Save this children's theater

Chicago Children’s Theatre artistic director Jacqueline Russell has successfully started kids’ camps several times in her career. But when she announced CCT’s Camp Red Kite—a two-week arts camp for children with autism—she encountered something she never had before: So many requests for financial assistance that the camp could shutter before it gets the chance to open in late July.

CCT will put on free productions of The Selfish Giant in Millennium Park this August. But their spring production of The Hundred Dresses had to be pushed back due to problems with the venue, which coupled with the bleak economic climate to create what Russell calls “the perfect storm.” And it’s been hearing warnings that it should expect less grant money in the coming year.

Not all of CCT’s operating budget comes from grants, though—a third of it comes from individual donors. “Where we really need the help of individual donations…is to help these kids attend camp,” Russell says. “With childhood, the window of opportunity is very small.”

Send a kid to camp by donating at chicagochildrenstheatre.org.

NEXT>>