{"id":32663,"date":"2015-09-29T09:38:46","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T13:38:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/?p=32663"},"modified":"2017-11-28T10:54:52","modified_gmt":"2017-11-28T15:54:52","slug":"theatre-for-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/2015\/09\/29\/theatre-for-the-world\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre for the World"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This post comes to us from Brian Schultz, creator of Theatre for the World<\/a>.<\/h4>\n

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There are many people who have inspired me over the years, but if you are looking for someone famous who led me on the path to give back it is the late, great Harry Chapin.\u00a0 I loved his music, and still do, but even more so, I loved his passion to use his gift to make this world a better place. There is no reason, that in a world of abundance, we should have people starving or dying from hunger or thirst.\u00a0 Clean water is accessible for the people of Africa, we just need to lend a hand.<\/p>\n

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What really inspires me is the people I have met, that fit into the “Ordinary Joe” category.\u00a0 Wonderfully, talented, gifted people in their own way, that decided to give back.\u00a0 That’s why I was compelled to start the group.\u00a0 I am certain that God planted this seed in me, but it wasn’t until I hit my thirties that it really sunk into my brain to step out in faith and do something. I\u00a0am\u00a0humbled\u00a0and\u00a0inspired\u00a0to\u00a0have\u00a0such\u00a0a\u00a0loyal\u00a0group\u00a0of\u00a0members\u00a0willing\u00a0to\u00a0donate\u00a0their\u00a0time,\u00a0talent\u00a0and\u00a0even\u00a0money\u00a0to\u00a0make\u00a0each\u00a0show\u00a0a\u00a0success.\u00a0\u00a0Some\u00a0have\u00a0participated\u00a0in\u00a0big\u00a0ways\u00a0all\u00a0ten\u00a0years. We’re not famous, none of us, but that’s what makes it an even better story.\u00a0 Why not us?\u00a0 Why can’t God use our little theatre group in Ohio? Throughout the Bible and history, God has proven he can use anyone.\u00a0 Why shouldn’t we use our “gifts” to make a difference in our own way?<\/p>\n

We started small, but we’re growing in numbers and audience members each year. We would still be considered small in the eyes of many, but regardless, I know we are making a difference locally, and, thanks to The Water Project<\/a>, internationally.\u00a0 Just average folks who decided to use their gifts collectively to be God’s hands in this world.\u00a0 What I didn’t realize with all of this, is the impact our giving would have on our souls.\u00a0 Many of us have done theatre in the past, and for the most part, we have all had wonderful experiences, but I think I can speak for the entire group when I say, “This is different!”\u00a0 We think mission first and we give our absolute best to God.\u00a0 We realize our limitations, but we give it all and He does the rest.\u00a0 It is a recipe for success every time.\u00a0 Not only has it shown in donations each year, but we feel God is with us every step of the way.\u00a0 What a blessing!<\/p>\n

Our group began as a mission project for the local food pantries.\u00a0 In year one, we simply collected food and monetary donations to help with the local Anthony Wayne Food Pantry near Toledo Ohio.\u00a0 After a successful first show, we added a second local pantry to the mix.\u00a0 Two years of success led us to up the ante and think even larger.\u00a0 We loved helping our local area, but we set our goals higher.\u00a0 A goal that, with God’s help, would allow us to do something to make a difference internationally.\u00a0 We began a reserve of 15% of our monetary proceeds from each show, so that we might dig a well in Africa<\/a> one day.\u00a0 I had learned of the need in church, but was very hesitant to pick an actual organization to work with to accomplish our goal until I knew we could really raise enough money to fund a well. We have since added a third food pantry to our mix while continuing our path to help in Africa.<\/p>\n

