In September 2017, the island of Puerto Rico faced devastation when Hurricane Maria hit. Maria was a Category 5 storm that caused over 95 billion dollars worth of damage to the American Territory. It left the entire island without power and water for weeks. Even today, still parts of the land have no power.

Our Spring musical, West Side Story, sparked an interest among the directors and actors in the musical. They became intrigued and sympathetic towards the people of the island and their tragedy, wanting to do something to help. 

Becky Bannon, a retired Carolina Forest drama teacher who helped direct West Side Story, found out about the damage the hurricane left behind at The School for Performing Arts in Guaynabo, PR and contacted them.  The school suffered major destruction from the hurricane, including wind and water damage to the roofs and floors. Furthermore, all of their air-conditioning units were flooded. 

The school recently became a fully academic performing arts school with many students receiving masters and bachelors degrees in Fine Arts.

Before and after the students performed each night, one of our staff members shared the plight of the Puerto Rico school with the audience, asking for any donations so they could to get the school back up and running properly.

The total amount collected was $6,841.42! Every penny is being donated to the school in hopes that we can make a difference!

Picture credit: www.efe.com