Thursday, July 30, 2009

Rock The Boat Basin Weather Report



If you don't yet have your Rock the Boat Basin ticket, you'll need one to join in on GOTO's bash tonight. But you won't need your galoshes.

Tonight's weather report looks fantastic. So enjoy your one-day thunderstorm reprieve by enjoying an adult beverage outdoors and helping us send some more kids to camp.

Advanced ticket sales end at 3pm today.

$75 tickets will be available at the door.

And the party starts at 8.

Hope to see you there ...


Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Notes From A Camper: Crystal '09

Crystal - a 1st time GOTO NY Scholar - just returned home from Appel Farm on Sunday and she couldn't wait to share her experiences with (and to thank) the GOTO faithful. Here's what she had to say ...

Thanks for the scholarship I'm really grateful for that! I had a blast making new friends and performing for everybody! I felt accepted by the first to the second night. Everyone is awesome over there! As you should know i went on the first session June 26- July 24.

My major was voice, my minors were piano and swimming and I had a great time doing it all. In my major I learned a lot of songs and I had fun, my performance in swimming has improved and in piano I learned a lot, a lot!

It was very hard to say goodbye. Everybody was crying I felt very sad but I just couldn't cry, but it's okay at least I get to keep in touch with my friends! I'll name some of my friends: Aron, Sarah, Ella, Audrey, Alyssa, Clare, Glendon, Christian, Josh, Josh P., Josh C., Marco, Jonathan, Brett, Aloria, Sammy, Cyan, Emma, Ahmira, Theresa, Alex, Dana, Jasmine, Maysa, Marialle, Sean, Tommy, Kyle, Katy, Shannon, Peter, Anna, Natalia, etc.

Again thanks for providing me with this great experience, I'll forever be grateful!!!

Sincerely,

Crystal

Monday, July 27, 2009

A GOTO First: A Pet-Friendly Party

The 79th Street Boat Basin - site of Thursday's Rock the Boat Basin fundraiser - will bring together GOTO supporters from all walks of life. Bankers, teachers, lawyers, marketers and ... collies?

GOTO will have a chance to make history on Thursday - to break our eight-year-long streak of dogless fundraisers. According to the dog travel directory BringFido.com, the 79th Street Boat Basin is a rarity - a legit "dog friendly" restaurant in New York City.

If you haven't bought your tickets yet, grab them now before they're all gone.

You'll want to be there to witness history.

Who Would've Guessed ... Active People Volunteer More

We're always on the lookout for good volunteers over here at GOTO. Maybe we should be spend more time recruiting in jazz clubs? Check out this research from National Endowment for the Arts:

Regardless of a person’s education level, gender, or age, performing arts attendance increases the probability of volunteering by 25 percentage points. Moreover, levels of activity, including arts and sports attendance, are better predictors of volunteering than are demographic traits.

The report, titled Volunteer & Performing Arts Attendance: More Evidence From the SPAA is filled with answers to the question "Why are volunteers always so awesome?" Check out the full report here.

Introducing GOTO New York’s Class of ‘09

Appel Farm's 2nd session of camp began yesterday. And given that most of our New York scholarship recipients attend the August session (there are fewer school conflicts than with the earlier session), we thought that now would be a good time to introduce our new class of kids. Either that or we forgot to post it sooner. So without any further ado ...

Sinaya attends PS 72 in Brooklyn, NY. A budding modern dancer, Sinya looks forward to learning ballet, jazz, tap and folk styles at camp.

Jade is a student at PS/IS 73 in Brooklyn where she impresses her teachers with the sophistication of her painting, drawing and sculpting.

Christian attends Mott Hall II in Manhattan. He is passionate about photography and capturing moments on film.

Kayla is from PS 175 in the Bronx. She sings in the chorus and enjoys harmonizing in groups.

Malik is an artist inspired by both nature and comics. A student at PS/IS 73 in Brooklyn, Malik creates his own original comic books by drawing characters from his favorite strips and placing them in his own stories.

Blessing is a student at MS 144 in the Bronx. A recent African emigrant, Blessing has had to learn to communicate in a new language. She sees the visual arts as a universal language and looks forward to expanding her ability to express herself creatively.

Crystal attends TASS Middle School in Manhattan. Her teachers describe her voice as "amazing" and Crystal hopes to compliment her vocal talents by learning piano.

Alexander attends PS 175 in the Bronx. His mother describes him as a shy artist who will benefit from learning amongst like-minded students.

Kwaku is a student at Mott Hall II in Manhattan. He is passionate about music and hopes to study film at camp in order to create music videos.

Jenzia is Bronx resident and student at The Center School in Manhattan. A singer, Jenzia plans to expand her vocal talents at camp.