THANKS to all you amazing people we collected 485 toys for foster children and their families to be given out all year ’round as needed! We use the holiday time to entice the ‘giving spirit’ to donate our way and this year we did better than ever. We had so many toys that we couldn’t display them this year. But here are some shots of your amazing GIFTS.
Sandra and I delivered them to Sonia Galarza from ACS downtown on Williams Street! She will distribute them to group homes, Families on the bubble of losing their children and little ones who arrive having been taken from their homes. Please know your contributions are priceless and we are so incredibly grateful for your donations. THANK YOU! ♥️
From one lone mailed in donation to 19 (2 more than the video below!) clear plastic bags filled with 285 precious toys, Sandra Garni, Mark Carson Selman and all the wonderful folks at the Bar Building and in my building, we had the wildest success ever. Enjoy the photos below. We are so grateful.
We don’t have our box out at the address yet BUT …. WE WILL RECEIVE BY MAIL FOR ANOTHER WEEK OR TWO!~
We gather toys during the holiday season but we give the kids your toys when they get pulled out of their homes and go in to the foster system. It gives them some smiles during a scary time.
Won’t you give as much as you can by sending toys (unwrapped) to:
FOSTER YOUR DREAM 36 West 44th Street Suite 1412 New York NY 10036
It’s kind of fun to shop online especially on Black Friday Deals?!?!?!
We will tell you when the box is in the Lobby and this year there might be other places to drop off. Stay tuned. Stay involved. Stay happy and healthy!
MANY THANKS to all who have done this for years. And WELCOME to new generous souls.
STAY TUNED FOR DROP OFF LOCATIONS FOR OUR 9TH ANNUAL 2023 TOY DRIVE!!!
Once again we rallied the toy-magical-givers and filled our toy boxes!
Thanks to Sandra Garni and Tim Dugger we were able to collect, inventory for ACS and deliver our bounty to kids who could use a smile ALL YEAR LONG.
We always collect during the Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa and New Year’s holiday time because that’s when folks enjoy giving. But our mission is to provide a smile and a happy moment when a child gets pulled out of his or her or their homes and folded in to child protective services!
It’s often scary and sad for them. We let them chose something to have when they get moved to a foster home. So THANK YOU.
Won’t you give next year!
THANKS to all who help. Including the staff at 36 West 44th street, Klotz and Gould, Mark Carson Selman, Brikener Jean Gilles, Gwendolyn Carroll, Tim Dugger, Sandra Garni.
We started late due to so many snafus…but our foster youth are counting on you to H E L P! 🙂
We gather toys during the holiday season but we give the kids your toys when they get pulled out of their homes and in to the foster system. It gives them some smiles during a scary time.
Won’t you give as much as you can by sending toys (unwrapped) to:
FOSTER YOUR DREAM 36 West 44th Street Suite 1412 New York NY 10036
It’s kind of fun to shop online and just send it to us!
MANY THANKS to all who have done this for years. And WELCOME to new generous souls.
YOU SOUND LIKE A GIRL started by our dear friend from the Signature Theatre Days, Colleen Hughes, brought her amazing show to the ACS Theatre! There was a cast of 5 amazing she/her/hers identifying actors who shared very personal stories for an hour at the Children’s Center.
Thanks to all the amazing performers.
YOU SOUND LIKE A GIRL CAST!
You Sound Like a Girl Created and directed by: Colleen E. Hughes Written and performed by: Sara Jane Munford, Alessandra Ruiz, Alexandria Smalls, and Rev. Yolanda Produced by: Emily Rose Prats Dramaturgy by: Rachel Levens
Colleen E. Hughes(she/her/hers) is a Brooklyn based director and arts administrator, and creator of You Sound Like a Girl. Her select directing credits include, What Screams I Hear are Mine by Annalise Cain (reading, The Tribe Theatre Company), The Shapes We Make With Our Bodies by Meg Whiteford (The Hive), Jelly Bean Junkyard by Sean Pollock (Under St. Marks), Chatroom by Enda Walsh (The Hive), Let Them Eat Cake by Ted Malawer (TinyRhino), and Disco Pigs by Enda Walsh (A.R.T.’s Oberon). Her assisting credits include 12th Night by William Shakespeare, directed by Shira Millikowsky (A.R.T. Institute) and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, directed by Phil Soltanoff (Skidmore College). Colleen studied directing at the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and theater at Skidmore College. www.colleenehughes.com
Sara Jane Munford(she/her/hers) is a multimedia performance artist, designer and puppeteer based in Brooklyn, New York. She is the resident set designer and puppet captain of Little Did Productions. Currently, Sara Jane is working on birth/control/project, a community based art making process and art installation intended to create a space to empower female identifying participants in the pursuit of autonomy over their bodies. For more information please email [email protected].
