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Sunday June 12th, 2011 4:00pm River Run Center, Guelph Ont

We enjoyed an inspiring evening as we celebrate “kids making a difference” at the Beyond the Stage charity show. Choose to be a part of the solution in helping START2FINISH to equip our nation’s close to 1 million impoverished children with the tools they need to break free from the cycle of generational poverty.

Letter from Start2Finish to Beyond the Stage - June 2011

Dear Claudia and Kelly,

I am writing on behalf of Brian and the entire Start2Finish team to thank you for your tremendous Vision, Courage, Passion, Dedication, Perseverance and Compassion  which once again made Beyond the Stage an afternoon/evening of great inspiration and hope.

The dancers in every dance “told” such incredible stories as they performed with such passion, joy, abandon and excellence. The consistent story they told so clearly throughout the evening was “We care”  Thank you for inspiring your dancers to see that they can make a difference in the lives of children who live in poverty and that the greatest resource they have to give is themselves and their passion for and gift of dance.

Thank you for the tremendous investment of your time, your energy and your resources in planning, creating and executing such a wonderful event. Your passion and audacious hope has inspired an entire community to believe they can make and are making make a difference and it is so evident that Margaret Meads words describe what Center Stage is accomplishing: Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens, can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” You are changing the world of Canadian children who live in poverty.

Thank you for providing the Willow Road Running and Reading Club with the tremendous opportunity to dance. I am sure it brought freedom, joy, hope into their lives. Thank you for making it possible for them to watch the Beyond the Stage performance and then to participate so beautifully and inclusively in the Finale.

Renowned author Frederick Buechner wrote: God calls us to a place where our deep passion and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Thank you for using your talent and passion to meet a deep hunger in the lives of the children of Willow Road, and the thousands of children we serve  across the nation through Start2Finish.

Thank you for your very generous donation of a year long dance scholarship; it has been such a gift for a child to be able to dance every week at Center Stage; it was the dream of a lifetime that became a reality for him because of your kindness and generosity. Thank you for once again offering a scholarship to one of our running and Reading Club students. What a year it will be for her.

We were overwhelmed and overjoyed by the number of books raised and the dollars raised through Beyond the Stage; this will enable Start2Finish to bring opportunity and hope to so many.

We love and appreciate you so much and are so grateful for all you have so generously given.

Sincerely,

Silvia Ruegger on behalf of Start2Finish

We invite you to take a look to our promotional video on YouTube - Enjoy it!

MISSION

• To nurture young leaders who understand the importance of giving back, particularly through the art of dance

 GOALS

• To provide an avenue for our students to gain a direct, hands on experience and encourage volunteerism in our youth
• To inspire future role models and develop strong leaders
• To provide our students with a performance opportunity that is community minded, not motivated by medals or trophies
• To generate awareness of a need in our own backyard
• To show our students that sharing their time and talents will improve the quality of life in their communities
• To demonstrate that active participation in community life can make their communities stronger
• To teach that dance is a visual art, and that each performance opportunity furthers the development of young artists

As teachers and mentors, we are keenly aware of our responsibility to each of your children and feel a deep sense of commitment to teach them the importance of helping those less fortunate than themselves.