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802/800 371-5162

VSECU Makes Donation to Lost Nation Theater

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 4, 2007

For further information, contact:
Yvonne M. Garand, Business Development Officer
ygarand@vsecu.com or 802/800 371-5162, ext. 5197

Though its innovative plays and rousing musicals have entertained central Vermont theater-goers for 30 years, Lost Nation Theater has truly become an integral part of the community it serves with its many educational and outreach programs.

Through a $2,500 donation to Lost Nation Theater, VSECU thanks Lost Nation Theater for its contributions to the community, especially to young Vermonters.

“Lost Nation Theater does much more than entertain and amuse,” said Yvonne Garand, VSECU’s business development officer. “It also introduces our young people to the creative and imaginative world of the performing arts. Through their various youth education programs, they provide young people with a new avenue of expression as well the self-confidence to achieve success in other areas in their lives. We hope our support can help them continue this valuable outreach.”

In addition to its professional productions, Kim Bent, founder and artistic director of Lost Nation Theater, and producing artistic director Kathleen Keenan have developed internship and apprenticeship programs for older youth, performing arts day camps and labs for middle and high school students, and a Head Start Arts Program for the very young. Their innovative “Will-on-Wheels” workshops bring Shakespeare to middle and high schools in a way that is fresh and fun, including demonstrations of sword fighting—the 16th century way!

Bent explained, “Theater is a fundamental part of education. And the really ‘fun’ part is that it’s not where we learn how to pretend, but it’s where we learn how to act, to express ourselves in a way that communicates our true feelings and our earnest thoughts to others.”  

“Theater is a place where we experience and learn empathetic understanding – to suddenly know, bone-deep, what it’s like in another person’s shoes,” Keenan said. “These abilities—to accurately articulate and to accurately comprehend—are vital to having a healthy society. And all of us at Lost Nation Theater are very grateful to VSECU for its sponsorship of LNT’s role in this community.”

To find our more about the programs of the Lost Nation Theater, call (802) 229-0492 or visit www.lostnationtheater.org.

VSECU is a not-for-profit financial cooperative, offering a full range of affordable financial products and services to its member-owners. People eligible to join the credit union live in Addison, Caledonia, Chittenden, Lamoille, Orange, Rutland and Washington counties. For more information about VSECU, call 802/800 371-5162 or visit www.vsecu.com.

Yvonne Garand (right), VSECU’s business development officer, presents a check for $2,500 to Kim Bent (left) and Kathleen Keenan (center), artistic directors for Lost Nation Theater, to support their many community educational and outreach programs.