247 Route 100, Suite 1003, Somers, NY 10589; 914.232.1180, 914.232.6827 fax
25 January 2012
Re: “30 Shows in 30 Days – Courage Continues At Home” Campaign
Dear Friends:
As we revel in the holiday season, H. G. Fairfield Arts Center wants to wish you a Happy Healthy Holiday Season and thank you for your great support over the past few months.
H. G. Fairfield received its Not for Profit status just this past May, and immediately we undertook a massive effort, dubbed “30 Shows in 30 Days,” to help raise funds and awareness for local Veterans and their families. October 1st through October 30th, H. G. Fairfield and nationally acclaimed comedian PJ Walsh traveled throughout the Mid-Hudson Valley. In 30 days, we logged 4555 miles, 760 labor hours, 40 performances, and entertained close to 800 veterans, their families and friends – all live, at VFW and American Legion Posts, at VA Medical Centers or nursing homes, at Pawling’s Towne Crier, then gifting the Posts and the PCJVC close to $5100.
Many of you attended and some of you hosted our shows. H. G. Fairfield is proud to have such great partners. We have thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and look forward to continuing to work together. As we promised at the onset, we have shared the proceeds, and many of you have expressed your deep gratitude for the funds that were raised through the comedy shows. The final part of our fundraising effort was to conclude our “30 Shows in 30 Days” comedy tour with a special award winning one man theater show, “OVER THERE: Comedy Is His Best Weapon,” at the Paramount Theater for the Arts on October 28th in Peekskill. Unfortunately for the 1000 who went to brownpapertickets.com and for the rest of us, mother nature threw us a curve ball and we were hit with a paralyzing snow storm which forced us to cancel the 2011 “30 Shows in 30 Days” grand finale show.
Although the cancellation of the Paramount show thwarted our fundraising, we far exceeded our goals of raising awareness of Veterans issues. We distributed almost 5000 posters, post cards, brochures, and printed materials. Our total newspaper & magazine advertising readership was 500,000. Our radio audience reach was 5 million listeners. Our internet exposure was likewise as phenomenal, with our taglines from print and radio totaling web entry numbers of 57.4 million. H. G. Fairfield spent about $32,000 to affect actually countless numbers across the mid-Hudson & metropolitan NYC sprawl, spending a little over ½ cent ($0.0058) per person reached in the region with the messages. The awareness campaign about veteran services and the local Posts’ veterans’ support presence went farther than any of us could have imagined.
Our Veteran’s Committee has already begun to work towards “What’s next?” and how to continue the momentum and networking we’ve begun. Funds for, awareness of, and outreach to women veterans is focus. We are looking at a “Women in Blues” Concert in conjunction with the Chief Nimham Veterans Memorial PowWow held every August in Putnam County.
There are many people to thank; for the tip of the iceberg – PepsiCo, NY Bottlers Association, RBC, Radovich & Dean Music, WDST, WPDH, WHUD, WHDD, 1010WINS, PPR, i95 – WRKI, 107.1 The Peak, Eventful Magazine, Our Town, Comcast Channel 8, Putnam County Joint Veterans Council (PCJVC), Kathie Fairfield Freston, the VFW, the American Legion, Putnam County Veterans’ Affairs, and the NYS Division of Veterans’ Affairs. Lastly, we wish to thank Navy Veteran PJ Walsh for his extraordinary dedication to our service men and women and their families, and to his own home area. PJ will be continuing to work with H. G. Fairfield Arts with his “Courage Continues At Home” initiative as we move to establish “30 Shows in 30 Days” as an annual event. As we move forward into 2012, and continue our efforts on behalf of Veterans and their families, we thank you for your efforts and hope we can count on your continued support.
Sincerely,
Kim A. Blacklock
President
Links:
For audio clip enter in search engine:
“morning show audio oct 2011 PJ Walsh 10 site:www.whud.com”
Announcement:
Dec 28th, 2011 at 8pm, PJ Walsh is Starring in “OVER THERE: Comedy Is His Best Weapon”, with Special Guest Patrick Carlin (www.PatrickCarlin.com) at the iconic
Bearsville Theater in the legendary Village of Woodstock, NY. “Mean Gene” Roth will also be singing his “American Soldiers Lullaby” (www.AmericanSoldiersLullaby.com). A portion of the net proceeds benefits local veterans. Please visit www.bearsvilletheater.com for tickets and more information, or call us at the office. Doors open at 7pm with tickets also available the night of. A reception will immediately follow the show.