Impact and Programs
Accomplishments
In our 11th year, Breanna’s Gift classes in dance, visual arts, music and performing arts continued at Ronald McDonald House Charities-Upper Midwest and Children’s Minnesota (on both Saint Paul and Minneapolis campuses). Over 1100 children and their families participated in our classes. Children in dance classes received more than 300 gifts including tap shoes, ballet slippers, tutus, costumes for boys and girls, beanie babies, castanets and more.
We sponsored our annual summer drama camp, presenting scenes from the newest play in our repertoire, Mary Poppins . Our teachers returned to Camp VIP (a week-long overnight camp experience for kids and their siblings who are or have been cancer patients at Children’s Minnesota) to lead nearly 100 children in dance and visual arts classes. And new to our series of workshops was the animated production of Aesop’s fable, The North Wind and the Sun . Children made all the art components, acted, recorded the voiceover and were technicians who moved all the pieces to create the animation.
This year, Breanna’s Gift Art Takeout® – our program for children too sick to attend group classes – delivered nearly 1700 more smiles to seriously ill children in the Twin Cities as well as those in children's hospitals in Rochester, Minnesota, California, Florida, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Current Goals
Our current year goals:
1) continue bringing our mission to our partners at 3 Twin Cities health care providers
2) explore program expansion at existing/new locations
3) continue/expand our Art Takeout program
Community or Constituency Served
Children with cancer and other serious illnesses.
Geographic Area Served
Primarily Minneapolis-St. Paul, Children's Hospitals in Madison, WI, Dallas, TX, Richmond, VA, Orlando, FL, Los Angeles, CA.
