Monkeyhouse in Mourning

Our hearts break for Karen and Jason, her brother Michael and their families as we mourn the loss of her parents and older brother Patrick to a car accident this past weekend.  Pat, Rita and Patrick Krolak have been steadfast supporters of every one of us and will be dearly missed.

Karen is eternally grateful for the outpouring of love and support during this difficult time.  We respectfully request that she is given some time to grieve privately.  Any inquires about services can be sent to MonkeyhouseLovesNicole@gmail.com.

Your Just Desserts

All week we will be featuring Against the Odds events in honor of yesterday's opening of ticket sales.  Today we'll be featuring the official kickoff of the festival, Your Just Desserts.  Some of you may remember this event from 2010 when we celebrated our first Your Just Desserts with great success.  When we began planning the festival we knew that there would be no better way to kick off a celebration than with a delicious evening of desserts and dancing.

Friday, September 28th
7pm 

41 Harvard St, Natick, MA

While there you can check out the amazing auction items, including donations from Jon Wye and festival sponsor J.P Licks; get your groove on in the Mooove for Monkeyhouse Photobooth compliments of JK Photo; and enter the Your Just Desserts Bake Off!  And that's just the start of the fun.  More amazing things are being added every day!




This year's judges panel for the Your Just Desserts Bake off will be Donald Hernstrom, head ice cream maker from JP Licks and Susan Warnick of Channel 5, WCVB!  Bring your tasty treat over for the chance to win some amazing prizes!

And don't forget to bring your friends!  What better way to show your love than with dessert!?

Tickets are available TODAY!

Buy Your Against the Odds Tickets TODAY!

ONE!!!!! Ahhh!

Happy August Birthdays!

Happy Birthday to Jillian Grunnah

By Courtney Wagner

Happy Birthday Jillian!

I first met Jillian in 2009, when I took her jazz class at the American College Dance Festival in Orono, Maine.  I met her again at the 2009 BDA audition where she gave me some tips on where to take classes.  At the time she was dancing with Bosoma and teaching and described it as something along the lines of of a little crazy, but more than worth it.  In 2011, Jillian was one of Green Street Studio's Emerging Artists along with Monkeyhouse's Nicole Harris.  Her work in that concert was the predecessor to the development of Spunk and COmpany, founded in 2011.  With two concerts (Eleven September 2011, and 1 x 7 June 2012) under her belt and a new 501c3 nonprofit status, Jillian has certainly been busy in the last year.  Congratulations Jillian!  We hope many more exciting things are heading your way.

More birthday shout outs to these Monkeyhouse Supporters and Choreographers!  Monkeyhouse Loves You!

Happy Birthday To:

Bril Barrett, Derek Roland, Kelly Long, Laurie Sales, Ed Ryan, Drew, Jilly Richcrick, Joshua Legg,  Jeremy Wechsler, and Zoe Wechsler.

Know a choreographer or dancer we missed who celebrates a birthday in August?  Let us know! 

TWO!!!!

THREE!!!

FOUR!!

FIVE!

DAYS!

Double Your Dollars!

Have you considered making a donation but don't feel like what you can offer is enough?  I have two things to say to that.

1.  Hogwash!  Every penny counts.  We value our donors who have $5 to spare as much as our donors who have $5000.  And we love both of them just as much as our supporters who come see shows, read our blog and send us words of encouragement.

2.  Have you considered doubling your donation dollars by talking to your employer about their matching donation program?  Many companies have programs that help leverage their employees charitable gifts, matching a percentage or even dollar for dollar.  Talk to your HR department and see how you can boost your donation today!

One Week? That's Very Soon!

Back to School Shopping!

We've done a lot of talking recently about donating to Monkeyhouse.  If you're anything like me you get those things from organizations you love and then look at your bank account and realize you can't afford to donate this year.  Again.  Well, have no fear!  There are TONS of ways you can donate by doing things that you already do every day!  Today we'd like to talk about back to school.  It's an expensive time for every parent and college student.  There are books, bedspreads, posters, dishes, backpacks, notebooks, snacks and so much more that need to be purchased.  Here's the amazing news--  if you do all your online shopping using GoodShop not only will a percentage of your sales be donated to Monkeyhouse but you get coupons and discounts to all the stores you already shop at!

