Today is my 4th “hoopiversary” and I have some exciting news to share.
I’m joining Spark! Circus for two months in 2013. I’ll be entertaining children and adults in refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border in January and February. The team performers is illustrious and amazing; I’m equally thrilled and terrified to have been selected.
It’s going to be an intense experience. A few of my hooping friends have been involved in past years and there are tales of illness, injuries and insanely long hours of high-energy work. And more importantly, there are stories of all the heart-touching moments with the kids and other refugees. I am humbled to be a part of this and can hardly wait to get there.
“We reach over 4,000 children each year with our circus-style fire show, playshops and donations of toys, art supplies, and creative tools. Our goal is to lighten their days with magic, wonder, laughter and smiles. SPARK! is completely volunteer based, and relies entirely on your generous donations and community support.”
And here is where I need your help. While I will cover all my own expenses for transportation, lodging, food and other personal costs, I must also raise $1,000 to buy circus supplies and materials that we will give to the camps and schools that we visit.
Would you like to contribute a little bit? For a donation of $10, I’ll send you a postcard from Thailand. For $20, I’ll draw it myself. I’ll be teaching some special workshops when I return from the WHD Tour in November, and also selling a few custom hoops in Tokyo – check over on Spin Matsuri for details. If you are keen to donate, thank you! Go ahead and skip down to the Paypal “Buy Now” button, use your Paypal account to send an arbitrary amount to kristen@mediatinker.com, or if we meet in person and you want to hand me cash, I’m cool with that, too.
A bit confusingly, I am also supporting World Hoop Day by travelling around the world teaching the WHD Dance from September 25 – November 20, 2012. Having two giant volunteer projects with just six weeks in between them is doing my head in a little bit. I am not fundraising directly for World Hoop Day on my tour; I hope that my participation will help local hoops troupes raise funds on 12/12/12 to send hoops to kids all over the planet. Check to see if there’s a World Hoop Day event going on in your area and please join in the fun.
