Broadway Kids Host 1st Holiday Festival & Concert

Broadway Kids Care (BKC), the new organization of theater kids for kids (and others), will host its first annual holiday season of activities.   Kids from such Broadway shows as Mary Poppins, Les Miserables, The Color Purple, The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, Tarzan, The Farnsworth Invention, Sunday in the Park With George and more, will perform a Holiday Concert at the Lillian Booth Actors Home on Tuesday, December 18, where they will also be distributing scarves collected through "The Knitting Project" (BKC members, along with fellow actors and theater patrons combined their efforts to knit scarves for residents of this Actors' Fund of America residence).

And on Wednesday, December 19 (5 – 7 p.m.) BKC kids will stuff holiday stockings for the children of Freedom House NYC at their annual Holiday Festival at the Marriot Marquis Hotel in Times Square.  

Founded earlier this year by Kelly Gonda, President of East of Doheny Productions, BKC brings together the children from current and past Broadway shows, affording them the opportunity to perform community service and, in the process, instill a strong philanthropic sensibility and foster a sense of community among the young actors and their families.

During its brief history, BKC's members have participated in a variety of charitable works.  They have hosted Halloween and Easter events where they assembled gifts for the children of Freedom House.  Their gifts continue with the presentation of the scarves from "The Knitting Project" and holiday stockings.

BKC's commitment to Freedom House – a New York City shelter for disabled women and children who are victims of domestic violence – began in April when the kids filled dozens of Easter baskets with treats and presented them to the children at Freedom House. BKC's support of Freedom House is based in the unique services the shelter provides: it is the only shelter in the U.S. that is completely handicapped accessible, offering in-house day care, psychiatrist, occupational therapy specialist and a nurse on staff. 

In the coming months, BKC will launch other projects and will team up with its grown-up cousins at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS on various philanthropic activities.  BKC's dream is to become a nationwide organization, and ultimately, a global one.

For more information about Broadway Kids Care, visit their website at www.bwaykidscare.org