Dear Club Wingspan Families-
It is with a heavy heart that I write this note, knowing that we won’t be able to return to the schools this year to serve our mission of “connecting the arts to life.” As an organization that opened our first program on the week of 9/11 in 2001, we’ve managed through other major events and challenges through the years but nothing quite like this. First and foremost, we hope that your families are safe and healthy as we navigate this changed world we find ourselves in.
It goes without saying that this pandemic has had a large impact on many people, which includes our organization and our potential future. Thank you for your patience as we have been working on a plan to consider refunds for some of the time that schools have been closed.
Early next week we will send you an online form to fill out in order to start that process.
Wingspan Arts has always tried to help families – our financial aid program serves almost 200 students each year and represents families from all of our schools – but now we find ourselves in the position of asking for your help. As a nonprofit, all of our revenue goes directly into the many program expenses, and we are continuing to pay our site staff as well as a number of Teaching Artists and other partners that have been providing remote content during these weeks.
If you are in a position to turn some or all of your unused tuition into a donation to our organization, that option will be made available, and we’d be happy to send you a receipt and our heartfelt appreciation for helping us to plan for the future.
We appreciate your patience as we work with through these requests. It will take some time but we will keep you updated on the progress. We also hope to keep you updated on Fall programming options as we learn more about the return of NYC Public Schools.
We look forward to continuing to bring the arts to your schools and we hope you’ll consider helping us achieve that mission.
Sincerely,
Paul Ashley
Executive Director