For The Civic Circle, GivingTuesdayNow was more than a global giving opportunity in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was also a chance to thank essential workers with a new song, express gratitude to our community, and help students get the meals they need during school closures.
We were excited to exceed our $2,000 target, thanks to a generous matching fund set up by some of our most supportive friends. We split our proceeds with No Kid Hungry Maryland, and were pleased to send them a check this week for $1,150. The balance will help The Civic Circle develop new remote programming for students, starting with a pilot video that will use our “Citizen Tango” song as a starting point for a virtual lesson about democracy, rights and responsibilities, and citizenship.
We released a new song on GivingTuesdayNow titled “Anyone Can be a Hero,” inspired by Martin Luther King’s statement that “Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve.” This was a labor of love between our teaching artists, Nick Newlin and LEA, and Civic Circle ally Greg Staley, who created the slide show celebrating essential workers as a pro bono gift to our group. You can watch the whole video here:
We also took advantage of GivingTuesdayNow to thank the many volunteers, board members, creative team members and corporate allies who have made this work possible so far. It was great fun creating what might be called our “Wall of Gratitude,” which really underscored how many different people it takes to launch and run a nonprofit.
Civic Circle Board
Michael Amilcar
Matt Brown
Manuela Ekowo
Tami Mark
Tony Nam
Ritchie Porter
Hannah Rosenberg
Bryan Straathof
Jeffrey Walker
Civic Circle Advisory Council
Mady Chalk
Carson Henry
Ted Goldstock (Pro Bono Counsel)
Margo Reid
Jeffrey Slavin
Teaching Artists
Lea Morris (LEA)
Nick Newlin
Creative Team
Ritchie Porter — Scriptwriting
Steve Steckler, Asparagus Media — Sound engineering, songwriting, bass
Marc Capponi, Debra Capponi, Uasuf Gueye — Songwriting
Chris Lange, Liz Porter — Videography
Tony Nam, Matt Brown, Nick Newlin – Script workshopping
Collaborating Groups
Carpe Diem Arts
Liberty’s Promise
Montgomery Housing Partnership (Making Home Possible)
Corporate and Community Sponsors
Cook Ross, Inc.
Lerch, Early & Brewer
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El Golfo Restaurant
All Set Restaurant
Buena Vida (Street Guys Hospitality)
Darden’s (Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Yard House)
Kaldi’s Social House
Moorenko’s Ice Cream
Not Your Average Joe’s
Pro Bono Support
Capacity Partners
Nonprofit Montgomery
Sharp Insight, LLC
Volunteers
Gigi Griffin
Judy Hogan
Sam Jordan
Sandy Moore
Michelle Mosher
Kathleen Orem (Founding Board and Founding Secretary)
Greg Staley
Samuel Suraphel
Guardian Angels
(Fundraising Team, GivingTuesdayNow Pledges)
Dixon and Rives Carroll
Vaughan Carroll
Mady Chalk
David and Linda Jessup
Nettie Legters and Dan Pearson
Patricia Maclay
Bill and Louisa Newlin
Margo Reid
Jeffrey Slavin
Lou and Di Stovall
Anne and Fred Woodworth
THANK YOU!
We thank all the heroes who make this group happen, and the good citizens who make this world a better place.