Dallas Theater Center Patrons Donate Over $63,000 to North Texas Food Bank in 5th Year of Partnership

Dallas Theater Center patrons donated $63,186.72 to the North Texas Food Bank during DTC's annual production of A Christmas Carol. The previous record of $48,988.85 was set in 2010. During the five-year partnership with NTFB, DTC patrons have donated $239,918.35 to the organization.

"At DTC, we believe that all of us are stronger when we work together. Our partnership with the North Texas Food Bank allows us to engage our audiences outside of the theater and to increase awareness about the many faces of hunger," says Dallas Theater Center Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty. "DTC is fortunate to have an audience so willing and eager to embrace our message and do whatever they can to support a worthy organization. I believe that Charles Dickens would be proud to see the impact his story has had on our community."

After each performance of A Christmas Carol, cast members invited patrons to make contributions to NTFB. On average, patrons donated $1,805.33 per performance. Each dollar provides three meals for North Texans in need. DTC also offered a collection site in the Kalita Humphreys lobby for non-perishable food items. Patrons donated a total of 568 pounds of food during the run of A Christmas Carol, which translates to 473meals.

In addition to collecting monetary and food donations, DTC staff, Brierley Resident Acting Company members and A Christmas Carol cast members donated their time by volunteering at the NTFB warehouse in October 2012. Over the course of two days, 14 DTC volunteers spent two days sorting, organizing and boxing food for distribution to NTFB programs. The first group packaged 3,750 pounds of food, the equivalent to 3,125 meals, for the Food 4 Kids program. Food 4 Kids provides backpacks full of nonperishable, kid-friendly food on Friday afternoons to elementary school children on the free and reduced-price meal program. On the second day, DTC volunteers sorted sweet potatoes for distribution through NTFB member agencies. In all, 360 boxes were prepared, which translates to 5,560 meals for hungry North Texans.

This year, the North Texas Food Bank celebrates its 30th anniversary. In the last three decades, the organization has grown from providing access to 333,000 meals a year to 47 million. NTFB is ReThinking Hunger by providing healthier food, developing new ways to extend their reach and by improving the lives of those it serves.

One of the leading regional theaters in the country, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 115,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Heather M. Kitchen, DTC produces a seven-play subscription series of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including Project Discovery, SummerStage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and community outreach efforts including leading the DFW Foote Festival and recent collaborations with the Dallas Public Library, Dallas Holocaust Museum, North Texas Food Bank, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Black Dance Theater. Throughout its history, DTC has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978, Robert Penn Warren's All the King's Men (directed by Adrian Hall) in 1986, and recent premieres of Giant by Michael John LaChiusa and Sybille Pearson, The Trinity River Plays by ReGina Taylor, the revised It's a Bird... It's a Plane... It's Superman by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, Give It Up! (now titled Lysistrata Jones and recently on Broadway) by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn, Sarah, Plain and Tall by Julia Jordan, Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson.

The North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) is a top-ranked nonprofit relief organization which leads the fight against hunger with knowledge-based strategies to distribute donated, purchased, and prepared foods through a network of feeding programs in 13 North Texas counties. NTFB supports the nutritional needs of children, families and seniors through research, education, advocacy and strategic partnerships. In FY 2012, NTFB provided access to more than 47 million nutritious meals, a 45% increase year-over-year. Founded in 1982, the year 2012 marks NTFB's 30th anniversary. NTFB is a member of Feeding America (feedingamerica.org).

Pictured: Chamblee Ferguson, Lisa Trotter and the ACC Cast. Photo by Dana Driensky.

 

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