Read About Create Now! Special Events
We help kids in trouble turn their lives around
Create Now! changes the lives of high-risk and at-risk youth through creative arts mentoring, resources and opportunities.
Volunteer Now!
Donate Now!
| Join Our Mailing List |
Home >> Events >> Newsletter Archive >> December 2006
Changing
troubled children's lives through creative arts
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
Welcome |
 Cirque du Soleil invites 600 kids to Delirium |
 Preschool Early Literacy Classes |
| Welcome |
As
we approach the end of 2006, it’s gratifying to look back at all the
diverse programs that Create Now! has provided to more than 2,500
high-risk and at-risk youth in Southern California, since the beginning of this
year. Not only have we expanded our programs to reach more troubled youth,
but the organization has strengthened its foundation. We’ve built our
board of directors to include more dedicated, hard-working individuals. Robin
Garfield has joined us as our Development Director. And we’ve enlisted
the help of many fantastic volunteers and mentors, as well as support from
the government, corporations, individuals and private foundations. Create
Now! is making great strides in our work to bring therapeutic arts to
the neediest youth in our community.
We do hope that as you are in the mode of giving this holiday season, you’ll
add Create Now! to your list. What other gift can truly change
the life of a child? Please consider donating to Create Now! and help
us to help those who may not otherwise have a chance. To make an online donation,
click here.
To mail a monetary donation, send to: 2007 Wilshire Blvd., Suite # 919; Los Angeles,
CA 90057-3588.
Remember, donations are tax-deductible.
Thank you in advance for your continued support!
Founder and Executive Director
Create Now!
| What's New |
Radio Interview
The Rolanda Watts Show airs daily throughout the country via Greenstone Radio, the network founded by Jane Fonda, Gloria Steinem and Rosie O'Donnell.
A veteran of Los Angeles radio, New York City television and the syndicated entertainment show “Inside Edition,” Watts was motivated by her mentor as a youth. She decided to do a show on mentoring in Los Angeles. The producer of this popular new program is Glenda Shaw, a Create Now! mentor who joined us seven years ago when she worked with a group of teenage boys incarcerated at Camp Gonzalez. Glenda invited Create Now! founder Jill Gurr to speak on the subject, along with one of our students, José Ramirez, and his mentor Diane Namm.
Click Here to Listen to the Broadcast - Real Player
Art Workshop for Abused Teenage Girls
 |
Hilary Sloane has led an exciting life for the past thirty years, working all over the world as a talented visual artist, photographer, wardrobe stylist and a make-up artist.Yet she didn’t need to travel the globe in order to have some thrills. For the past ten months, she's enjoyed an extraordinary adventure right in her own neighborhood. Hilary joined Create Now! as a mentor and we referred her to Vista Del Mar Child & Family Services. This large facility in West Los Angeles is both home and school to around 100 children who suffer the emotional, physical, psychological and social consequences of abuse, neglect and abandonment. Their Volunteer Coordinator Linda Karchem worked with our organization to set up an after-school take heART! workshop starting in April 2006, with eight teenage girls that live in one cottage. |
| Recent Events |
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil, the award-winning, international circus that fuses music, dance, theatre and incredible acrobatic feats into an astounding show, has generously donated thousands of tickets to Create Now! over the past few years, so that we can fulfill our mission of bringing the healing power of the arts to the most troubled children in our community. Most of the youngsters that Create Now! serves are emotionally-disturbed and have serious behavioral problems because of the abuse and neglect that they've had to endure. When they're given the chance to experience performances by Cirque du Soleil, they're deeply impacted and it affects their lives in many ways.
On September 15-17 2006, Cirque du Soleil gave Create Now! 600 tickets to their newest show "Delirium" at the STAPLES Center.
Early Literacy Classes for Preschoolers
According to the latest report by the Department of Education, over one million
students in the U.S. drop out of school each year and 85% of juvenile offenders
are illiterate. It’s crucial for everyone in society to be able to read
and write, as a foundation for life and the well-being of our entire world.
Evidence shows that learning to read is not a naturally occurring stage in a child's life. These skills must be taught, and the earlier the better. Create Now! values our literacy programs as one of the key components that we offer to high-risk and at-risk youth in the community.
|
Kids' Kreations |
By Create Now! Art Contest Winner Leslie Herrera, age 11, Children's Institute
| Click and Donate |
Donations to Create Now! in any amount are greatly appreciated. Contributions are urgently needed to support our expanding programs. Please join Create Now! today in reaching the thousands of children who need our help. 90% of all contributions given to Create Now! directly benefit the high-risk and at-risk children in our programs. Every penny counts, so please give generously today?
|
| Sponsors |
Create Now! Thanks the Yahoo! Employee Foundation
Thanks to Create Now! Treasurer Michael Egan who is the Director of Content Strategy & Operations at Yahoo! Search Marketing, and to the Yahoo! Employee Foundation (YEF), as well as the Peninsula Community Foundation, Create Now! has received another grant for $ 18,750 toward our Sound Off! music programs in 2006-2007.
In 2005, Yahoo! gave us a donation of $ 5,000 to bring our music programs to at least 400 of the most troubled kids in our community between September and December 2005. We arranged music programs for hundreds of incarcerated youth with Mark Schulman and Create Now! alumni K.L. (Michael Monroe) at Phoenix House, Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall and Camp David Gonzalez. In addition, we presented our inspirational drumming program at HOLA (Heart of Los Angeles) for dozens of at-risk elementary and middle-school children. Beth Sussman provided her special program, "Who's Afraid of Classical Music," at Vista Del Mar and Five Acres facilities. And Josh Andrews taught a very popular Guitar Workshop to teenage boys at Gardner House.
Ultimately, Create Now! surpassed our goal and brought music projects to more than 430 high-risk and at-risk youth in our community during the last four months of 2005. We're confident that we'll greatly exceed those numbers next year, thanks to Yahoo!
 |
||
|
||
 |
 |
 |
Create Now! is an independent, 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, founded in 1996.