend Arts in Education performances at the Springer Opera House each year.
The Springer’s Arts in Education program was designed to reduce as many obstacles as possible for schools to participate and give students the best experience possible. The program provides schools reduced tickets prices and covers the cost of school buses for Columbus area schools. Transportation expenses alone cost the Springer approximately $15,000 annually. The Springer also provides standards-based study guides to participating schools that aides teachers with expanding the experience of the play into their classroom lesson plans.
“The arts changes children’s lives,” said Springer Director of Education, Sally Baker. “Through our Arts in Education program, kids are not only seeing theatre and learning how to be patrons of the arts, but the experience of live theatre helps them expand their world view and imagine a world greater than their own.”
Last year, the Springer raised over $10,000 on GivingTuesday. Those funds were used to purchase equipment for streaming, which has become a vital way to stay connected to audiences during the global Covid-19 pandemic.
GivingTuesday was launched in 2012 as a simple idea: to create a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past nine years, this idea has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
People demonstrate generosity in many ways on GivingTuesday. Whether it’s helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving to causes we care about, every act of generosity counts. GivingTuesday has raised billions of dollars for critical causes around the world and gets billions of impressions on social media from people and organizations speaking up for the causes that matter to them and encouraging others to get involved in their communities.
Students attend an Arts in Education performance of James in the Giant Peach.
“GivingTuesday inspires people all around the world to embrace their power to drive progress around the causes they care about, not just on one day but throughout the year,” said Asha Curran, GivingTuesday’s CEO, and co-founder. “With country and community leaders, millions of organizations, and countless givers of all kinds, GivingTuesday is creating a shared space where we can see the radical implications of a more generous world.”
Those who are interested in joining the Springer’s GivingTuesday initiative can visit www.springeroperahouse.org/givingtuesday For more details about the GivingTuesday movement, visit the GivingTuesday website (www.givingtuesday.org), Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/GivingTuesday) or follow @GivingTuesday and #GivingTuesday on Twitter.
ABOUT THE SPRINGER OPERA HOUSE
The Springer Opera House is a producing theatre company that operates out of a beautiful 149-year-old National Historic Landmark, one of only seven producing theatres in the country, housed in a historic landmark. The Springer Opera House is also home to the Springer Theatre Academy, an education program that offers classes year-round and hosts students from across the Southeast. In 1964 the Springer Opera House was saved from demolition by a local group of patrons of the arts who helped to restore and reopen the theatre. It was named the State Theatre of Georgia by Gov. Jimmy Carter for the 100th Anniversary Season in 1971. Since then, the board, staff, and volunteers have been dedicated to their mission of making every aspect of the performing arts a tool for education, participation, entertainment, and growth while using, restoring, and preserving this National Historic Landmark as a part of a working theater and museum complex.
ABOUT GIVINGTUESDAY
GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement unleashing the power of people and organizations to transform their communities and the world. GivingTuesday was created in 2012 as a simple idea: a day that encourages people to do good. Over the past nine years, it has grown into a global movement that inspires hundreds of millions of people to give, collaborate, and celebrate generosity.
Whether it’s making someone smile, helping a neighbor or stranger out, showing up for an issue or people we care about, or giving some of what we have to those who need our help, every act of generosity counts and everyone has something to give. GivingTuesday strives to build a world in which the catalytic power of generosity is at the heart of the society we build together, unlocking dignity, opportunity and equity around the globe.