Hey everyone!

We are in the midst of our 3rd annual Auction for Collaborative Arts! Every year, this fantastic auction gets even better! Choose from over 80 great items, goods and services. You can score a gift certificate to a nice restaurant or get massage work done. There's homemade cookies and handmade soaps, original artwork, DVDs, CDs and much more. There is something for everyone in there! Even better, you can bid knowing that every penny that you spend, whether on something for yourself or for a loved one this holiday season, will go directly towards helping kids in inner-city Philadelphia. Make your holiday purchases go twice as far this year and head on over to Yes! And...'s 2008 Auction for Collaborative Arts.

The auction runs on-line until 11.59pm December 11, 2008
http://www.yesandcamp.org/auction

Your items will be shipped in time for the holidays!

For any bid that is GREATER than the retail value, you will get a receipt for the difference for your year-end taxes!

Over the past 4 years, we have been offering a unique program to the high school students that have been with our program. We call it SHADOW Camp. During the summer, we spend 6 weeks together - 1 week in intensive job training and interpersonal skills, then 3 weeks working at one of our Theatre or iMagination Camps, then we take 2 weeks to let our own creative juices flow at an arts intensive camp of their own.

For this program, every year we set out to raise $1000 (or more), only ONE DOLLAR at a time, through the internet. So help us spread the word! Post it to your blog, your MySpace or Facebook profiles, your personal website, anything! We can do it! You can help!

Click here to donate through PayPal:

Here's another link to donate $1 (Click here). To donate more, please visit the Yes! And... website at www.yesandcamp.org

Every on-line donation is secure through PayPal. You can also mail in a dollar (or check) to Yes! And... 3721 Midvale Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19129. Or you can call the office with your Credit Card information 215-951-0330 x 2117. You can also hand a staff member a dollar, if you see them soon. But do it soon, this fundraiser ends on July 4th! (We're setting off fireworks downtown in Philly to celebrate - you should come see!)

Just a big thank you to all who came out to our benefit concert: "Inner Monologue". You raised over $2000 for summer camp kids! Way to go!

Just a word of thanks to Birdie Busch, John Mallinen and Joshua Park for donating their time and talents as performers for this event.

Thanks to Rembrandt's Restaurant and Bar, Scott Armstrong, Jamie Moffett, our board of directors, and all the other folks who worked to make this a fantastic event.

If you were unable to attend the event, but would still like to make an impact in a child's life this summer, you can donate on-line through PayPal. Just click here to make a difference!

Thanks!

Michael

A Winter Sort of Thing Family Festival featuring a family-friendly circus and the world premier of "The Greatest SNOW on Earth" - a new musical.

Seven kids, seven feet of snow, and seventy-seven snow days…sounds like a dream, right? Wrong! Too much of a good thing is just TOO MUCH! Join these ordinary kids as they take off on a winter adventure that turns out to be anything but ordinary. Rodeos, rock stars-gone-bad, and even a run-in with Mother Nature…(not to mention the totally strange and even scary school janitor)…And just when you think things can't get any wackier, it's all just beginning. A wild winter ride of singing, dancing and saving the world from too many snow days – and to start it all off a circus! - Don't miss it!

When: January 24 - 7pm, January 25 - 4pm & 7pm, January 26 - 11am & 7pm, January 27 - 3pm

Where: Eastern University McInnis Auditorium 1300 Eagle Rd St Davids, PA 19087

How Much: $8 child/senior, $10 adult (group rates available)
More info, group rates, and ticket reservations at: www.yesandcamp.org, info@yesandcamp.org or by calling 215-951-0330 x2117

Hello friends!

Just wanted to remind you about the silent online auction still going on as Yes! And...'s fundraiser- and there's less than a week left to place your bids! (It ends on Thurs, Dec 6)

Yes! And... has a boatload of ridiculously cool and useful things in the annual auction fundraiser this year. For those of you who have been checking daily, I offer you another page: Page 8 has Tickets to a Pig Iron Theatre benefit show (which is always a fun time.) There's also tons of good things that you might want to have for yourself (portrait sessions with two of Philly's best Photographers) or things you might want for someone on your list this year (a baby bag full of gifts for that new baby in your life, wrapping paper made by Yes! And... Campers, and tickets to Joshua Park's CD release concert- featuring Scott Armstrong!) That's just a taste of the wonderful things you can get at the 2007 Auction for Collaborative Arts.

Go check it out!

www.yesandcamp.org/auction

From our latest newsletter. Yes! And...

Director's Note
Dear Friend –

Just the other day I was sitting at a coffee shop downtown, full of students and what I assume were (dot) com'ers typing away on their laptops. Others were reading the paper and finishing up their "summer reads," some people were chatting across those little café tables, but mostly it was quiet – even the street outside was quiet. That was, of course, until he came to pick up his girlfriend. Now, I have no idea who this guy is, and I've never seen his girlfriend. All I know is that she lives just across the tiny city street from the café (and seemed to be running late that day), and that he has installed impressively loud speakers in an otherwise mediocre car. Some kind of Latin, funk, hip-hop fusion (loud and rhythmic), filled the quiet little café and most of the quaint (and quiet) street. No one seemed to mind or even really notice, except that feet below café tables began to tap, and heads and ballpoint pens started to bounce. It was something like what I imagine a Coke or Pepsi commercial to be – a contagious beat, infectious by its very nature, changing the way an entire room "did coffee". Before you know it, everyone is smiling and dancing and sharing a soft drink (although it didn't actually get that far, thank goodness)....

