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Another
night, another show! This time in Glendale: Linus is singing
about the “Great Pumpkin” and Snoopy is writing a novel. I am
sitting in the back writing the Christmas letter and marveling
at how far MoezArt has come in ten years. This show, “Snoopy”,
is a fairly typical MoezArt performance - crazy, memorable, full
of fun and kids charged with an “opening night” fervor. This
show, though, has something that no show ever had before. Two
truly remarkable brothers: Benjamin plays Schroeder and Mason
makes his stage debut as Charlie Brown. Besides being budding
actors who love theatre, Mason and Benjamin both have Cerebral
Palsy. Their disabilities restrict them both in wheelchairs but
that does not slow them down for one moment. Their mom, Carol
Shrader, enrolled them in MoezArt because “they are both
interested in theatre and I was looking for an opportunity for
them to interact with their peers in a positive environment.”
When she found out that both her sons had landed leads in their
first show her reaction was one of shock and fear and
then...when she saw their faces…she was thrilled!
Carol
observes that MoezArt has first and foremost elevated her sons’
self esteems, allowing them to see beyond their own
disabilities.
Carol
says that her sons are already looking forward to their
involvement in the spring production of “Robin Hood”. They plan
to stay with MoezArt as long as they can because they love it
and have become addicted to theatre.
The Shrader’s
encourage others to become involved and watch how God can use
the arts to grow students in their walks with Him and their
abilities in the theatre.
It is our dream that MoezArt
will continue to be a place where kids like Mason and Benjamin
feel accepted, appreciated and even APPLAUDED.
As
you well know, we are living in economically challenging times,
with family budgets straining to get by. As a result, more and
more families who want to participate in MoezArt are in need of
scholarships to do so. Sadly, this last fall we had to decline
scholarships because of the large need and the fact that our
dollars are already being stretched beyond the absolute limit,
including several staff members volunteering to receive partial
or no salary. Yet, despite these financial hurdles, we don’t
want to turn our back on the young men and women whose lives are
being touched daily by MoezArt Productions. While student
tuition and ticket sales do provide much of our income, our
costs continue to rise, and we want to keep our prices as low as
possible.
It’s
truly exciting to see all the amazing things the Lord is doing
and that’s why we would like to take this opportunity to ask you
to
partner with us in this exciting ministry that not only
proclaims the Gospel through the arts, but also equips and
strengthens countless young men and women to be the best they
can be for Jesus Christ.
We
humbly ask you to prayerfully include MoezArt Productions in
your year-end giving:
¨ A
$350
donation could
scholarship one student
for a full semester.
¨ $1,000
could purchase
one
additional microphone so
our students can be heard at performances (we’d like 6).
¨ $25,000
extra would allow all
our
staff to work full-time
to give our students the best theatre experience.
¨ Any
gift, any size would work
to bring these and more to fruition in
furthering the growth of our students
through Christian theatre.
MoezArt
Productions is a 501c3, non-profit organization. All gifts are
completely
tax
deductible, and provides
a positive influence for numerous young students and will allow
us to
reach even more students
with the life-changing experience of
glorifying
God through the arts!
In Christ’s Service,
Steve and Sharon Rodriguez
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