By now most of you have heard the news about the Garden Theatre closing its doors. For our team at We Are Winter Garden, family, and friends in the community this news comes with deep sadness and anger. Personally, I feel like I’m going through the same emotions that I have when there is a death in the family.
Right now, I’m thinking about my daughter, Kadance, a theatre major at UWF. She played Fastrada in Pippin when she attended West Orange High School. It’s ironic that the last play we went to was Pippin at the Garden Theatre.
I’m thinking about Donnie, a Matthew’s Hope guest, who has been working so hard to overcome mental illness. Donnie is a real inspiration and was recently hired by Garden Theatre to work the lights for their productions. What is Donnie going to do now? I’m also thinking about Nancy who has been working tirelessly to raise funds for the Garden Theatre. Now she is dealing with hundreds of people in the community who just don’t understand the sudden impact of losing State funding in a difficult economy.
We Are Winter Garden is among several small businesses who have been trying to support the Garden Theatre for the last several years. We have poured our time, energy, and money to help support our community theatre. So, for our team, we are only shocked by the timing. The Garden Theatre has been sounding the alarm for years. They needed our help, and when the State of Florida decided to cut the budget down to zero, there was very little the dozens of small businesses could do to help make up for a $600,000 budget deficit.
This is when my sadness turns to anger. I am so proud of our community. The residents and small businesses are always the first to support the Little League teams, participate in food drives, and attend fundraisers for Matthew’s Hope, Eight Waves, Lift Disability, and Habitat for Humanity. But there is only so much we can do. Where are the Fortune 500 companies? Where are the State and Local governments? How come you don’t have the same urgency that small businesses have when it comes to supporting our non-profits?
Many small businesses are struggling to keep up with rising costs, so now I’m sounding the alarm. It’s time for the large multi-national companies who are making hundreds of millions of dollars to step up. This means participating in the communities who support you. This means donating tens of thousands of dollars to the local economies where your employees live, work, and play. This doesn’t mean charging me an extra $5 at checkout and then pretending you made the donation. No thank you, I’ll make the donation myself.
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