Making it Work!

Oh My Goodness! One of my fav sites, Blogging Project Runway has agreed to make us a "Friend of BPR" and their mistress of "Making it Work", Laura K., voted for Billy! HURRAY! Can I mention that I JUST emailed her and within 15 minutes she already voted and wrote back to me? FABU!!!

What You're Helping

Please Visit http://www.cpsoa.org!

Have you ever seen a school production that looks like this? (These are from a dress rehearsal)

The fans were also used for this amazing dance routine, and the sound of the fans opening all together, "Clack," gave you goosebumps!

The ages of the kids performing range from 3-16!

The first half of the show centered on the struggle of children in Asia (child labor conditions) and the second half focused on the struggle of children in Africa (The AIDS crisis). I don't know of any other school program that would tackle such topics. The product was this amazing show that tugged at your heart, amazed your eyes (the costumes and sets were professional grade), inspired your ears (the sounds of children singing out made you proud), made you shout with joy (the dance numbers were baffling and FIERCE) and just plain happy.

PLEASE VOTE FOR BILLY AND CREATIVE PLANET!!!

THANK YOU - Revised

As promised, I plan on posting SHOUT OUT Thank You's to all who have Voted For Billy. If you have voted, let me know so I can give you the proper credit. If I've missed anyone so far, let me know! THANK YOU for VOTING! Keep visiting us to track Billy's progress and see if we can help Creative Planet Win!
THANK YOU TO: (I'm thinking the Animaniac's Wakko's Cities of the World as I'm typing this)
Matthew Alexander, Jennifer Thomas, Brenda Moore, Carol Llewellyn, George Emerson, Allie Fukashima, Marie Trudeau, Craig Coogan, Marty Brier, Jim Geiger, Elsa & Art, Daniel Neri, Kevin Robison , Markus Honaker, Heather Shaw, Deanne Bringle, Debbie Warren, Cathy Madrid, Rick Delia, Jim Dugan, Julie Raya, Shaista Siraj, Maya Latinovic, Gyongyver Sovago, Debbie Stone, Craig Mendelsohn, Scott Williams , Ken Potter, Erika Walczak, Kevin Anawati, Amanda Thompson, John Tejeda, Jodie Gonzales, Hanson Tam, Michelle Ishida Orne, Tom Bourdon, David Peterson, Nik Murrow, Mark Lubas, Andrea Amico, Lou Reynolds, Laura K., Chuck Doyle, Thom Blackmore, Amy Engelhardt, Adam Pizzo, Ani Aghamalian, Santo Ragno, Yolanda Campo, Murielle Ferdinand, Shari Kraus, Joanna Gleason, Mary Smith, Fawn Weaver, Janet Brown, Mary Ellen Vanroyen, Robin Clark, Kelly Teo, Elena Fragasso, Debbie Stone, Trevor Orne, Traci Nakagawa, Gary Holt, Michele Spears, Lisa Gustavson, Fred Adams, Jerry Fecht, Janne Fecht, Kimberly Shriner, Bob Wilson, Russ Lee, Vickie Holmes, Sonnie Swenston, Gita Sharma, Janie Kohler, Deborah Galle, Oliver Ferry, Christine Kornreich, Jennifer Fishkin, Ben Fonseca, Nelson Ishida, Mark Orne, Charlotte Shiffman, Frank Scannicchio

Why the Blog

Blogs are my new hobby. I love reading them but don't always have the time to write one. However, for a cause like this I will make the exception. This blog will track our progress in counting our crusade for votes. I'll post Thank You's and hopefully we can get linked to major blogs/websites that I frequent.

This is our mission: Help Mr. Billy Win!!! If he wins Creative Planet School
of the Arts will receive $23,000 to continue providing low-income, at risk
youth with the wonderful programs offered at CPSOA.

The Basics:

Who: This email is dedicated to Bill Rugh, the students of Creative Planet, and our campaign to "Vote for Billy"

What: Dr. Pepper is sponsoring a contest called "Pepper Your Community" and our friend Billy is one of the 23 finalists! He, Michelle Benton, and Santo Ragno run their own non-profit arts school named "Creative Planet School of the Arts." It's a fierce "Fame for K-8" and focuses on at-risk and underprivileged youth. The two winners get $23,000 for their charity and it would be SO WONDERFUL if CPSOA won! The great thing is that it's based on votes at this point...so the more we get the word out and the more you vote, the better chance he has at winning!

Where: http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/drpepper/getpeppered/vote/index.php (Directions below)

How: You have to be logged into your "My Yahoo" account to win. If you don't have one, you need to sign up for one. Sorry, this is their rules, not ours! However, it takes minutes to sign up for one and seconds to vote! AND, you don't need to create a Yahoo email address to have an ID.
Please go to the following link:
http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/drpepper/getpeppered/vote/index.php
-Go to the lower link and select "vote for your favorite finalist" -Again, you need to be signed into My Yahoo for this to work. If you do not have a Yahoo ID you may have to sign up first. What's a few minutes to win $23,000!!! -After you've done that, go back to the Dr. Pepper link. -click on "select your favorite nominee" -find Bill R., Duarte, CA and click the white dot next to his photo -then scroll down and hit "submit my vote." After that, you're done and we're that much closer to our goal!

When: NOW, NOW, NOW!!! Voting ends August 11th and winners will be announced August 25th, so you have a LIMITED time to Vote! You can only vote once per Yahoo ID.

Why: Check out the school's website (www.cpsoa.org) to see all the amazing things they do for our community... not only arts and academic education, but they also perform often at the Children's Hospital of LA, they have sung in choral festivals to raise money for homeless shelters, and most recently created a performance in Pasadena that raised $50,000 for kids with AIDS and AIDS orphans in Tanzania. These are some amazing, talented, and powerful
kids... along with a staff of teachers and artists that work for extremely low wages, I can't think of anyone more deserving who will put their prize money to creating more change in the future generations of Los Angeles. Winning this money would be an amazing help for Billy and the school. They could provide more scholarships and financial aid; purchase more dance shoes, books, instruments, and art supplies; and continue to inspire the youth of LA with the minds to create, the hands to build, and the voices to be heard.