Local youth theater looking for donations, sponsors to stay in operation

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - A local youth theater program is asking the public for donations or sponsorships to help with its day-to-day operations.

From leading roles to light and tech, students who participate in Xclaim! Inc.’s productions can walk away feeling like part of a family.

“It’s a wonderful place to get to know your community, and also build friendships that will last for a lifetime,” Savannah Sanders said. “Prince of Egypt was when I scored my first big role... It was Miriam. I love Prince of Egypt, especially the story.”

Xclaim! Inc is a non-profit organization that works to provide the local youth with acting, singing, dancing, and production experience through classes, shows, and more.

Its mission is to educate, inspire, and recognize youth performance artists and their mentors in the South Central Kentucky region.

“We’ve had a success story that was in Wizard of Oz, the very first show that was produced here,” Sanders said. “The person who played Glinda actually was in costume and design for Phantom of the Opera and the person who was supposed to play May got sick, then her backup was also sick. They were like, there’s a girl in costume and design that actually knows this part by heart and is a wonderful dancer and she got to play Meg for two weeks on Broadway.”

The company started in 2012 and has produced more than 200 productions for the community since its beginning. In order to be able to continue providing all of the things they do, Carter Ford and Savannah Sanders said the company needs money.

“We do have patrons and people who buy ads in our programs and things like that, so like show to show, things will be good,” Carter Ford said.

But it’s the day-to-day operations that need the most help.

“The executive director is the only person who’s on the payroll,” Ford said. “Even then he sacrifices parts of his check for the community and has been for a long, long time.”

They added that what the company needs is more support from the community and one of the ways that can be done is by becoming a title sponsor.

“One of the perks of being a title sponsor is getting your name right next to the Xclaim! logo on advertising material for the year and all that fun stuff, too,” Ford said. “Not to mention that with every donation tier, you get IRS tax deduction...you get the knowledge of knowing that you’re supporting youth performing arts in Bowling Green.”

There are also several options to donate without being a title sponsor, such as Players, Producers, Stars, Directors, and Superstars.

“This year, one of the people who donated to our technical fund gave us enough that we were able to buy brand-new LED backlights for the entire stage,” Ford said.

Donations can also be made to Xclaim! by shopping at your local Kroger, all you have to do is link your Kroger-Plus card to the non-profit on Kroger’s website.

The code to do so is NM483.

For more information about Xclaim! Inc, visit xclaiminc.com/.

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