Rant

I'll probably upset a few people by posting this, if they read it, but I doubt they will.

I am on the Board of my local Arts Center.  Our stated mission is "Affordable Arts Education for everyone"  We subsist on the fees we change for classes ( which don't actually cover the true COST of the class) and grants.  The grants had helped to offset the operating costs to keep the doors open.  Well, the grants dried up.  We can't raise class fees and we can't seem to get the community involved in helping the Center.  Please know that everyone I talk to gushes about how important the Center is to the community and what a treasure it is and blah, blah blah.   Very few of them actually reach into their wallet and hand over a donation.  Recently the local "new" newspaper in town printed a half baked hatchet job on the condition of the Center.  Never mind the FACTS, the reporter was fed lies and half truths about things and chose to take the word of a person who had an axe to grind. Yes, I believe I know who it is and I am disappointed in this person. The reporter did not ask the Board to respond and ran with it.  The poor soul probably imagined himself to be both Woodward AND Bernstein of the S-T community.  We are STILL dealing with the fallout and I am shocked to see how many vultures are circling to cheer the demise of the Center. Here's MY two cents:


The Board is all volunteer.  We don't get paid a dime and most of us are ponying up a good chunk of money to keep the doors open.

When you come to an event,  BUY something or donate  a few bucks.  We had an event this weekend that the people who came to seemed to enjoy.  A few people enjoyed the free snacks  ( he snacks are donated by me and another Board member as part of our commitment to the Center) and the music for a mere $5, and kept coming back to the bar to get water and more snacks, but didn't even toss a dollar in the tips jar. Seriously, EVERYTHING we do is a fund raiser.  This last event was a terrible disappointment and we didn't make enough to warrant the time it took us to do the event. 

Non-profit doesn't mean we don't have operational costs.  We do.  I have hit up all my friends and co-workers to help me to raise money for the Center.  I appreciate everyone who has stepped up to help- most of whom DON'T even LIVE up here. They will not be taking classes here, their kids won't go here, but the magic of the Center is alive for those who visit there.

I just don't know what to do to make the COMMUNITY understand this. Like the Joni Mitchell song says "Don't it always seem to go, that you don't know what you've got till it's gone."