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Act 2: Behind the Scenes
Quarterly Donor Newsletter
February 2026 | Issue 3
Donor Spotlight: Million Dollar Match
This month, we are THRILLED to celebrate the donors who made The Million Dollar Match possible. This matching fund was created by five incredible donors and one anonymous foundation and was leveraged to raise ONE MILLION DOLLARS in just FOUR MONTHS!! We are deeply grateful to Larry & Julianne Bass, Wayne Riggins & Luis Perez, Carol & Sammy Short, Elizabeth “Beth” Keeney, and Karl & Lynn Legatski for their visionary, strategic support of this campaign! Thanks to their investment, we were able to inspire additional gifts, and we are now only 12% away from our final fundraising goal!
And of course, to the 56 new donors who were inspired and joined us during THE MILLION DOLLAR MATCH, THANK YOU! You now get newsletters!! 🙂 And to each and EVERY ACT 2 donor, THANK YOU! We wouldn’t be here without you!
This incredible matching fund was so powerful that we are already hard at work behind the scenes raising our FINAL MILLION DOLLAR MATCH. Once we have raised the full million, we will announce this final matching opportunity (HOPEFULLY!) during the run of DRIVING MISS DAISY – we received our first commitment to the final matching fund from Larry & Julianne Bass today! If you’re interested in joining the Basses as a donor to the match, please contact Ella at ewrenn@cfrt.org or 910.323.4234 ext. 227.
The FINAL MILLION DOLLAR MATCH will unlock gifts of $10,000 and above, entitling donors to permanent lobby recognition, invitations to parties and special events, and more! Once it’s public, please share with your friends – there’s a place for everyone as part of this campaign!!
We’re SO CLOSE to the fundraising finish line and SO excited for what comes next!
A Note from Mary Kate & Ella:
1209 has gone vertical!! While we are at Owen Drive “Getting Our Heads In The Game” with audiences at High School Musical, the work over at 1209 has officially gotten out of the ground and sprouted walls that are two stories tall. You can see it best coming up Highland Ave. towards Hay St. or in these drone photos of the site from above.
While walls go up behind the building, our new Blue Duct HVAC is being laid in the grand lobby, ensuring exceptional temperature comfort and beautiful, un-cluttered, high ceilings.
Up next is structural steel, which is when you’ll really see the shape of the building and the drama of the roofline start to emerge.
Your support makes all of this incredible development and growth possible. We are inspired to keep making art and laying concrete block every time we catch up with one of you in the grocery store, at the theatre, or in the neighborhood. Thank you for believing in CFRT – onwards and UPWARDS!
Introducing: Coffee & Construction Walks
Offered exclusively to you, The Act 2 Donors, Coffee & Construction is an opportunity to see the site, hear what’s going on, and ask us any questions! Join us at 1209 Hay Street for a cup of coffee and a quick walk around to see what’s new. You can come to one or all and there’s no need to RSVP – just swing through! We can’t wait to share the progress with you!
April 23, 2026 at 9:00am
June 17, 2026 at 9:00am
Progress photos of 1209 Hay from our friends at Samet Corp:
CFRT’s five-show mainstage season and robust education and outreach programs serve over 62,000 audience members a year from all ages and varying socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds including over 22,000 students from around the region.
CFRT is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.
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