BrightSide Theatre Receives Grant from DuPage Foundation for Website Redesign

BrightSide Theatre, was one of 26 not-for-profit organizations to receive a grant at the DuPage Foundation's Holiday Open House held on Tuesday, December 13, at the Foundation's office in Downers Grove.

The DuPage Foundation awarded more than $207,000 in grants to organizations working in the areas of Arts & Culture, Education and the Environment as part of its Fall Community Needs Grant Cycle. The grant will help underwrite BrightSide Theatre's robust redesign of its website.

Thanks to the grant from the Michael J. Schroeck Fund of the DuPage Foundation, BrightSide Theatre will be able to revamp its website by including a user-friendly layout allowing visitors to find information quickly and intuitively, a more responsive web design creating optimal viewing experiences across a variety of devices, and a dynamic portfolio page to showcase photographs from current and past productions.

The website will be set to promote the remaining shows of its 6th Season - Classic Broadway including Moon Over Buffalo (performances March 10-26, 2017) and Guys & Dolls (performances June 9-25, 2017) at the Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall at North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth, Naperville, IL 60540. Tickets ($24 Senior/Student & $27 Adults) can be found online at brightsidetheatre.com or by calling the box office at 630-447-TIXS (8497).

BrightSide Theatre (Jeffrey Cass, Artistic Director and Julie Ann Kornak, Executive Director) currently celebrating its 6th season of Classic Broadway, is Naperville's only professional theatre performing in the historic downtown district. BrightSide Theatre is committed to Enlighten, Educate, and Entertain through comedies and inspirational stories from across the globe. A unique blend of award-winners, premieres, modern works and timeless classics meant to reflect upon and inform our community inhabit BrightSide's stage. For more information on BrightSide Theatre, visit www.brightsidetheatre.com or call 630-447-8497.

"Our Community Needs Grant Program supports local not-for-profit organizations that are dedicated to enriching DuPage County," said Barb Szczepaniak, Foundation vice president for programs. "We are very thankful to the many local not-for-profit board members, staff and volunteers who manage and administer the impactful programs that contribute to helping make our community strong, vibrant, and culturally- and environmentally-rich. In addition, we would like to thank our donors who have invested in the Foundation. It is their generosity that makes our support possible."

Community Needs grants are primarily awarded based on earnings from the Foundation's unrestricted and field-of-interest funds. Additionally, during the selection process, the Foundation offers representatives of its donor-advised funds the opportunity to review the grant applications that it receives through its Community Needs Grant Program. It does this to inform local donors about the needs in the community, introduce them to the many organizations that apply to the Foundation, and to engage them in helping the Foundation increase the level of grant support that it provides through the grant process.

The DuPage Foundation seeks to raise the quality of life throughout DuPage County by fostering philanthropy, connecting donors to area needs and building community partnerships. Based on the American virtues of volunteerism and philanthropy, the Foundation fosters a legacy of support for the people of DuPage County by making grants to not-for-profit organizations working in the areas of Arts and Culture, Education, the Environment, Health, and Human Services. Since its inception, the Foundation has built its endowment to more than $65 million and awarded nearly $30 million in grants to not-for-profit agencies serving the residents of DuPage County and beyond.

Currently celebrating its 30th Anniversary, the DuPage Foundation was established in 1986 and is a publicly-supported 501(c)(3) organization to which contributions are tax deductible. It was created to benefit the people of DuPage County and receives contributions and bequests into a permanent endowment from individuals, corporations, organizations and foundations wishing to make lasting contributions to the people of DuPage. The earnings on these funds are then used, in accordance with donor wishes, for the Foundation's grantmaking and community leadership activities.

Pictured: DuPage Foundation awards grant to BrightSide Theatre. From left: Del Koch and Lamounte Coleman, DuPage Foundation Trustees; Mary Schroeck, donor-advisor; Jeff Cass (Artistic Director) and Philip J. Watson (President of the Board), BrightSide Theatre; Mike Schroeck, donor-advisor.

To post a comment, you must register and login.