I met Jonathan Harris back in 2011, when I was looking for someone to come to the art group to do a theatre workshop. He told me all about his theatre company,
9th Hour Theatre, which used the performing arts to explore faith. I was immediately stuck by how warm and open he was, and how passionate he was about theatre. Soon after, he came to Innercity Arts and did a theatre workshop. He taught the youth about storytelling, and encouraged them all to ‘tell their story’. It was a powerful workshop.
Almost immediately, Jonathan could tell there was something special about Innercity Arts. He did not need to be convinced, he could see the value in what we were doing. He eventually became a mentor in our program and began attending each week. The youth were immediately drawn to the same openness and warmth I had seen in him.
This year, Jonathan told me that we wanted to do more for the art program. He said, “I don’t have a lot of money, but I do have a theatre company.” He decided to use what he had to do as much good as possible.
He told me his plan to raise funds for OIM after each performance of Godspell, the musical 9th Hour would be performing at Centrepointe Theatre. He set a goal to raise $5000, which truthfully I thought was a little ambitious! Well, they surpassed their goal and raised $6,718.29!
All of us here at OIM were blown away by both the talent we saw at Godspell, and the generosity of 9th Hour Theatre.
On a personal note, I feel inspired by Jonathan Harris. Sometimes, it’s easy for me to think that I do not have the resources to make a difference. But Jonathan is proof that if you use what you have, you can do so much good.
We want to thank Jonathan Harris, for his continued support of OIM. We also want to thank the board of 9th Hour Theatre, the talented cast and crew of Godspell and for everyone who came out to attend the show.
I encourage you all to keep your eyes open for 9th Hour’s next production. You can follow them here.
