Youth Theater Seeks Donors to Match Generous Challenge

Board of Directors is stepping into high gear in March to raise funds to complete a challenge first offered by Pratt & Whitney at last March’s . Pratt & Whitney offered a matching challenge of $15,000 to support the youth theater.

Oddfellows has been directing new, first-time donors and lapsed donors toward the challenge as a way to welcome them on board. To date, more than $10,100 in new dollars have been brought in to support the organization. 

In March, the Board of Directors is adding to the challenge. During “Oddfellows’ March Maddness,” each member of the board is working to get the $5,000 in donations by the end of the month to complete the Pratt & Whitney challenge.  Additionally, Oddfellows’ Board of Directors will match every dollar raised this month.  

“We hope to raise $10,000 in March. That will close the gap and complete the challenge Pratt & Whitney set out to support the children at Oddfellows,” said Board Chair Michael Sciola. “We are trying to maximize Pratt & Whitney’s support by increasing our fundraising goals.”

“Pratt & Whitney has been an incredibly loyal supporter of Oddfellows Playhouse for a very long time.  It was an incredible moment at the Mayor’s Ball last year when Heather [Summerer] and Riz [Rosario Rizzo] announced the $15,000 challenge. We have been working all year to put those challenge dollars to work and increase our fundraising,” said Executive Director Matt Pugliese.

The winter of 2011 was a difficult one for the long-time Middletown arts organization. Having already suffered water damage from an ice-damn, the collapse of at 505 Main St. destroyed the Playhouse’s costume and prop inventory. The Mayor’s Ball and the Pratt & Whitney Challenge were just two of the many community-wide efforts to help the children’s theater to weather the challenges.

Oddfellows Playhouse is located at 128 Washington Street, Middletown. For more than 37 years, Oddfellows has been more than just a performing arts program. It aims to make a positive difference in the lives of 1,500 young people each year by using the arts as tools to build self-confidence, communication skills, a sense of responsibility, and an appreciation for the richness and diversity of the world in which we live.

For information, to register for classes or to purchase tickets to performances, call (860) 347-6143.

About Oddfellows Playhouse:

Oddfellows programming is made possible through the generous support of the CT Department of Education, the CT Commission on Culture & Tourism, Middlesex United Way, The Stare Fund, the Middletown Commission on the Arts, Pratt & Whitney, the Irving Kohn Foundation and the Daphne Seybolt Culpeper Memorial Fund.  Media support is provided by Comcast and WESU 88.1FM.

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