Last night I had to work the 'WordPlay Gala' for my job at the Writers Theatre. This is the biggest fundraising event of the year for us! It was held at the Peninsula hotel in Chicago. It was a very high end exclusive event that was targeted towards all of our donors and board members that support the theatre. While the premise is to celebrate the success of theatre by enjoying a 5-course grand meal, serving premium wine and experiencing exceptional entertainment, the primary focus like all of our events in development is, to raise more money.
The part I played in the grand scale of things was small but beneficial =) One of my main responsibilities of the night was to sell raffle tickets. We were raffling off 15,000 dollar in cash and we were only selling 500 tickets(so chances were looking good for those who wanted to play) During the cocktail hour I worked the room in my sleek black dress, making sure I was selling those 100 dollar raffle tickets. I came up good and I couldn't help but laugh at the drunk C.E.O's and trophy wives who threw their black amex cards at me, purchasing up to 6 raffle tickets at one time! I couldn't help but think to myself, "damn, you just bought enough raffle tickets to pay my rent!!"
Following the cocktail hour and dinner, I had to work as an auction spotter. A fun experience. I had a section of tables I had to keep an eye on and encourage to bid. It was fun interacting with the people to raise their bids and create a sense of competition! It sorta felt like a a very intense game, where you wanted your section to go the highest! We had all types of nice treats for our donors to bid on. A premium instant wine cellar, trips to Tuscany, Cabo, etc but the craziest one was a trip for four, on a private jet to this premiere exclusive golf resort in NEBRASKA! One of our donors bought it for 23,500!! I was thinking who the heck buys a trip to NEBRASKA for 23,500 dollars???
But it was in that moment that it hit me! These elite people were not throwing their money away just because they wanted to go to Nebraska or Cabo! They could go to these places any time of the year, heck 5 times in one year if they really wanted! The money for these 'trips' were essentially going towards the support of the theatre, the support of the arts and more importantly the support of their COMMUNITY!
A lot of things were going through my mind towards the end of the night, as my co-workers and I shared drinks and laughter at the hotel bar. I remember when I began working in development my intention was to learn the insides of how to run a theatre company properly. I was excited because development is the core unit of any functioning theatre company. So I walked into this position thinking I would learn all the proper tactics and tools for funding and apply all my knowledge to my own production company(Don't Even Tripp Productions). But in the end, I've come to learn something even more valuable...
True funding, great support and ultimate success comes from the support of your fellow neighbors and community. For the first time ever in my life, I had a new respect for this elite crowd. In some ways or another, these people sorta resembled community leaders. Not in the traditional sense of what I viewed a community leader to be, but nevertheless they were dedicated, passionate and more importantly, they showed SUPPORT of those in their community and I had to respect that.
I then begin to think about the communities in which I came from...where was our support? where was our resources? why were we in such lack?
It's crazy because a good friend of mine who too has passion for the community and arts, is currently working as an office-clerk for Contra Costa County back in California. She is dealing with people who are on welfare. There is such a contrast in our jobs in the sense that I am working with individuals who write checks(HUGE AMOUNTS) and she is dealing with people who are trying to get checks(government aid)
The other crazy yet obvious contrast that we both have discussed is, how the people who are writing the checks are white and the people who are looking for the checks, are the people of color. This is by no means by pure coincidence(but we can discuss that in another blog) I want to stick to the topic of community. In the community of Glencoe(where I work) the demographics(by no surprise) are made up of affluent wealthy white people, they are in a position to give and support. And while some people may begin to think, 'well damn why don't they support those who are less fortunate? As oppose to writing a 23,500 check to go to Nebraska that will go towards their theatre company?!'
But my question is different...why don't we as a community take from their example and learn to support one another instead of looking for others looking to support us?
it's a simple question that can bring a variety of complex answers
but here is my simple take on it...
As a young African American women myself, since I came from a community that was in lack and that is still in need, who am I not to give back? Although I am not in the same financial position as the people of Glencoe, I too aspire one day to be in position where I can give tremendously! I also think it is important that we as a people do not forget that there are many other ways to give back outside of our money. Through your time volunteering, mentoring, setting up programs, or even setting an example by going to college or grad school to not only better yourself but your community, are examples of the little things that eventually turn into the bigger things that helps restore our communities.
Maybe I feel this urgent need to take responsibility for our communities because I hate that there are so many people of color in lack. I understand there are a number of institutionalized programs that promote injustices to keep us down, but I'm not looking towards those who are oppressing us to do something, I think we should instead look to ourselves. I want to see my community in a position where we are not looking towards the government to write our checks, but instead we're looking to write our own!
Despite all my conflicting thoughts, I am thankful for experiences such as last night. Last night gave me a new vision for Don't Even Tripp Productions. I now envision within 10 years, after we have our own offices(in the Bay Area, Chicago and San Diego) we'll be having our own Gala too. A night celebrating, arts, culture and education. Good food and great music!
We'll have an auction too! Except we won't auction off wine and trips, we'll auction off scholarships, tuition payments, housing, funding for schools, funding for the arts, etc... We'll have donors and board members(of all colors and different backgrounds) who support the arts and have a passion to give back to our communities that need it the most.
It's so funny how I thought the number one thing I was going to get from this job was learning structure and networking to build a proper board for the company. But if anything, this experience has taught me what really is important; which is staying true and connected to the community in which you came from...crazy how being away from my community has given me an even stronger drive to stay more connected =)
I've also come to learn that the best lessons in life, are the ones you were not expecting to be taught! And I am ever so thankful for this unexpected lesson =)