Who doesn't go to Staples during the back to school spending spree?  Well, they have 22 coupons available and they donate 2% of your purchase to whatever organization you GoodShop for!  2% might not seem like much to you, but think about how much you spend and the multiply that by all your friends who ALSO have to do back to school shopping...  All of a sudden 2% is looking a whole lot bigger!

Here's how this works:
1.  Visit GoodShop.  (http://www.goodsearch.com/nonprofit/monkeyhouse.aspx)
2.  It should say "We give money to Monkeyhouse (Medford - MA) every time you search the web and shop online." right below the search box.  If it doesn't, it should direct you to select your organization.
3.  Start shopping using the GoodShop button.  GoodShop works with thousands of online retailers from Target to Old Navy to Apple.  Check out the coupons and then you will be automatically redirected to the store's website.

Not good at remembering to start with GoodShop?  Check out the GoodShop toolbar!  It's small and unobtrusive but it reminds you when sites you're on have GoodShop coupons available to you!

While you're over there be sure to check out the other ways GoodSearch is helping non-profits including GoodDining and much more!  Don't forget, the biggest way you can help Monkeyhouse is word of mouth.  The more people who GoodShop the more artists Monkeyhouse can support!

Perks and Prizes!

Summer is a funny thing.  On the 4th of July you feel like there is an endless sea of sunshine and barbecues ahead of you.  Somehow by the 4th of August preparations for back to school, Labor Day Weekend and cooler weather are already in full swing.  That is certainly the case around here.  We are so ensconced in Against the Odds planning that it feels like it's right around the corner.  Then again, maybe it is!  Tickets go on sale in a mere nine days!  Yikes!  But in order for us to get this amazing festival off the ground WE NEED YOUR HELP!  We have to raise $6000 in the next six weeks.  That's about $150 a day!  Throughout this week we'll have tips on ways you can support us without writing a check, but today we want to talk about our IndieGoGo Campaign.  The fun thing about IndieGoGo is that not only do you get to help support local artists but you get all sorts of AMAZING prizes for doing so!  Check out some of the options below and visit our campaign for more information!

Keep an eye out here or visit our website for other ways to be part of Against the Odds!

$25 Monkeyhouse by Mail 

For a mere $25 (that's one less coffee a week this month) you can connect to the Monkeyhouse community, by mail! Members of Monkeyhouse will send you TWO postcards between now and the festival. Who doesn't like getting postcards in the mail!? 

Claim this Perk 

$100 Become a Rockstar!

What's $100 if you get to be a ROCKSTAR?! Not only will you get FOUR postcards mailed right to your door from members of Monkeyhouse but you will get a shout out as a Monkeyhouse Rockstar on C2C, our award winning blog!

Claim this Perk

$250 Monkeyhouse VIP 

It keeps getting better and better! For $250 you will receive FOUR postcards from members of Monkeyhouse, a Rockstar shout out on C2C AND a pair of tickets to the to one Against the Odds event for you and a guest!

Claim this Perk

$500 Monkeyhouse Superstar!

Would you like to SUPERSTARsize that today? For $500 you will receive FOUR postcards from members of Monkeyhouse, a Rockstar shout out on C2C, a pair of tickets to two Against the Odds events (four tickets total) AND a pair of tickets to the Superstar Luncheon for you and a guest!

Claim this Perk

$1,000 Consider Yourself Monkey-ed! 

In addition to all the amazing things in the Superstar package (postcards, Rockstar shout out, 2 pairs of tickets to ATO events and a pair of tickets to the Superstar Luncheon) you will also get to be a true insider with an invitation to an open rehearsal and ice cream with the Monkeys after!

Claim this Perk

Against the Odds 2012

Monkeyhouse is blessed to have so many talented people around us.  Last year during Against the Odds Andria Chamberlin was kind enough to take these beautiful videos of our performances.  As we get ready for the 2012 Against the Odds Festival we brought out the video again to share.

Please consider supporting us as we take on the enormous and amazing task of building this years festival.  We will be working with over 40 artists and put together six performances, two fundraising events, three photo exhibits, four parties and a whole lot of photo booth magic, just to name a few of the many exciting pieces of our festival.

Visit our IndieGoGo Campaign for more information on how you can make a monetary contribution (and check out all the really fabulous prizes you can get for donating!) or visit our website for other ways to show your support.  If you want ideas on how you can lend a hand email us at MonkeyhouseLovesMe@gmail.com today!

TWO WEEKS!