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Help Avert a Circus Crisis
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June 9, 2003 |
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Editorial Note: Circus Center in San Francisco may be the country's best circus
training program. They're having financial trouble because of a massive
insurance premium increase. Here is the plea for assistance (including a
way to support them through on-line purchases at no cost to you) and some
background on the center.
The plea from Carlo Gentile:
"As you may already know, Orlene and I teach and train at the
Circus Center (formerly San Francisco School of Circus Arts). You
may not, however, be aware that the school is facing an
unexpected financial crisis. Though no claims have been filed,
the Circus Center's insurance premium skyrocketed from
approximately $11,000 to nearly $80,000 per year! Thats almost
$6,000 per month in unanticipated operating expenses. The Circus
Centers Executive Director, Staff, Board and Student Community
are all working on ways to deal with this alarming financial situation.
How You Can Help keep our doors open:
- Make a tax-deductible donation to the Circus Center.
Individual cash donations of any amount are deeply appreciated by
everyone at the Circus Center. If you'd like to make a donation
to the Circus Center's general operating fund, you can do so
online or by mail.
Donate online using a credit card via the Circus Center's secure site:
www.circuscenter.org/support/support_oview.html
Please send your check to:
Circus Center
755 Frederick Street
San Francisco, CA 94117-2755
For more info about the school visit:
www.circuscenter.org
- Sign up with eScrip and help us raise money...At No Cost to You.
Here's how it works:
Participating merchants contribute up to 8% of purchases you make
using your grocery loyalty and debit/credit cards that are
registered with eScrip.
Its Easy! Its Free! Its Powerful
There are no receipts to collect, no vouchers or certificates to
buy, no hassles for you--and every purchase counts.
Chances are youre already patronizing participating merchant partners (Safeway, Andronicos, Chevron, Payless, Spiegel, Sharper Image, Pep Boys, Big 5, Eddie Bauer, to name a few)
Sign up online at:
https://secure.escrip.com/jsp/supporter/registration/step1.jsp
It takes less than 5 minutes! The Group Name is Circus Center.
The Group ID# is 8501074.
If you prefer to sign up by mail, you can download a Sign Up form at:
http://groups.escrip.com/sign_up/signup_all.pdf
If you need assistance or have questions, contact Caroline Jones
at the Circus Center: caroline@circuscenter.org
We hope you will consider helping in any way you can.
Collectively, we can make a difference. Feel free to forward this
message to anyone you think may be sympathetic to our cause.
Orlene and I thank you. The Circus Center Community thanks you.
Circusfully,
Carlo & Orlene
--
Orlene & Carlo Gentile
Fool Time Circus
CEL: (415) 272-5490
carlo@fooltimecircus.org
orlene@fooltimecircus.org
www.fooltimecircus.org [future]
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Background on the school from an earlier letter from Dominique Jando:
It may seem an odd period to ask for help, the economy being what it is,
but
in these matters, one doesn't have always much choice where timing is
concerned - and indeed, the economy IS what it is!
Last Thursday, we received a call from our Insurance broker, telling us
that
the cost our general liability insurance, which has amounted so far to a
yearly total of $11,000.00, had been changed. It would now cost us
$100,000.00 to renew it , and we have to renew it this week. Although we
never had a claim on this insurance (students at the circus school are
covered by a separate insurance), our insurance company has decided that
our
business was too risky to maintain the rates we have had so far. Frantic
research confirmed what we already knew: There is practically no other
insurance company willing to cover our kind of business, not to mention to
cover it for less! (This is the requested $2,000,000.00 liability
insurance
on the building Circus Center occupies.) We simply do not have the cash
reserve to face this unexpected expense - which was not computed in our
present budget. Furthermore, fund raising has been extremely hard this
year,
and all performing art organizations have suffered in the bay Area and, of
course, nationally - to the extent that many of them have been obliged to
throw the towel. The truth of the matter is that, unless we find
immediately
ways to raise or borrow this money, we will have to close Circus Center.
Circus Center is heir to the legacy of the Pickle Family Circus, which
prompted the renaissance of circus arts in America as early as 1974 -
precisely at the time when Alexis Gruss and Annie Fratellini did so in
Europe. Circus Center is the home of the San Francisco School of Circus
Arts, the brainchild of Pickles Wendy Parkman and Judy Finelli, and both
the
Pickles and the SFSCA have fostered such talents as Larry Pisoni, Bill
Irwin, Geof Hoyle, John Gilkey, Gypsy Snider, Shana Carroll, Sam Payne,
Elsie and Serenity Smith (Gemini Trapeze), to cite but a few, all
original,
uniquely American circus artists. Circus Center is in the process of
creating the first professional circus school in the US - a process that
has already been started when Master Trainer Lu Yi, former Vice-president
of
the China Acrobats Association and Director of the Nanjing Acrobatic
Troupe,
took charge of the professional training at the School - and of reviving
the
old Pickle family Circus (now known as the New Pickle Circus).
This unique heritage and all these efforts are now threatened by
unexpected,
new insurance costs. Circus Center can certainly face its financial
obligations in the long term - but this is an emergency situation, which
we
were not prepared to encounter at this time. Therefore, any sort of
financial help is welcome at this point . And if you know of someone else
who can help, please do contact him or her. Circus Center is a
not-for-profit organization, and contributions are tax-deductible. If you
have any question or suggestion, please do not hesitate to call me, or our
Executive Director, Pat Osbon (at 415-759-8123, extension *816).
Thank you for your attention and for your help.
All the best,
--
Dominique Jando
Creative Director
(415) 759-8123, Ext. *819
Circus Center
755 Frederick Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
Visit us at www.circuscenter.org
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