Hello MCT friends and families!

 

Has everyone gone out and taken a deep breath while the weather is being kind? It’s amazing what 50 degree weather can do for the soul after another long winter. We at Matchbox have so many things planned these next few months, that deep breath was needed!  

 

Now, down to business. Growing, sustaining and reaching our community in new ways is our focus so we have a lot of things in the works that we want to share with you while also asking for your help. We were able to do a lot of impactful things with theaters shut down but often to the tune of little to no consistent income.  We have been working hard to come up with sustainable income while keeping our class, camp and ticket prices affordable. 

 

Our first idea in action is, we’re doing birthday parties! We will have a selection of  parties that will include a space, theme, cake and activities based on that theme for 1 packaged price. Parents can book a party for up to 10 kids with very little work on their end. Give us the details and we’ll bring the fun (and the cleaning crew). Celebrate your kids birthday by sparking their imaginations with a fun themed party! We have a makeup room for glamour/princess parties, a let’s pretend room with backdrops and an open play area for many different themes like dinosaurs, space, woodland creatures, knights and princesses and more to come. Our D&D team is ready with 1 day campaigns so kids can come in and experience D&D in our dungeon. We have scheduled 2 “rehearsal” parties to get the kinks worked out then we will be opening them up to the public.  We have decided there is no age limit….We’re all kids at heart right?!?

 

Our second and my personal favorite is…..We’re opening a thrift store!! The Second Act will serve many purposes for Matchbox and local theatre. First and foremost proceeds will go to help support our operating costs at Matchbox. This is one of the most consistent revenue streams we could find that matched our mission. Space is always at a premium and creative people tend to hold onto things knowing that they might get used down the line. Having this thrift store will allow us an ongoing stream of donations that we can use for our productions when needed and then send them on to another home when we are finished. As we continue to update and refresh our costume selections we can first repurpose from the thrift store saving money on fabrics and supplies. Turning an old prom dress into a Victorian outfit or crafting an old leather coat into a cool vest is what our costumers excel at! Second Act will be located at 3301 West Oakland Ave.  When you go across 90, right in front of the new Austin City Limits apartments. It is a beautiful open concept with drive up space for us to accept donations and a nice wide front door for you to take all your fun new finds out of. We will even have volunteers and staff on hand to help you load things up! We are excited to work with AHS and local organizations to have a fun and easy way to fulfill volunteer hours.  All clothes will be clean and wearable and all furniture will be wiped down or spray sanitized. Cleanliness and accessibility will be a major part of our operations. Second Act looks forward to Fueling Imaginations through high volume, low cost goods.

 

We have also taken the time to revamp our sponsorship packages to include services from our amazing Troupe. Does your business or organization need an awesome local commercial? Our packages have a wide range and the more you give, the more customized they become! 

 

We are so close to making this all happen. The lease is signed for Second Act, we have an amazing space at First United Methodist to host all of our birthday parties, classes, camps and shows. We also have an education program that keeps growing with big plans in sight. What we need from you now is financial support for our current operations. We know once the old building sells, the thrift store is running and the birthday parties are booked we will be taking donations for more interesting things like 3D printers and a heat press (wink,wink)  but at this moment help with our payroll and rent for FUMC would keep us full time and moving forward with the same momentum we picked up during Covid.  

 

We’re ready for the next steps and with your help we can move Matchbox into a more sustainable and successful business model. We truly believe that we were able to survive the pandemic so we could be a part of the next generation of creators. 

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As always, feel free to reach out with any questions.

507-219-1312

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Sincerely,

 Jen Wiebrand

President of the Board