Charity Projects
We have a motto here at Glitter: “A little Glitter goes a long way.” It means that even a small number of people, each doing a little thing, can make a big difference. Since our founding in 2004, Glitter has occasionally hosted projects to raise money for charitable organizations, or asked little “assignments” of the fanclub. We do this because charity is something that is important to Kristin herself, and we want her fanclub to represent that. It also serves as a way to say a sort of “thank you,” to Kristin for her generosity and involvement with the fanclub. And it gives us warm fuzzies to do nice things. There have been a number of projects in Glitter's history, and if you look to the little box on the side, you'll see our current project listed. More info on all current projects can be found on the forum and the newsgroup.
PAST PROJECTS:
- Valentine's Day 2004
- Spread A Little Sunshine
- Chenopalooza!
- Summer Projects 1 and 2
- The Essay Contest
- The One-Year Anniversary Contest
- Inside Kristin’s Closet Auction/NYC AIDS Walk 2005
- The Witch for a Day Contest
- The Hurricane Katrina Relief Project
- Inside Kristin’s Closet Auction/NYC AIDS Walk 2006
- Inside Kristin’s Closet Auction/NYC AIDS Walk 2007
THE V-DAY PROJECT
Glitter's first project was The Valentine's Day Project, to raise money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA). The then-very-young fanclub decided to donate a few bucks to Broadway Cares as a Valentine’s Day gift for Kristin, and, as seems to have become the norm for this fanclub, the response was way more than we’d anticipated. What began as an idea to raise a hundred or two resulted in a total of $832! Glitter co-ordinator Jaime Morris, Vice President Cristin Whitley, and fanclub member T. S. Ferguson visited Kristin in her dressing room at the Gershwin Theatre (where she was starring in WICKED) to present her with a mock check (check it out by following the link below to the pictures). Kristin was amazed that her fans had raised so much money in her name for such a worthy cause, and the Glitter fundraising tradition was born.
SPREAD A LITTLE SUNSHINE: THE EASTER PROJECTS
Our second project was Spread A Little Sunshine, the Glitter Easter project. After the overwhelming success of the Valentine’s Day project, we decided to grace Kristin with an Easter gift. This time, fanclub members were invited to donate to any charity of their choice, or do some kind of good deed, and write a card to Kristin telling her what they had done and why. Many members contributed to such charities as BC/EFA, Broadway Barks, and Locks of Love, while some simply gave their time, helping out their parents by babysitting for free, or volunteering in their community. It was another great success, and definitely lived up to its name!
CHENOPALOOZA!
One of our most successful and surprising charitable ventures was the May 22, 2004 fanclub meetup, affectionately referred to as "Chenopalooza!" by some members. Despite illness, Kristin took the time between a matinee and an evening performance to engage in a question-and-answer period with her fans, and also took the time to sign autographs, take pictures, and talk briefly with every person in attendance. The "ticket" fee was $10, to be donated to BC/EFA, and Kristin surprised the group by announcing she would match whatever amount we raised. The sixty fans in attendance donated a shocking $2,227! Kristin wrote a matching check, and a grand total of $4, 454 was donated to BC/EFA!
SUMMER CONTESTS 1 AND 2
During the summer of 2004, Glitter made a special offer to its members: for a small donation, they could purchase a number of signed items from the Broadway hit WICKED, in which Kristin was starring at the time. We offered signed playbills posters, and photographs autographed by Kristin's costars Joel Grey and Idina Menzel, along with a special treat -- personalized autographs from Kristin! We processed hundreds of requests, and in September, we finally sent out our last batch of photos. The project was a huge success, raising thousands for Broadway Cares!
THE ESSAY CONTEST
In September of 2004, Kristin made her solo debut at Carnegie Hall in New York City, and the fanclub was lucky enough to be donated a pair of tickets by a member who was unexpectedly unable to attend. She gave us the tickets with one request: find someone who really deserved them and give them the ticket. And so, the essay contest was born! Fanclub members were asked to write a short essay explaining why theatre was important to them, and the response was incredible! We recieved a slew of wonderful essays, which the Glitter staff managed to narrow down to three finalists. The finalists' essays were then sent to Kristin herself for judging, and she picked the lucky winner!
THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CONTEST
In January 2005, Glitter celebrated its one-year anniversary, and we knew there was no way we could let that pass without involving our wonderful members! We were also lucky enough to have been donated a pair of front row tickets to Kristin's January 25th performance at Carnegie Hall, where she was singing with the Cincinnati Pops. After some consideration, we decided to hold a t-shirt design contest. The Glitter member who created the best design to commemorate our anniversary would receive the tickets. Again, our members delivered, and we were faced with such fantastic designs that we couldn't possibly pick just one winner! The contest ended in a tie, with one ticket going to each of our top designers. The winning designs will disappear from the fanclub store soon, and the finalist designs were so great that we couldn't resist showing them off in the store as well. Get them while you still can!
THE WITCH FOR A DAY CONTEST
To celebrate the release of Kristin’s first feature film, the Glitter staff decided to host another essay contest! Members were asked to write an essay about what they would do if they woke up and discovered they were a witch for 24 hours, and send it in along with their ticket stub from BEWITCHED. The winning essay would win a “Kristin Prize Pack.” All entries were judged by the fanclub staff, and the final three were chosen. The runners-up received personalized color autographs from Kristin, and the winner received the Prize Pack, which included a signed photo, the BEWITCHED SOUNDTRACK, and a little note from Kristin herself!
THE HURRICANE KATRINA RELIEF PROJECT
In the aftermath of the terrible devastation of Hurricane Katrina, the folks here at Glitter couldn’t help but feel it was our responsibility to help out in any way we could. Many of our members also wanted to contribute to the relief efforts, but didn’t know what they could do. In response, we dedicated the month of September 2005 to raising funds for the Red Cross. We encouraged our members to donate openly for our autograph sales, keeping $10 as our base price, and we donated 100% of the proceeds from the fanclub store (where we introduced a brand new line -- the ChenoPuffs -- created by fanclub member Anthony) to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund. Kristin wanted to contribute as well, volunteering to match each and every dollar raised.
Thanks to the generosity of our incredible fanclub members, Glitter raised an impressive $1925! As promised, Kristin matched the amount, and then decided she wanted to “round it up!” She donated $2000, bringing our final donation total to $3925. We here at Glitter would like to thank EVERYONE who contributed for their generosity, especially those who donated far above our requested donation for their photographs, and those who simply donated their money and asked nothing in return. On behalf of everyone here at Glitter, and on behalf of Kristin, we want to say again, THANK YOU! We are so proud of all of you, and your generosity.
CLICK HERE FOR A MESSAGE FROM KRISTIN!
GLITTER’S ANNUAL INSIDE KRISTIN’S CLOSET AUCTION/NYC AIDS WALK. – Opens a new page for more info on Glitter’s biggest, and only annual, event.