As time passed, we\u00a0 reserved just over $4,500 to seed our fund.\u00a0 I researched many different organizations, but none touched me in the way The Water Project did.\u00a0 The 100 percent accountability<\/a> with our funds really helped me make the decision, but upon further research, I discovered that, like our group, this all began as a Christian mission project. I also discovered that The Water Project, like our group, was non-denominational and had worked with various organizations and churches over the years.\u00a0 A perfect fit for us. \u00a0We\u00a0began\u00a0as\u00a0a\u00a0group\u00a0primarily\u00a0from\u00a0the\u00a0Waterville\u00a0United\u00a0Methodist\u00a0Church\u00a0and\u00a0are\u00a0so\u00a0very\u00a0grateful\u00a0for\u00a0the\u00a0unwavering\u00a0support\u00a0of\u00a0our\u00a0congregation\u00a0each\u00a0and\u00a0every\u00a0year. Amazingly though, we now have members and volunteers representing many denominations with one thing in mind….mission first.<\/p>\n

I did so much research trying to find the right project for us.\u00a0 Since we had been promising folks we were saving for a well in Africa,\u00a0 I wanted to be sure we were certain the money was going to be used in the appropriate way.\u00a0 Over the years, I had researched often concerning wells and costs of wells and there were so many variables in the price.\u00a0 When I found The Water Project and realized all the similarities between our groups,\u00a0 I knew we had to set our goal at $12,000 to fully fund a well.\u00a0 We decided that our tenth anniversary show was the perfect opportunity for us to think outside of the box.\u00a0\u00a0 We realized the $12,000<\/a> was certainly a lofty goal and we’d be stepping out in faith, but somehow we just had a feeling we’d get there.\u00a0 Get your hopes up, right?\u00a0 We might not be able to do it alone, but based upon experience, we were certain God could do it.<\/p>\n

After all the research, I also felt like we couldn’t wait any longer.\u00a0 This water could save lives<\/a> and change a community, provide hope<\/a> for the future. It needed to be done soon and waiting for our group to accumulate enough money reserving just 15% of our proceeds was taking far too long.\u00a0 For one year only, in celebration of our tenth anniversary, we decided to flip our donation figure so we donated only 15% to the local pantries and collected 85% for our well project.\u00a0 People responded.<\/p>\n

We owe much gratitude to the Waterville Rotary for stepping up in a large way to help us reduce the amount of money needed by donating $2,500. We also reached out to the community for a few silent auction items at intermission and got the Sunday School kids involved with making small wells to be filled with change.\u00a0 Our cast all participated in an altered version of The Water Challenge<\/a> which I read on your website.\u00a0 Instead of using your bands, I had my son make bands with his rainbow loom and we challenged the congregation to take the challenge and donate that money during our show.\u00a0 We do not charge admission.\u00a0 It is all free-will offering.\u00a0 Since we knew the pantries had been relying on our donations each year, we didn’t want to let them down either.\u00a0 We asked our congregation and the community to really help the local pantries by bringing in some extra food this year.\u00a0 They nearly doubled the amount of food donations we typically see for a show.\u00a0 Unbelievable!<\/p>\n

As everyone can now see on our page<\/a>, we reached our goal of $12,000, but we have continued to ask for donations.\u00a0 What The Water Project<\/a> doesn’t know yet, is that we also exceeded our goal.\u00a0 I just received news recently\u00a0that we will be receiving a grant for $3,000 from the Zion Lutheran Church in Waterville in mid-October to help us complete our project and provide maintenance for the life of our project.<\/p>\n

When God does things, he does them in a way that is far larger than we could ever fathom. We are so very grateful!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Thank you to Brian and the Theatre for the World community for rallying together and making clean water a reality for so many. We’re so grateful for your motivation, inspiration and moving message. We couldn’t do this without you!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Want to learn more about starting your fundraising campaign? Start here!<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This post comes to us from Brian Schultz, creator of Theatre for the World.   There are many people who have inspired me over the years, but if you are looking for someone famous who led me on the path to give back it is the late, great Harry Chapin.\u00a0 I loved his music, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29264,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,1],"tags":[89,67,88,79,86,87],"class_list":["post-32663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-groups","category-uncategorized","tag-africa","tag-clean-water","tag-fundraising","tag-new-well","tag-theater","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29264"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32663"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33263,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32663\/revisions\/33263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}