WHAT ARE THE DONATIONS USED FOR?
The donation money primarily gets used to buy kits of circus toys (poi, staff, hoops, juggle balls, stilts, yoga mats, spinning plates, etc etc, and musical toys too), simple tools (scissor, machete, hammers tapes, glue string-so they can make toys themselves, cutting bamboo, knitting, whatever needed). These get compiled to make a play kit we leave at every school, orphanage, hospital or refugee camp we visit. In addition we incorporate a few basic necessities as we can: socks, mirrors, combs, blankets, t-shirts etc. This year I also want to purchase leather, so I can teach the kids that are not into active play something like mask making/costuming for theater etc.
We also use a very small portion of the money for supplies for the circus that get used year to year: things like fuel, our fire dipping station (funnels, buckets, extinguisher, plastic squeeze bottles), a portable stereo (rechargeable batteries, and charger), and a emergency first aid kit. We also use a very small portion for some basic costume supplies to unify the circus performers: like bow ties, whistles, clown noses, funny ears etc. Most of our own group costuming gets left with the orphanages/schools each year (so they can do their own shows after we leave), and to repurchase new costumes for ourselves the following year.
In some places we also pay for a meal for all the kids during the day, and sometimes one for them and the teachers if they have to stay at the school location between the workshop and the fire show (just a simple meal if needed, these people are very poor, and it is a great help if we just provide basic food, fruit, rice, veggies. Sometimes Help Without Frontiers has generously provided this at locations we teach at). We also may need to pay for fuel for the generator the day we perform, if there is a generator. We pay for water each day, for ourselves, and an extra supply for the kids since they are being so active while we are there.Sometimes we pay for the transportation of the kids from one orphanage to get to another so they are able to join the workshops if we can not manage to get to them (there are far more kids in orphanages and refugee camps then we can actually reach, no matter how hard we try). We are also going to need to buy a load of hand sanitizer this year for places with little water – too many four performers got sick last year!
(Spark Circus can not take donations via PayPal at the moment, but donations can still be made directly to Andrea or the other Sparkles!)
Canadian donations over $500 can be issued a charitable tax receipt thanks to the support of the Canadian branch of Clowns Without Borders!
I would love to raise enough money to pay for the truck (driver and gas costs) that takes us to and from the place we stay out to the schools etc. In previous years the performers all chip in for this, but it would be great if i could help pay this expense with circus funds.
There is also a separate option for people to donate: specifically sponsoring a performers travel and accommodation. One performers costs are around $400 for this. We use this to ensure we can bring Thai and Burmese performers in as part of the project, as they often can not afford to take that much time off, and pay for all the travel , guest house etc. I aim to have at least a third Thai , Burmese, or hill tribe participants in our crew each year. I think this is a very important asset to our project.
