OCTOBER 25, 2022
A LETTER FROM THE AOLC PRESIDENT
Art of Life Charities is pleased to have been able to support our 2022 beneficiary, Therapeutic Adventures, Inc. (TA), a 501c3 nonprofit. with a donation check in the amount of $9840.56!
It was an easy choice for the Executive Board to select Therapeutic Adventures, Inc., since the work they do for the community is amazing. This charity makes incredible positive impacts on the quality of life of individuals who have unique health challenges.
As stated on TA's website www.taonline.org, part of their mission statement reads:
"Therapeutic Adventures (TA) / IndependencePlus Adaptive Sports (I~AS) provides leadership, programs and specialty therapeutic services to educate, to challenge, and to inspire persons of all ages and abilities. Individuals who have experienced traumatic or catastrophic life events must learn positive ways to adapt and overcome those challenges."
This year, many of the adaptive athletes who TA serves were able to attend the inaugural gala due to the kindness of the TA Founder/CEO, Mark Andrews. The event was centered around art and kindness. The program featured a TA adaptive child athlete keynote speaker who was non-verbal. She spoke to the crowd through eye gaze and incredible computer technology. Speaking of eyes, there was not a dry one in the house during her presentation.
We also had the privilege of hearing from Paralympian Josh Sundquist who sent a special video message talking about his experience with TA from a young age and how it changed his life.
The incomparable Kim B Miller, Poet Laureate Emerita, performed her beautiful poetry which was on-point with the audience and very moving.
New artist, Cynàa-Nicole received two standing ovations for her superior singing performance.
Founder/CEO of TA, Mark Andrews, eloquently spoke about TA and the wonderful work his team does and thanked AOLC and others who made the evening possible.
The AOLC team MCed the event and DJ Claw was in the house to keep the energy up with a dance-off and a drawing contest.
Local businesses and artists donated incredible art and experiences for the silent auction portion of the evening. Everything on the auction block sold!
The event was catered by Spoon and Spindle at Madison at the Mill in Orange, VA with desserts provided by Missy Moodie's Sweet Treats and apéritifs by Iron Pipe Alewerks.
Everyone had an incredible evening while supporting a great cause at the same time. AOLC's mission was accomplished: "Employing the Arts to Support Communities in Need".
Thank you to all of our donors and volunteers! Everyone came together to create the success of our mission. We hope you will join us next year when we help someone else in the community who is doing great things! To volunteer and be a part of AOLC's amazing team, please email us today HERE or Donate Today to help us help others.
Very Sincerely,
Kelly Haneklau, Founder/President, AOLC
Pictured above from left to right:
Karen Propheter (2022 AOLC Events Committee Chair), Cindy Lancaster (2022 AOLC Vice President), Kelly Haneklau (AOLC Founder/2022 President), Mark Andrews (TA Founder/CEO)
We were thrilled to hear about our gala on the radio, Lisa Berigan!!
(pictured left) Thank you for the blog post too! Read about it HERE!
Our amazing team of volunteers and staff are committed to helping others. We take our convictions and turn them into action. Think you would like to be a part of our organization? Please get in touch with us for more information!
Our journey began with the Art Of Life GALA in 2019, to aid other organizations in need. Since then, we have been working hard at building our organization. We hope our mission continues in a never-ending culture of community and kindness.
"Employing the Arts to Support Communities in Need."
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