Super Service Challenge 2013

Submission from The Detour Company Theatre

Dear Diane, On September 27th, 2013 you contacted me on behalf of Detour Company Theatre about the Super Service Challenge- sponsored by Brees Dream Foundation and CWAM. Detour Company Theatre is a unique theatre company that provides authentic theatre experiences for adults with developmental and other special needs (deafness, blindness, CP, autism). Currently, 48 actors and 22 coaches are rehearsing for our January performances of Hairspray. Many of our Coaches are volunteers. Your information states you are looking for teams of volunteers from various companies doing charitable community service work. We recently had a "team" from Wells Fargo paint blocks for our sets. This was the first time we have had that kind of help. I have asked the team leader to submit but with a busy work schedule and as an active volunteer of our organization, I don't know if they will. We rent space for rehearsals, we sew costumes in our homes, we paint sets at various locations so we are not set up to have corporate "teams" help us.

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Page 2 We are a non profit and very deserving of the prize money. What we do have are loyal volunteers,from various backgrounds, that help with our day to day activities which include, but are not limited to, sewing costumes, writing newsletters, coaching our actors, coordinating and serving meals before our shows to our actors, helping them dress and apply makeup and grooming before the shows. I am also a volunteer. I run the Board Meetings, Sell Advertisement for our Programs, and do many other administrative tasks. Our Board Members all have different backgrounds and are all volunteers. They write our grants, provide Sign Language Interpretation, and help with all aspects of our shows. The pictures I have attached are from our "Detour on Tour" group. In addition to our full cast performances, we also have our touring company which is comprised of a smaller part of the company. These pictures illustrate our volunteers, helping to launch the show "Seussical Jr." in Sun City, AZ November 17th, 2013. What you don't see is all of the hours it took to put this show on the road. We performed for over 200 people that day. We provided a unique theatre experience for them and also delivered our message, about the "different abilities" in all of us.

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Page 3 The 3rd question that was asked is: What would the non profit do if they won part of the prize money? Detour has many inquires all year from parents of potential actors. Our philosophy is to not turn anyone away and be inclusive. The space we rehearse in is limiting the number of people we can serve. Prize money would help pay for rent and allow us space to rehearse, have an office, storage space, etc. and room so that we could encourage teams of volunteers to help us with projects. We are primarily a volunteer organization, we would like to hire staff to help us with our growth. We provide transportation to some of our Actors and our van is in need of some repairs. Prize money would also help pay for costumes and sets. I hope the Brees Dream Foundation and CWAM will take into consideration our unique circumstances. Detour Company Theatre provides opportunities to our Actors that they wouldn't have otherwise. In addition, our shows are fabulous and we are providing a service to the community that they wouldn't have had. Thank you for your consideration and for inviting us to be a part of this challenge. Sincerely, Joyce Lefco Board President www.detourcompanytheatre.org