Sonia Plumb School of Dance Announces Launch of Crowdfunding Campaign for Hartford Youth

Sonia Plumb School of Dance is working to provide minority youth after school dance programs to build a stronger community through dance. The project's organizers are calling on the community to join this initiative by donating to a crowdfunding campaign or volunteering in the effort. All community donations will be doubled by Sustainable CT's Community Match Fund, which is an innovative funding resource for public, community-led sustainability projects.

If the campaign reaches its $8,000 goal by its fundraising deadline of August 31, the project will receive a matching grant of $8,000 from Sustainable CT. For project details and to donate, please visit: Patronicity.com/23dancescholarships.

The funds will be used to provide instructional training and pay instructors. Sonia Plumb states, "Our Hartford youth, which is 80% Black, Indigenous or People of Color (BIPOC), needs opportunities like these after school dance programs now more than ever. Most do not have access to online learning and have been unable to participate in in-person classes throughout the COVID19 pandemic. This opportunity is a game changer for the future of our youth as role models and active participants in their community."

Plumb continues, "The goal is to have 50% of students from the BIOPC community. Having the teachers' wages covered honors the work necessary for students to have exceptional training. Students will receive between 3-5 classes per week to begin in mid to late September once families have settled into back to school mode. These students, who would not normally be able to afford after school programs, now have somewhere to go, to meet new friends and be a part of the larger community - a community with similar values and ideals."

Sustainable CT is an initiative of the Institute for Sustainable Energy (ISE) at Eastern Connecticut State University that inspires, supports, and recognizes sustainability action by towns and cities statewide. The Community Match Fund, supported by the Smart Seed Fund, Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, and the Connecticut Green Bank, provides a dollar-for-dollar match to donations raised from the community, doubling local investment in projects.

"Through the Community Match Fund, we aim to put residents at the forefront of creating positive, impactful change," said Abe Hilding-Salorio, community outreach manager for Sustainable CT. "Match Fund projects are community led and community funded, demonstrating the power of people working together to make change in their communities."