Fresh Brothers has become one of our largest partners. They feed our technical crew, they feed our staff,
they feed our children at tech rehearsals and at productions in between productions and around the production times,
both here at the studio and also at the local theaters. Basically wherever we are in the South Bay,
we call on Fresh Brothers and they deliver with a smile. When I first went to them,
they were the ones who stepped up and said, we'd like to just give you these pizzas.
We opened Fresh Brothers at first. It was really, it was one of our goals to be an active part of our communities
and to be able to give back and it's pretty amazing how pizza has given us the ability to become philanthropic.
Businesses should get involved with nonprofits. Businesses should get involved with their communities.
There's always a way to give because the cost of not giving is so much greater.
Adam and Debbie lead by example and they're an incredible example of how a local business and organization
can get involved in the arts through doing what they do best, which supports what we do best.
There's huge value to an education in arts. It builds incredible confidence when you get on the stage
or you're in a room filled with just your peers and you have to put it out there
to be somebody who you are, who you aren't, who you might be, who you want to be.
One of the most valuable lessons a kid can learn when they're involved with a program like Pops
is how to take disappointment and how to turn that into something positive.
Not every kid who's a superstar gets the superstar role every time.
It's such an amazing life skill to learn how to deal with that and to kind of suck it up
and move forward and be tough and pick yourself back up and get out there
and act like you're the star of your part.
They're learning how a theater performance works.
They're learning how to interact with the audience.
They're learning how to work with the tech crew in the back.
They're learning so many different facets of what happens.
I think the reason why we like to be so involved is because it's so underfunded.
How can we help out not only just our schools and other great organizations
but even the kids that want to come and work in the theaters.
And Pops isn't the only place that we do that with. We really believe that within our schools themselves
that we need this type of education for our students and our youth.
This isn't about us tonight, although it seems like it with our picture everywhere.
But it's really about the students and that's where we need to keep the focus.
So in just a few minutes from now, it'll be time to open up the checkbooks.
It's time to think about those who may or may not be from the South Bay
that have the opportunity to be part of the Pops program
that may need some extra help that are part of the scholarship programs
which is so cool that Pops offers that to those who can't afford the program.
And that's really why we're here tonight is to think of those 20 to 30 students per year
that get the assistance to be a part of this program that take them to the next level,
that teach them the life skills, that let them move on to greater schools with a great education
and be these people that they haven't quite found yet.
Tonight, you could help them find who that person is.