Alessandra Ruiz(she/her/hers) is a NY Latina actress who moved from Los Angeles this January. She graduated from California State University, Fullerton with a B.A. in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in Devised/Physical Theatre. She begun her NYC debuts working with projects performed at the Gene Frankel Theatre and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. She wants to use theatre to open up minds and hearts for a better understanding society. Alessandra believes theatre is a powerful art form that can truly help make a change. Alessandra is very excited to be creating with the “”You Sound Like a Girl”” cast and crew and hopes to empower women everywhere. www.alessandraruiz.com
Alexandria Joesica Smalls(she/her/hers) is an actor, writer and director who hails from Brooklyn, NY. She has an AS in theater from BMCC and a BA in Drama and Africana Studies with a focus on Prison Studies. She is an activist with a passion for social justice issues and uses her creative work to explore difficult conversations on topics such as race, economic inequality, and education.
Rev. Yolanda(she/her/hers) is a singer/songwriter/trans-femme genderqueer performance artist and interfaith minister, originally from Muscle Shoals Alabama- The Hit Recording Capital Of The World. Rev. Yolanda and husband Rev. Glen Ganaway are the founders of the monthly “spiritual happening” Church With A 2 Drink Minimum. Rev. Yolanda’s ministry and body of musical work has been captured on film by Avaiya Media with the movie “”Rev. Yolanda’s Old Time Gospel Hour”” (available on Amazon), and has been honored with induction into the The GLBT Hall Of Fame, the Blues Hall of Fame, and two MAC Awards. (MAC-Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs). Rev. Yolanda is currently working on a full length, autobiographical musical theater piece entitled “The Church Of The Alien Love Child Presents: The Passion of Rev. Yolanda.”
Emily Rose Prats(she/her/hers) came to NY more than a decade ago to get her BFA in Drama from NYU/Tisch. Since then, she’s produced an EP, performed Shakespeare, voiced commercials, taught music to children, and now works in marketing for startups. She believes in theatre as a teaching tool and hopes You Sound Like a Girl can empower women and girls to stop internalizing misogyny and make themselves heard. Follow her adventures on insta @the_gremily and/or offer to publish her children’s book.Rachel Levens(she/her/hers) is a Brooklyn based new play director, dramaturg, and applied theater artist. Rachel’s directing has been seen at La MaMa, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, United Solo, The Tank, Dixon Place, Hudson Guild, and The International Human Rights Festival at The Wild Project. Her dramaturgy work has ranged from production dramaturgy, new play development, literature performance, and dance dramaturgy. She is the resident dramaturg for The Holding Project, a dance company based in Portland, Oregon. Rachel holds a BFA in Theater with an emphasis in Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA.
COLLEEN HUGHES PREPARES CAST TO PERFORM AT THE CHILDREN’S CENTER FOR ACS
Toy Drive for Foster Kids Spearheaded by Theatre Group
Foster Your Dream teams up with Signature Theatre in New York City for a Holiday Toy Drive that will continue to give all year long! For several years, foster children, foster families, and group homes have been invited to see live shows in this exciting theatre complex near Times Square. With the holidays approaching, the staff decided to do a Toy Drive for their favorite patrons … Dream Kids from Foster Your Dream!/
What’s unique about this Holiday Toy Drive is that it will last beyond the holidays. Donated toys will be brought from the Theatre to the Children’s Center in New York City. The Center is where children who are removed from their homes … often in the middle of the night … must go if there are no foster families available to take them in. Often these children are in crisis, even traumatized. The toys collected will be available for the child when he or she arrives at the center. FYD founder Sue Wolf says “We hope that choosing a toy and taking it to their foster home will provide a joyful distraction and some warm comfort to the children we are so passionate about serving!”
Ms. Wolf continues, “Foster Your Dream aims to provide extras such as prom dresses, theatre trips, tuition for dance class and karate lessons, to name a few. There are over half a million children in foster care, and we’d love to make a dream come true for each of them. With the help of such generous partners as Signature Theatre, we are one step closer to making that a reality.”
If you would like to donate, please bring a new, unwrapped toy to The Pershing Square Signature Center, 480 W 42nd Street during the designated donation hours from now until December 18!
DONATION HOURS BEFORE EVERY SHOW!
DONATION REQUIREMENTS
Signature is accepting new, unwrapped, any ages toys. Signature will not accept clothing or donations that are used, perishable, or dangerous.