To read more of this letter as well as the rest of the autumn newsletter, Click here

To sign up for our newsletters (via mail or email) send your address to info@yesandcamp.org.

And thanks for the support!

Yes! And... CAMP

The SHADOW campers and staff have put together an evening of theatre free of charge. They are pleased to announce the debut of "Wait a Minute... That's Not a Reunion" a new comedy based on memories of high school, pranks pulled, and proms to forget. Please join us at Trinity Baptist Church, 2720 Poplar St, at 7 in the evening on Friday, August 17. A question and answer period as well as a light reception to follow.

Love Michael from,
Yes! And... CAMP

Dear Friends of Yes! And…

You did it!

With your help, we were able to raise more than $1100 - a dollar at a
time! We would like to especially thank our friends over at MySpace
and Facebook, who raised more than $700 between them. Please continue
to support all of Yes! And...'s important programs for children and
youth in the Philadelphia area.

Right now, these Philadelphia area high schoolers are hard at work at
our two other camps as junior staff - continuing their leadership
training as a part of tribes or as assistant instructors. Please allow
us to humbly thank you and share that your dollars went directly to
help us provide a monetary stipend for each of these students. Be on
the lookout for SHADOW Camp and other camp's shows coming soon! And
thanks!

Signed,
Michael on behalf of…

Your friendly neighborhood arts education company,
Yes! And… CAMP

Dear good friends of Yes! And...

Because of the fire at our after school program in Kensington, we've decided to prolong our SHADOW dollar fundraising campaign. Although we were close to our $1000 goal (with many donations coming through the internet - MySpace and emails especially), we did not reach that goal. Also, in the fire Yes! And... lost about $6000 worth of books for our program. So, if we can raise a little more, it would go a long way. (In the fall we'll probably have a book buying campaign specifically to replace those books.)

So, here's what to do -

1.Tell everyone! Word of mouth is so important to this campaign. Going out with friends for the night? Having dinner with the parents? Collect a dollar from them and tell them about Yes! And... (bring a flyer if you've got one!)

2. Send out an email. It takes two seconds and really helps. Here's a sample email you can cut and paste (and add your own flavor to)
Hey! There's a fantastic organization called Yes! And... that works with kids and the collaborative arts. I've personally seen the amount of care and quality that they put into their programs. Right now, they are trying to raise money for their summer high school program (called SHADOW camp). They use this money to help pay for junior staff members in the Leadership Development Program. So, help out a high schooler this summer and help out this great organization too!

So, send them a dollar (or more if you've got it!). Go to http://www.yesandcamp.org/fundraising/dollar.html and pledge a dollar on-line (and don't forget to send it!)
Or you can hand a dollar to me or another Yes! And... employee if you see them soon.
You can also send a dollar in an envelope (or a check for a dollar) to Yes! And... 3721 Midvale Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19129

We only have a week left of this campaign, so act quickly! Help me spread the word by forwarding this email to people you know who might be interested in helping a fantastic organization.

Thanks!

3. Post this to MySpace (as a bulletin or blog) or to Facebook (it works really well as your 'status' message). If you have a blog, please consider a small entry about Yes! And... with a link to the dollar campaign.

And, like I said earlier, we only have a week left. We are ending this campaign on Saturday, July 7th, so act now!

Thanks a million (or at least a thousand)!
All of us here at Yes! And...

Hey everybody.

Thanks for all the kinds words, thoughts and prayers. Please keep checking the simple way website for the latest updates.

People have asked how they can help. There's been two funds created through the help of EAPE. Please read below to see how you can best help.

We have established an emergency relief fund, not just for the simple way, but for those in the neighborhood who lost their homes. You can contribute by either sending checks to the simple way at PO Box 14751 Philadelphia, PA 19134 or through the links below. (At this point we are not receiving donations of any other relief supplies but we'll need those things later, so stay posted by coming back here.)

Rebuilding Fund

For the simple way community, we are setting up a fund that helps community members recover their losses and begin to decide what to do next. This will also support the projects of the simple way community like the community gardens, Cottage Printworks, Yes! And..., and other things in and around Potter Street. To donate to the Rebuilding Fund, please put "Rebuilding Fund" in the memo of your check or in the box on the on-line form.

Kensington Families Fund

For the families on Potter Street, H Street, and Westmoreland whose lives have been disrupted by this fire, a fund to support these families has been established. This money will go directly to families in our neighborhood. To donate to the Kensington Families Fund, please put "Kensington Families Fund" in the memo of your check or in the box on the on-line form.

Donate On-Line

You can donate on-line through a partner organization, EAPE. It is extremely important that you put EITHER "Rebuilding Fund" or "Kensington Families Fund" in the memo box of the form. Thank you.

Use this button to make donations with a credit card.



Thanks again.

Michael from Yes! And...